Ouch. For Trey Grayson, anyway.

Rand Paul leads Trey Grayson 44 to 25 in the latest Public Policy Polling survey.

• He’s got a 54-22 lead over Grayson with voters upset with the GOP in Congress.
• 54-18 with those who think the GOP is too liberal.
• 40-25 lead with people who approve of Republicans in Congress.
• 38-28 with those comfortable with the GOP as it stands.

But it’s not all puppies and rainbows for Mr. Teabagger:

Despite Paul’s early advantage this race could change a lot between now and the election, primarily because neither of the candidates are all that well known at this point. A plurality don’t know enough about Paul to have formed an opinion of him and a majority have no feelings one way or the other yet toward Grayson.

Click here (Warning: PDF Link) to review the full crosstabs from PPP.

Grayson’s Faves/Unfaves:
Favorable: 22%
Unfavorable: 15%
Not Sure: 64%

Paul’s Faves/Unfaves:
Favorable: 39%
Unfavorable: 13%
Not Sure: 48%

And all respondents truly were White Male Liberty Patriots. 94% responded as being “white.”

For the Democrats… Jack Conway leads Daniel Mongiardo 37% to 33% with 30% undecided.

Jack Conway’s Faves/Unfaves:
Favorable: 27%
Unfavorable: 15%
Not Sure: 58%

Daniel Mongiardo’s Faves/Unfaves:
Favoriable: 40%
Unfavorable: 27%
Not Sure: 33%

Dun dun dun… let the race begin.

UPDATE: The Conway Camp reacts…

“This is great news for Kentucky Democrats who are looking for the strongest candidate in the fall. Jack Conway has a proven record of accomplishment. He knows this campaign is not about name calling but instead about making sure we find immediate solutions to the problems facing our state by creating quality jobs and helping working families,” said Conway Campaign Spokesperson Allison Haley. “This poll validates our internal polling and what we’ve already known – the momentum is with our campaign.”

Conway leads in popularity among nearly every demographic group, including young people age 18-29, among whom he is preferred by 56 percent; voters over age 65, among whom he is preferred 43-34 percent; and African-Americans, among whom he is preferred 42-29 percent.

In comparison, if the election were held today, Daniel Mongiardo loses to Jack Conway among women, 38-32 percent in favor of Conway; men, 36-33 percent in favor of Conway; liberals, 50-28 percent in favor of Conway; and conservatives, 40-23 percent in favor of Conway.

“Mongiardo has run for office several times and has higher name identification among voters but now, as people get to know Jack, they realize he has a strong record of holding government accountable and keeping our families safe,” Haley said. “We have a significant financial advantage going into 2010 and this campaign also has the advantage of being focused on what’s important to voters – job creation, opportunity and accountability.”