LAWRENCEBURG — Former President Bill Clinton will campaign for Kentucky Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Jack Conway on the eve of the Nov. 2 election, a signal that national Democrats remain hopeful that Conway can beat Republican nominee Rand Paul.
Conway campaign spokeswoman Allison Haley confirmed Clinton's return visit but said locations of Clinton's appearances have not been finalized. Observers said it's likely the campaign will attempt to use Clinton's popularity to excite conservative Democrats in Eastern and Western Kentucky.
Meanwhile, the Conway camp began pivoting from a controversial ad about Paul's college days, which garnered much national attention this week, toward the pocketbook issue of taxes.
Conway, during campaign stops in Central Kentucky, played up Paul's conflicting statements about replacing the federal income tax with a 23 percent sales tax. Meanwhile, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee started running an ad Thursday that claimed "Rand Paul wants to put a 23 percent sales tax on everything you buy."
The Paul campaign, however, has denied support for the sales tax. Paul wrote in a statement released by an anti-tax group last week that he supported the so-called FairTax, but later backed off, suggesting he only supports "a simpler tax code."
Paul's campaign had no immediate comment on Clinton's return to the state for Conway.
Lexington businessman Jerry Lundergan, who is a close friend of the former president, said he has talked to Clinton, "and he has assured me that he will come back to Kentucky to campaign for Jack."
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