Key Rand Paul Conference Call: "At Times a Comedy of Errors"

During a key conference call, Rand Paul showed us his diplomatic skills, or lack thereof, as he attempted to explain why he claimed to have sent $250,000 to the Kentucky Republican Party, when he did not. Then, he apparently suggested passing a bag at the actual caucus to pay for the event.

Sam Youngman has the blow-by-blow:

[O]n a Thursday night conference call with Republicans who will vote this Saturday on whether to have a presidential caucus next year,..

Paul, who told callers he was under the weather, called in with nearly 350 members of the Republican Party of Kentucky's state central committee in an effort to persuade them to go ahead with a proposal that would allow him an end-around a state law that prohibits a candidate from appearing on the same ballot twice.

The cost of switching to a caucus, which would allow Paul to run for president and the U.S. Senate at the same time, was a major topic as Republicans wanted to know why Paul had not transferred an initial payment of $250,000 to an RPK account as he said he had in a letter this week.

Republicans wanted to know why Paul was waiting until the proposal passed at the state central committee meeting this Saturday, and Paul responded that there was no need to transfer the money unless Kentucky's Republicans don't trust their junior senator.

Trust emerged as a major theme from Paul, and it appears that will be the crux of his pitch when he tries to convince committee members in person at Saturday's central committee meeting in Frankfort.

Still, Paul was asked several times about the money and whose account it is currently in.

Paul also said he would be raising an additional $125,000 from some big donors within the next week.

The call, which was described to the Herald-Leader by participants, was at times a comedy of errors.

When one caller suggested that costs could be kept down if a caucus location's preference were recorded by a show of hands instead of paper ballot, Paul initially agreed that would save costs until other participants objected, noting a need for a secret ballot in a presidential race.

Paul also raised some eyebrows by suggesting that Republicans pass a bag during the caucuses to raise money to pay for the events.