Rand Paul fan stomps on liberal protestor's head: First reactions

An ugly scene outside the final Kentucky senate debate leads to partisan violence — and an equally heated online clash between bloggers

Best Opinion:  Gateway Pundit, Wash. Monthly, Outside the Beltway

The video: Supporters of Kentucky senate candidates Rand Paul and Jack Conway clashed outside a Lexington TV studio before the rivals' final debate — apparently resulting in two violent incidents. (Watch video below.) While trying to present Republican candidate Paul with a satirical "employee of the month award," Lauren Valle, a liberal MoveOn.org protester, was pushed to the ground by what appear to be Paul supporters, one of whom then stomped on Valle's head. Elsewhere, say some reports, a Conway supporter stomped on the foot of a Rand supporter who had recently undergone foot surgery. Neither victim was seriously injured. Both candidates condemned the violence and called for supporters to focus on the issues.
The reaction: The liberal media is making Valle out to be a "martyr," says Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit. But this "professional leftist activist," who was arrested in May while protesting the BP oil spill, has a long history of civil disobedience. That hardly justifies a head stomping, says Steve Benen at Washington Monthly. I know the "right-wing Republican base has been whipped into a frenzy," but these thugs (and their defenders) ought to be ashamed of themselves. Bloggers are busy spinning partisan outrage out of this story, says Doug Mataconis at Outside the Beltway. But it was merely "two jerks who acted rudely and possibly criminally. Can we please not turn everything into a political cause?" Watch a news report: