Tea Party Shifts Focus to Kentucky

After taking down Bob Bennett in Utah, the Tea Party has a new target: Kentucky. Tea Party activists and other conservative critics yesterday shifted their sights to the state's mid-May primary for their next big challenge to a political establishment they have vowed to upend. The Kentucky race pits Secretary of State Trey Grayson, who's backed by the GOP establishment, against Tea Party favorite Rand Paul, son of Ron, who has won endorsements from Sarah Palin and evangelist James Dobson, AP reports.

"Rand is exactly the kind of leader Americans are looking for right now," said backer South Carolina Gov. Jim DeMint. "He's not a career politician and he's got the guts to stand up to the massive spending, bailouts and debt that are being forced on us in Washington." (More Rand Paul stories.)