Rand Paul: I'm Supporting Sen. McConnell

In his U.S. Senate race, tea party favorite Rand Paul is acknowledging the reality of “old-school politics’’ when he said on "Fox News Sunday" that he is assuming Mitch McConnell will stay on as party leader -- and that he will support McConnell, a fellow Kentuckian, The New York Times said. The newspaper interpreted that as a defeat for Republican Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, a tea party supporter who early on endorsed Paul when McConnell did not.

Paul also accepted a McConnell fundraiser that was set up for Paul -- as well as Republicans who voted for the $700 billion bank bailout in 2008 that Paul had opposed.

Paul’s “approach has changed,’’ said Trey Grayson, Kentucky’s Republican secretary of state whom Paul defeated in the primary. “He’s acting more like an incumbent. His tone is designed more for a general election audience and swing voters.’’

But Grayson quickly added that Paul is ahead in the polls against his Democratic challenger Jack Conway because he is still talking “about shrinking the size of the government.’’