Grayson says his chief rival is overconfident, but Paul says he’s going to win ‘big’

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Paul predicts Ky. win; Foe slams overconfidence

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Front-runner Rand Paul predicted he would ride a wave of tea party support to a big victory in Tuesday’s Republican U.S. Senate primary, while his chief opponent portrayed him as an overconfident “grandstander” who could lose sight of Kentucky if elected.

Paul, an eye surgeon leading in the polls by double digits, made a campaign swing though central and western Kentucky on Monday to garner as much free TV exposure as he could. Republican opponent Trey Grayson did a fly-around, holding news conferences in select cities across the state.

“There’s a tea party tidal wave coming,” Paul told about 100 cheering supporters gathered in a park in his hometown of Bowling Green. “It’s already gotten to Utah. Tomorrow, it comes to Kentucky.”

Grayson told reporters in Louisville that his rival would be “a grandstander” more concerned about the national stage, adding that “there’s some real question about whether he’ll lose sight of Kentucky.”

He said Paul is overconfident and could be disappointed when votes are counted Tuesday evening.

“It’s almost like he’s picked out his home in (Washington) D.C. before the election’s even been held,” said Grayson, Kentucky’s secretary of state. “Win or lose, I think it’s a bad campaign strategy.”

The tea party movement propelled Paul, once considered a long shot against Grayson, to GOP front-runner in the race to replace retiring Sen. Jim Bunning. The 78-year-old former major league pitcher opted not to seek a third term under pressure from Republican leaders who considered him politically vulnerable

Neither candidate veered from their oft-repeated lines on the final day of campaigning. Paul talked about the need to reduce the national debt, balance the budget and institute term limits. Grayson charged that Paul’s political philosophies are outside the Kentucky mainstream.

“I’m not running to be the candidate of the tea party,” Grayson said. “I’m running to be the candidate of this Republican Party of Kentucky.”

Paul, the son of Texas Congressman and former presidential candidate Ron Paul, said he has won the support of Kentuckians because they favor his brand of fiscal conservatism and political common sense.

“Nobody knows the future,” he told The Associated Press on Monday. “But I would be very surprised if we don’t come out on top.”

Grayson, the state’s top election official, said he feels confident that he still will win.

“I’ve been around a lot of final weeks in campaigns in Kentucky, and I can tell you this is a campaign that’s definitely peaking at the right time,” he said.

Paul said his win would have nationwide implications for tea party movement. Tea party activists already helped defeat three-term Sen. Bob Bennett in Utah and forced Florida Gov. Charlie Crist to abandon the GOP to make an independent run for the Senate.

“It will be the first victory for a tea party candidate in a statewide election,” Paul said.

Grayson countered that while the tea party movement has become potent, when counted against the overall Republican turnout, “it’s not a huge percentage when you get right down to it.”

Grayson also played up Paul’s lack of political experience, saying Republican voters were looking to elect someone with “a track record of implementing commonsense, conservative reforms.”

In Kentucky, Paul has backing from Bunning, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and evangelical leader James Dobson, the founder of the Colorado-based Christian organization Focus on the Family. Grayson has endorsements from establishment Republican leaders, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and former Vice President Dick Cheney.

The two leading Democratic Senate candidates in Kentucky are Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo and state Attorney General Jack Conway, who appeared locked in a close race. Mongiardo barely lost six years ago to Republican Sen. Jim Bunning, who is retiring after two terms.

Associated Press Writer Bruce Schreiner contributed to this report from Louisville.