In an appearance in support of West Virginia Attorney General-and U.S. Senate candidate-Patrick Morrisey, Rand Paul tried to undermine the claim of his Democratic opponent, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, that he is bi-partisan-a claim independent groups have occasionally made.

Paul described Manchin, lauded as a fiscal conservative when he was West Virginia's governor, as a big spender.

"We're spending $50 billion a year in Afghanistan, said Paul (R-Kentucky). "Joe's never voted against any of that. He's also voting to sell arms to Saudi Arabia, and he's voting to send aid to countries who hate us and burn our flag."

Manchin, in statements he's made in the past, said the U.S. needs to pull it's military from Afghanistan.

Paul also cited Manchin's vote against the Republican-supported tax cuts, which he said have led to a major economic expansion.

We discussed with both Paul and Morrisey Manchin's argument that Attorney General Morrisey signed on to a lawsuit that, in part, would deny coverage for people with pre-existing conditions.

"Why do you want to throw all these people back on the streets and be at the mercy of the insurance companies," Manchin stated in an interview last week, "when right now, it's against the law for any insurance company to deny someone because they had a pre-existing condition?"

"You don't have to have Obamacare to have protection for pre-existing conditions," Morrisey said Thursday. "Let's protect those who need it the most, but you don't need Obamacare to do it."

"Interestingly," Paul added, "the plan I put forward with President Trump protects everyone with pre-existing conditions and Patrick is a supporter of it."

Paul praised Morrisey for supporting legal action against Obama administration regulations, including those involving those involving coal-fired power plants. Paul says Manchin has not signed on to co-sponsor bills reducting coal regulations.