May 19, 2010 11:58AM # Rand Paul Challenges the Establishments By [Tad DeHaven](https://www.cato.org/people/tad-dehaven) --- SHARE In his Kentucky Republican primary [victory speech](http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/05/18/paul-weve-come-to-take-our-government-back/?fbid=TnCqjU8gP9D) last night, [Rand Paul](https://www.cato.org/2010/05/18/neocons-finish-out-of-the-money-in-kentucky-race/) took a well-placed shot at one of the more repulsive props used by Beltway politicians: > “We have come to take our government back from the special interests who think that the federal government is their own personal ATM … from the politicians who bring us over-sized fake checks emblazoned with their signature as if it was their money to give.” The comment immediately brought to mind a C@L blog I wrote in 2008 that criticized the Senate Minority Leader from Kentucky, Republican Mitch McConnell, for being a hypocrite when it comes to big government spending. I titled the post “[The Bluegrass Porker](https://www.cato.org/2008/12/30/the-bluegrass-porker/)” and included this picture: ![Media Name: toddmitch.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/pubs_2x/public/wp-content/uploads/toddmitch.jpg?itok=wkf7y-ki) That fellow on the right holding the fake, over-sized Treasury check is Mitch McConnell. Last night, Paul defeated McConnell’s [hand-picked choice](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/12/AR2010051205204.html) for the Republican nomination, Trey Grayson. Perfect. I’d prefer to believe Paul’s victory last night was a repudiation of the GOP establishment as much as it was a repudiation of Washington in general. Popular discontent with the statist Democrat establishment in Washington is well recognized. But if Kentucky Republicans just signaled their displeasure with the statist Republican establishment, better days for liberty could be ahead. ##### Related Tags [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).