Rand Paul met with Mitch McConnell around 5:30 this evening at the airport in Louisville after McConnell returned from an event in Murray Kentucky. The meeting is significant in large part because McConnell, the senior senator from Kentucky has been close with the candidacy of Trey Grayson, Kentucky's current Secretary of State and Paul's main primary opponent. McConnell along with several other United States senators co-hosted a fundraising event for Grayson in Washington DC in September. The press reports which followed portrayed Grayson as the choice of party insiders.
Paul has recently said that he respects McConnell's success and looked forward to meeting with him, but stopped short of endorsing McConnell as the next GOP leader in the United States Senate over Jim DeMint who had sought the minority leadership spot ultimately captured by McConnell.
For months it has been rumored that McConnell was behind an effort to keep Jim Bunning from seeking re-election and that Grayson was McConnell's hand picked choice to replace Bunning. The meeting with Rand Paul this evening was initiated by Paul but not until after he had proven himself a viable candidate having out raised Grayson in the last quarter and coming out on top of Grayson in recent polling.
McConnell has previously said he is not endorsing anyone in the primary. What both men say, if anything, after their meeting tonight will no doubt capture the interest of the national media which has so far found the Paul campaign of great interest.
The "business like" meeting was being conducted in a room near the gate where McConnell's plane landed. The only other people in attendance were staff.
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