Time to Raise Your Game, Kentucky Media

So Kentucky repugs think Rand Paul can escape opproprium by avoiding the national media?

Then it's up to you, Kentucky media: Sic him!

Senate candidate Rand Paul's Republican colleagues have tried to put into context his controversial comments about anti-discrimination laws and the Obama administration's handling of the Gulf Coast oil spill, but they bemoan the political newcomer's gaffes.

He should focus less on the national media spotlight and more on Kentucky and the economy, Republican insiders said Friday.

"He needs to understand that for Republican officials who want to be unified and get behind him, it's going to be hard to do that if he keeps having cringe-worthy moments," said Scott Jennings, a Kentucky Republican political strategist and former George W. Bush administration official.

In an indication that he was heeding advice to limit his national exposure, Betsy Fischer, the executive producer of NBC's Meet the Press, tweeted late Friday afternoon that Paul said he was having "a tough week" and was trying to cancel his scheduled appearance on the show this Sunday. According to Fischer, only Louis Farrakhan and Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia have ever nixed planned appearances.

The Paul campaign did not return phone calls from the Herald-Leader, but it told others that Paul was tired of talking about his views on the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

The Herald's playing catch-up to the Courier, which first exposed Paul's Bircher tendencies back in April. The Herald also has to make up for endorsing Paul in the republican primary, when the Courier called a pox on all repug houses.

Paul could be the acid test for Ryan Alessi's new cn\2politics, and as a veteran of small-town reporting I want to believe that someone at the Bowling Green Daily News is muckraking in hopes of making her career.

If Kentucky MSM fail, Media Czech and Jake will never let up.