Rand Paul vs. Jack Conway Before the Judges

The U.S. Senate candidates in Kentucky appeared before a meeting of Judge-Executives and other county officials Thursday. The non-debate, non-speech forum offered an opportunity for comparing and contrasting the two with neither the strictures of debate rules nor the spin of formal speeches.

Ryan Alessi has a good analysis:

Rand Paul, the Republican, said he would filibuster the budget bill unless it was balanced. And Jack Conway, the Democrat, piggybacked on Paul’s major message of reining in spending by saying he supports “pay as you go.” They gave their pitches, took some mild shots at each other and fielded several questions from local officials.

But, perhaps most importantly, they offered glimpses in both style and substance about what voters can expect to hear about this fall. Paul sought to tie Conway to national Democrats and paint him as too liberal for Kentucky. Conway calmly rebutted several of Paul’s claims but largely refrained from going on the attack.

Read the whole thing.