The Light Shines Bright on Kentucky Bill

I had the privilige of attending the 22nd Annual Oldham County Lincoln Day Dinner last night and oh what a night it was! The crowd was a diverse group with attendance being reported as being over 200. This event was sponsored by,The Oldham County Republican Party, county chairwoman Anne Gernstein did an excellent job preparing this event. State Representative, David Osborne was our emcee for the event. We sang “My Old Kentucky Home,” made allegiance to the flag and blessings were lifted up by State Senator, Ernie Harris.
All three candidates running for the Senate Seat being vacated by Sen. Jim Bunning was in attendance and were the highlight of the evening. The emcee set the ground rules for their speeches and each were informed of a time restraint of five [5] minutes. St. Rep. Osborne then proceeded to introduce each candidate with the exception of one [1]. He wanted to do his own introduction!! Sec. of State Trey Grayson was at the podium first, he hit on his platform and why he would be the best candidate to better serve those of us that can actually cast a vote in the race. Then true to form, the seasoned candidate began to attack his opponent on issues such as Gitmo, [Sultan Knish ]

Rand Paul “couldn’t agree more” with those who believe Guantanamo has “significantly damaged the reputation of the United States” and who want to “see it shut down.” – (Rand Paul official campaign web site post, posted by the site Administrator, 5/25/09)

“It’s unclear whether these people are guilty or not guilty… So I really think deportation or sending them back to their country of origin might be the best way to go. And none of it’s fair, because some of them have been held years and years without trial… and you deport them to the countries where they were captured…”

Rand Paul on Gitmo prisoners on Alex Jones, 5/21/09

I am sure Rand Paul was wanting to crawl under the table by now, but wait it gets better! When Grayson had finished a modest round of applause was heard about the room. Bill Johnson, was next at the podium [ yep, he wanted to do his own introduction]. He gave us his background and his reasons why he was drawn to serve once again this great country. He made it clear that he is running on the three R’s “Ronald Reagan Republican“..the crowd broke into applause. He informed us that it was Reagan that had first inspired him to serve in the military and that it was Barack Obama that inspired him to once again step up to serve our country and lead her back to the very principles in which Reagan stood for. He spoke of his leadership abilities and his history working with energy of all kinds; coal, oil and nuclear. With each statement, Johnson was interupted by applause, if there had been a meter for the amount of applause the winner would clearly been Bill Johnson!
Finally but not least [ they were going alphabetically] we got to hear from Dr. Rand Paul. The good doctor came to the podium, looking somewhat pale and tired, attributing his appearance as being getting over a cold. I am sure the stress of the road weighs heavily on each of the candidates but apparently it weighs on him more than the other two as he stated,

I’d like to say that I’m happy to be here but the fact is that I’d prefer to be back at home with my family and that its been a it’s a real grind to have to go to all these LDD’s.

What a way to win votes from the very people that invited him there! He gave his usual ad nauseum reasons why he is the better candidate. However it wasn’t a message that resonated well with the people in attendance that had spent good hard earned money to attend this event and hear the platforms of each candidate. He mingled for a few minutes and was seen leaving quickly with his “goofer”, David Adams [campaign manager] following close behind. Grayson was seen to mingle and shake hands but it was Bill Johnson who was the last to leave. It was great hearing people come up and offer their support and tell them how they really enjoyed his message and many took business cards, Election Gazettes, bumper stickers to help get his message out! Another awesome event for a man of DUTY-HONOR-COUNTRY.

Donations appreciated!
***UPDATE*** Video: Bill Johnson’s Speech at Oldham County Lincoln Day Dinner

***UPDATE 2**** due to my haste in getting this story out, I made a slight error in reporting the order of speakers, it was Dr. Paul, Bill Johnson, Trey Grayson- however the content remains the same! ~APN~