Kentucky Senate Majority Leader: Show Me the Money!

Today is the big day when the Republican Party of Kentucky’s 334-member central committee meets  to vote on a plan that would let Rand Paul seek Kentucky’s Republican presidential delegates in 2016 while at the same time allowing him to run for re-election to the United States Senate.

The plan calls for the party to drop out of the traditional May presidential primary election and initiate Republican presidential caucuses to be held March 5. The move would solve Rand's problem with a Kentucky law that bars a candidate from running for two offices on the same ballot and allow him to seek Kentucky’s presidential delegates at the caucuses and run for U.S. Senate in the later primary.

The sticking point might be Rand's reluctance to put a down payment on his plan. Despite stating in a letter that he has made a payment, no such payment has been made to the party.

The Courier-Journal reports: 

Even some of his supporters say that on Saturday they want to see that amount transferred to the state party before the vote, or for Paul to show a check for that amount payable to the party that he would hand over after approval.

“”I’m looking forward to Rand making his case. I’m going to vote ‘yes’ if there's $250,000 in an RPK account ...,” said Kentucky Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown.  “We’re doing this to support Rand’s run for the White House. I don’t understand his hesitation to make the deposit, but it needs to be done or a check needs to be delivered by Saturday morning at 11 o’clock.”

Scott Lasley, chairman of the Warren County Republican Party who chaired a committee that drafted the plan for the caucuses, said many committee members want to see "that there are adequate resources and a clear path by which those resources will be made available with accountability to ensure those resources are there."

This is tricky for Rand, if he puts down the initial $250,00 payment and the committee approves going to a caucus, then Rand will be committed to financing the caucus. If he has any enemies, who are on the committee running the caucus, they could make the cost of a caucus very expensive for Rand. Even without enemies, bureaucracies aren't known for constraining expenses, especially when you have an ophthalmologist who says he is willing to pick up the tab.

 -RW