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(CNN) Rand Paul is defending his relationship with Mitch McConnell after helping his fellow Kentuckian defeat a tea party-backed challenger in a GOP Senate primary.

"I came out of the tea party movement. I'm very concerned about the debt. I'm very concerned about big government," Paul said on Friday. "But I think the misnomer is to think somehow Senator McConnell isn't. That's what his whole entire career has been predicated upon - fighting against big government."

The comments by Paul, the state's junior senator, came at a news conference with McConnell in Louisville that was focused on building party unity following a bruising campaign in which the minority leader's opponent, Matt Bevin, got 35% of the primary vote.

Some in the conservative grassroots movement immediately called for Republican voters to unite and support McConnell.

But Bevin has been noticeably quiet and hasn't said whether he'll back his rivalthough he flatly stated on election night that he won't back the Democratic nominee.

That's not stopping Alison Lundergan Grimes, however. She's actively going after Bevin supporters. In an open letter Friday to the 40% of Republican voters who didn't vote for McConnell, she argued that a vote for Grimes is a vote for change.

"Yes, we are in different parties, and we have divergent views on some issues. But if you believe that we need a fresh face to shake up Washington, I invite you to join our campaign," the letter stated.

Bevin hit back later Friday with his own letter, saying she doesn't understand "the principles that united my campaign's supporters" and disparaged her stance on a number of items on her agenda.

He agreed with her that Kentucky needs change, but not her kind of change. He made no direct mention of McConnell in the letter.

Come fall, Paul argued that those who identify with the tea party movement will rally behind McConnell to thump Grimes.

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Rand Paul: It's a 'misnomer' to say McConnell isn't conservative

LOUISVILLE U.S. Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul predicted Friday that any hurt feelings left over from McConnell's bitter primary against GOP challenger Matt Bevin will recede when conservative voters learn more about Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes.

"Really, the real question for Mrs. Grimes is how is she going to win in the state of Kentucky when she's a friend of President Obama and (Senate Majority Leader) Harry Reid and she will vote for them?" Paul said. "Unless she can tell the voters she's willing to vote against Harry Reid, I don't know how we can consider her."

The senators spoke at a joint news conference that was the first for the two men since Tuesday's primary, when more than a third of Republican voters pulled the lever for Bevin.

Paul said he thinks "the people who identify with the Tea Party will come out when they realize what a disaster it would be for Kentucky to have Mrs. Grimes."

Last week's Bluegrass Poll found that 25 percent of Bevin supporters said they would support Grimes if McConnell won the primary, and Grimes sought to cement that support Friday with an open letter to Bevin's supporters.

In the letter, addressed to "Kentucky Republicans and Independents," Grimes wrote that McConnell "and his Washington lobbyist friends said a lot of negative untrue things about Matt Bevin and his family."

When asked for a list of the "untrue" things McConnell said about Bevin, Grimes spokeswoman Charly Norton said she was "going to let the letter speak for itself."

"If you believe that it is past time to give Mitch McConnell and his D.C. lobbyist cronies the boot, I welcome you to join our effort to elect an independent, commonsense problem-solver who will fight for Kentucky values," Grimes wrote in the letter.

When asked about Grimes' letter, McConnell and Paul both laughed as the senior senator said he hopes "she'll spend all of her time trying to get Republicans to vote for her."

Later Friday, Bevin issued an open letter to Grimes, questioning where she stands "on issues like Obamacare, amnesty, and abortion."

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McConnell, Paul and Grimes court Bevin's backers after contentious primary

Republicans kick off the state GOP convention in Kaneohe
GOP candidates for state and national office fired up hundreds of enthusiastic supporters in preparation for upcoming elections.

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Republicans kick off the state GOP convention in Kaneohe - Video

WASHINGTON - Republicans who hope to wrest control of the U.S. Senate from Democrats see medical care delays for veterans as a potent line of attack and are devising ways to keep the issue in the news in the months leading up to the November congressional elections.

They are planning a long summer of investigations and hearings on problems at the Veterans Affairs agency to highlight what they say is a pattern of mismanagement in President Barack Obama's administration.

Republicans have tread lightly so far to avoid appearing callous in exploiting an issue involving allegations that veterans died while waiting for VA care. But lawmakers, aides and campaign strategists in the party say they are now ready to go on the offensive, attacking Obama for his slow response to the scandal.

They say the VA care delays and alleged cover-ups are another blunder for Obama, equal to the botched roll out of his healthcare reform law last year, the 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya and the targeting of conservative groups by the Internal Revenue Service.

"This is part of a larger theme that we've been saying for a year now, that voters don't trust the government," said Brook Hougesen, spokeswoman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. "Just as Obamacare called into question Democrats' accountability, this does the same."

The scandal is national in scope and focuses on a group that is revered by lawmakers and voters regardless of party. The 21 million U.S. veterans make up a sizeable political constituency on their own and nearly 9 million use VA health care.

The VA Inspector General now is investigating 26 locations across the United States, which aides and strategists say will provide a drum beat of news from local media that will fuel voter outrage in battleground states.

Paul Sracic, who heads the political science department at Youngstown State University in Ohio, said the scandal is dangerous for Democrats because it allows Republicans to link outrage over the VA health care problems to voter discontent over the "Obamacare" reforms.

"If Republicans were writing a script for the summer they couldn't have made up a better story," said Sracic. "The last thing Democrats want is to be still talking about this after Labor Day."

Democrats say they are focused on a strong response to fixing the VA problems. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday said Congress should consider a broad restructuring of the way Veterans Affairs provides medical care.

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US Republicans map campaign attack plan on veterans scandal

Progressives vs. The Democratic Party (w/ William Greider)
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By: The Zero Hour with RJ Eskow

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Progressives vs. The Democratic Party (w/ William Greider) - Video