Giuliani, Paul Face Off In Kentucky

In politics, feuds do not go quietly into the night. Rand Paul, son of Texas Rep. Ron Paul and Kentucky GOP Senate primary contender, is suffering the blowback of Rudy Giuliani's beef with his father. During the 2008 GOP presidential debates, Ron Paul earned the ire of Giuliani after Paul made the "extraordinary statement" that we "invited" the 9/11 attacks:

As ABC News' Teddy Davis reports, Giuliani, who was mayor of New York during 9/11, hasn't forgotten his grudge against Paul. Giuliani leapt into the Kentucky primary this week with an endorsement for Rand Paul's opponent, Secretary of State Trey Grayson. In a written statement, Giuliani makes it clear that Ron Paul's "blame America" stance is at the root of his decision, lumping Rand in with his father.

Trey Grayson is the candidate in this race who will make the right decisions necessary to keep America safe and prevent more attacks on our homeland. He is not part of the 'blame America first' crowd that wants to bestow the rights of U.S. citizens on terrorists and point fingers at America for somehow causing 9/11," Giuliani said.

Giuliani's endorsement has prompted a flurry of video activity. Grayson’s campaign quickly compiled a web video highlighting alternating statements in which the Pauls imply that 9/11 was a result of American activity in Muslim countries:

Shortly after Giuliani endorsed Grayson, the latter began airing TV ads criticizing Paul for his support for closing Guantanamo Bay:

Paul then accused Grayson of exploiting 9/11 "for political gain":

In a thorough breakdown of the spat, the Atlantic's Chris Good muses that "Kentucky has become a marquee primary for conservatives, second in national attention only to Florida's race between Marco Rubio and Gov. Charlie Crist." The video back-and-forth is likely to be only the beginning for the Kentucky primary.