Kentucky Senate candidate Rand Paul wrote in a newspaper four years ago that he would have pardoned himself if he had been the state's scandal-plagued governor at the time.
Paul's opinion piece in the now-defunct Kentucky Post appeared shortly before a judge ruled that then-Gov. Ernie Fletcher couldn't be tried on charges he had violated state hiring laws.
Paul confided in his Aug. 23, 2006, article that he sometimes daydreamed about what he would do if he were president or governor. Paul weighed in on Fletcher's predicament saying, "I'd have pardoned myself" and others.
Richard Beliles, chairman of the nonpartisan government watchdog group Common Cause of Kentucky, said Wednesday that the Republican's pro-pardon stance calls into question whether he understands the responsibilities of a public servant.
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