Rand Paul's primary victory

Rand Paul handily defeated his opponent in the Republican primary for the Senate seat currently held by Jim Bunning, who is being forced into retirement by Mitch McConell and the party establishment.

Paul's victory is a blow to the following:

*Republican supporters of the Bush bailouts, including McConnell and John McCain.

*The Sarah Palin wing of the tea party movement - i.e. the faction that is fine with the movement being subordinated to the Republican party.

*Progressive Democrats who supported the Bush bailouts, including Barack Obama, Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi.

Note that in the realm of boxing metaphors, a "blow" is not a knockout.

Rand Paul is on the November ballot for a Senate seat. He starts out behind - the Democratic nominee, Kentucky Attorney General Ted Grayson, received 29,000 more votes than Paul, and the Democratic primary drew more votes than did the Republican primary.

There are other obstacles in Rand Paul's path:

*Progressives will be demonizing him, misquoting, distorting, and fabricating statements of his. This process is already in full swing in the Progressive blogosphere.
*The Republican establishment has a vested interest in preserving status quo, and therefore will provide only token support for the Paul campaign.
*Lamestream media will emphasize issues raised by Paul's opponents, and give minimal coverage to Paul's articulation of his views on federal spending, the Federal Reserve bank, and the Consitution.
*Like his father, Ron, he is not an orator, or a natural politican.

He could still win - I predict a close election.

Win or lose, he has disturbed the status quo, and moved us closer to realizing this Jeffersonian dictum:

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty