RINO Schadenfreude

Back in May, I expressed skepticism about a website claiming that republicans should not trust republican Secretary of State Trey Grayson because he once voted Democratic. I said it was a fake to fool Democrats.

But now the Herald-Leader has picked it up:

Many conservative Republicans concede that Secretary of State Trey Grayson is their party’s likely nominee in Kentucky’s 2010 U.S. Senate race now that incumbent Sen. Jim Bunning has quit the contest, but the thought makes them uneasy.

Some Republicans in the state wonder whether the former Democrat — Grayson voted for Bill Clinton in 1992 — is a true conservative who is tough enough to withstand an intense statewide race that will garner national attention.

“I hope the GOP doesn’t nominate another Arlen Specter as its 2010 nominee?” State Rep. Jamie Comer of Tompkinsville said on his Facebook page Monday night after Bunning decided not to seek a third term and Grayson said he will formally enter the race.

SNIP

Republican political consultant Ted Jackson of Louisville agreed that Grayson has something to prove to conservative Republicans.

“I like his odds of being the Republican nominee next year but, to my knowledge, Trey has never been in a bare-knuckle campaign,” Jackson said.

“It remains to be seen how he reacts and performs in the heat of battle,” he said. “He doesn’t like conflict like some politicians but I think he will rise to the occasion.”

Jackson said Attorney General Jack Conway of Louisville, who some consider the front-runner in next year’s Democratic primary election for the U.S. Senate, may have an upper hand on Grayson in “toughness on the campaign trail.”

“Conway was involved in a tough, mean-spirited race for Congress, which he almost won,” Jackson said, referring to Conway’s 2002 race against Republican Anne Northup in Louisville.

The 2010 Senate race likely will take on a more savage tone, said Scott Jennings, a veteran of several Kentucky political campaigns and a former adviser to President George W. Bush.

As someone who has spent years railing against both DINO candidates - repugs pretending to be Democratic - and voters who register Democratic but vote repug, I am looking forward to watching Kentucky repugs struggling with the same dilemma.

No, Grayson is not going to have any trouble winning the primary. But neither is his 17-year-old vote for Clinton going to attract many Democratic voters.

But if his repug opponents succeed in labeling him as a RINO, it could hurt his fundraising and cause at least a few republican voters to skip the Senate race.

Regardless, Democratic voters should not be fooled: Trey Grayson is even less of a real Democrat than Ben Chandler is.