The Rise of Rand Paul and the Mainstreaming of the Racist Right

Just what is this Rand Paul phenomenon anyways?

Shortly after taking on the Republican political establishment– and winning– in the Kentucky Senate primary, Paul has Republicans, Libertarians, and Democrats all wondering if he’s the real deal or not. For starters, his comments that the Civil Rights Act should be abolished and private businesses should have the right to discriminate on the basis of race (and presumably other factors) caused an immediate firestorm of controversy both within and outside the GOP.

That alone would be news, but Paul has been running as the Tea Party darling, advertising himself as an anti-establishment Libertarian and drawing on his father Ron Paul’s deep ties with the party. But the more Rand Paul opens his mouth, the more it becomes clear that, if he does represent the Tea Party movement, the Tea Party movement does not represent Libertarians.

For starters, Paul’s views on racial segregation were offensive enough in the Libertarian movement that the Libertarian Party is giving serious consideration to running a candidate against him. Should a Libertarian candidate enter for the November election, it would almost guarantee the Senate seat would go to Rand’s Democratic opponent, Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway.

Paul’s anti-abortion views also do not align with Libertarian principles of minimal government reach into the lives of individuals. Paul describes himself as 100% pro-life, believing that life begins at conception and supports any and all legislative efforts to restrict abortion access, including a “Human Life Amendment” to the Constitution and a “Life at Conception Act” as federal answers to the abortion debate.

Paul has also sided with the Arizona legislature and its ongoing draconian and racist legislation as a solution to the immigration problem. Paul went so far as to say that he opposes citizenship for the children born in the U.S. to parents who are undocumented. Of course, this view is also supported by the neo-fascist Sen. Pearce of Arizona, the primary architect of Arizona’s crackdown on Latinos. These neo-nazi ties may not come as a surprise to those familiar with Ron Paul’s supporters, including Stormfront, the white nationalists who also support Rand Paul.

So what does all this say about the Rand Paul candidacy, and the Tea Party movement in general? It would appear that, rather than an offshoot of Libertarianism, the Tea Party movement and its candidates is truly the mainstream of white nationalists hate. It’s good to see the Libertarian Party rise up and denounce Paul as a result of these views and finally take measures to distance itself from the purposeful infection by the racist right. At the end of the day the Rand Paul candidacy shows that the Tea Party movement is really the mainstreaming of the racist arm of the Republican Party, an evolution popularized and somewhat sanitized by Pat Buchanan, who coincidentally, is one of Rand Paul’s biggest cheerleaders. And if Paul wins in November then the GOP will have to answer the question it has been dodging for the first part of the Obama presidency–just how entrenched is the GOP establishment with the racist wing of its party?

photo courtesy of Image Editor via Flickr

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Jim M.

8:24AM PST on Feb 5, 2012

@ michail a., both Ron and Rand Paul have expressed admiration of early civil rights leaders for their Ghandi-like resistance to segregation. Many of Ron Paul's OBGYN patients would certainly take issue with you that he is anti-woman. Yes, it's true that Ron Paul ran out on "Bruno" when he dropped his pants during the mock interview but he has many gay supporters due to his disagreement that marriage should be defined or dictated by government. Much of his support from blacks stems from his position against the War on Drugs, which incarcerates people of color at a much higher rate than whites despite roughly equal levels of abuse in each demographic. Paul is so "right wing" that he wants to end our military occupations. If he is the nominee many militant neoconservatives will vote for Obama who has been doing a great job in their eyes at carrying the continual war baton of George Bush. You need to open your eyes.

send a green star

michail a.

8:20AM PST on Feb 5, 2012

I hate to see on care2 people defending these gop repugnics.

8:16AM PST on Feb 5, 2012

Sir Walk F. /the truth hurts, it always did

8:14AM PST on Feb 5, 2012

We all knoe aligned hitler and stalin they cooperated with each other after they signed their infamous accord in 1938, to delay the fight against the nazi regime. The nazi pary was nationalist and socialist, soviet union was nationalist and communist and socialist. All 3 defunt ideologies kiled and destroyed millions of peoples. Nowadays the gop repugnics still invoke the word `` socialism`` in their hated against our African-American President is proof enough of their own defunt ideology and they contiune their lies.

8:02AM PST on Feb 5, 2012

to jim m. the above article speaks for itself, ron paul is no libertarian, he is just lilke the others santorium + gingrich+ a homophobe, racist, anti abortion, anti women, that his shows up on nazi website is proof enough plus his crazy son...............need to say more. Hate to see people on care2 trying to justify the gop sell out to the extreme right.

5:47AM PST on Feb 5, 2012

@ michail a., I'm afraid your harangue carries little weight for lack of specifics. Perhaps you could present some evidence to back up your assertions. At this point all I see is partisan venom.

5:38AM PST on Feb 5, 2012

Yes ron paul and rand paul are true demagogues in the truest sense. how dare ron paul to call himself libertarian, i guess all smiles on the media was to dupe people. Republican Party today became just nothing but a bunch of racist joddlers toddling themselves under the tea party umbrella into mainstream, No way! American People are too educated to fall for the rnc racist bullshit. Who are they kidding here?

7:12AM PST on Feb 4, 2012

Oh yeah, Dr. Paul is opposed to legal abortion on the state lever but realizes the issue, like murder and rape, properly belong at the state level not the federal level, as per our Constitution.

7:07AM PST on Feb 4, 2012

Pat D., you should be aware of the difference between paleoconservatives and neoconservatives. The neos are the ones who are in favor of American military interventionism and are generally in favor of bigger government. The paleoconservatives want only to defend America and have a smaller government. You'll find many paleoconservatives like Barry Goldwater Jr. and the John Birch Society that are big supporters of Dr. Paul. BTW, the Birch Society welcomes members of all races and faiths, something you would never hear on a college campus. They are also paleos on the use of our US military.

Pad D.

6:16AM PST on Feb 4, 2012

Frances: You are the one that is not well educated in history.
1939-41 Stalin aligned himself with Hitler.
NAZI means National SOCIALIST, which is leftist.
Conservative people are against fascism.

"Tea bagger' has zero to do with it. ALL Socialism is left, not conservative.