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OK, sure, theres little doubt that Rand Paul is going to win the next presidential election by a 538-0 electoral vote margin. But theres maybe .000001 percent possibility he wont that we cant fully rule out. He could lose the general election, for example, if the Democrat Party Voter Fraud Machine tries to steal it. He could also lose to one of the other ~35 Republican presidential candidates in the primary. And then what does he do? Go home to Kentucky and be a boring old eye doctor for the rest of his life? Hed probably like to return to the Senate, where hes up for reelection in 2016.

This is the problem. Kentucky law states that no candidates name shall appear on any voting machine or absentee ballot more than once. That means that on May 17, 2016, the day of the Kentucky primary, Rand Paul cannot be a candidate in both the presidential primary and Senate primary.

Kentucky Republicans had hoped to change this law. The Republican-controlled state Senate has already passed a bill to allow Paul to run for both. But Republicans failed to win control of the state House on election night, and the Democratic House speaker, Greg Stumbo, has blocked the bill. He claims the state constitution bars lawmakers from passing special legislation that would benefit only one person. He added, a bit more to the point: Im not a fan of Sen. Paul, and Im not eager to see my country turned over to him.

Ever since the results of the election, when Republicans werent able to take the Kentucky House, the CV has been that Paul will have to make a decision: run for president or run for Senate reelection. And what a decision that would be! ESPN could film an hour-long special on the whole thing, live from a Boys and Girls Club in Connecticut. After 59 minutes of time killing, Paul could say something like, Im taking my talents to the Iowa caucuses and then dunk on Jeb Bushs head.

But dont expect anything so stark as a decision. There are several workarounds available to Paul. None of them are perfect, and some are more fun than others.

The simplest solution, as both the Wall Street Journal and TPM report,would be for Paul not to run in the Kentucky presidential primary. That means ceding some delegates, but hed still have 49 other states in which to pick them up. It would be hilarious if he lost the nomination by a narrow margin that he couldve made up in Kentucky, but thats a slim possibility.

He could also get Kentucky Republicans to move some dates around the Kentucky presidential primary would instead be a caucus held earlier in the calendar, while his Kentucky Senate primary would still be in May. NPR explains:

Paul and his supporters, though, have already thought of a partial workaround: Change Kentuckys Republican presidential nominating contest from the May 17 primary to a caucus in mid- to late March. That way, Paul could still file for the Kentucky primary ballot in January, appear on (and presumably win) the Senate primary in May all the while pursuing the presidential nomination.

This wouldnt require a change from the Kentucky legislature, only approval from state and local Republican Party officials.

The downside to either of these two options or something similarly creative, though, is that they wouldnt solve his general election ballot problems. If he won the presidential nomination, he would have to drop out of the Senate race. This is bad for both Paul and the Republican Party. Paul could lose the presidential election and find himself out of work. And Republicans according to Stumbo, at least would not be able to replace Paul on the Senate ballot that late in the race: The Democratic candidate would win the seat. This is your moment, Ashley Judd.

Originally posted here:
Rand Pauls ballot time-bomb: Why he may have to sue to run for president