Conway to demand GOP opponent's chest X-ray

And Prince Albert in a can
"Rand Paul keeps Christ in his heart."* — KYSEN political ad

I actually don't doubt the implication of the [Jack Conway] ad, namely that Rand Paul harbors a private contempt for Christianity. He's a devotee of Ayn Rand,** who is a fundamentally anti-Christian thinker.

— Jonathan Chait

That's putting it mildly. More to the point: Anti-Christ.

Nevertheless, Chait condemns Conway's ad because it "comes perilously close to saying that non-belief in Christianity is a disqualification for public office," which is an "illiberal" technique in politicking. Perhaps, but running as a Democrat in Kentucky these days calls for behaving in some respects like a Republican, and Republicans are notorious for these sorts of character attacks.

Maybe this little episode will teach them a lesson (not bloody likely).

More importantly, Jack Conway effectively rattled the living bejaysus out of Rand Paul. If that was the idea — and surely it was — it could scarcely have been more successful.

The current slew of GOP "citizen legislators" has about two weeks to keep from bursting into full-bore crazy. Can they handle it?

* Calling PolitiFact.

** We have a couple of those here too.