Louisville, Kentucky (CNN) -- The Kentucky State Fair has its share of eye-popping choices: *Deep fried Kool-Aid *The Donut Burger, a heart-stopping marriage of Krispy Kreme and quarter pounder. *And this year, at the 50th annual Farm Bureau Country Ham Breakfast, a have to see it to believe it pairing: former foes Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul side by side, all smiles, eager to prove the Republican establishment and the tea party cannot only coexist, but can be allies. It wasn't too long ago that Paul, a freshman senator, was a thorn in McConnell's side -- defeating the Senate Republican leader's candidate of choice in the 2010 primary season that helped put the tea party on the map.
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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell faces a tea party backed primary opponent in his 2014 reelection bid
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Challenger Matt Bevin is leveling a litany of familiar tea party attacks against McConnell
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Once a thorn in McConnell's side, freshman Sen. Rand Paul is now part of an awkward alliance with him
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The Kentucky primary is May 20 and the GOP primary looks likely to shatter state spending records for Senate races
McConnell is already spending on TV ads, painting @placeholder as a political opportunist.