John Sherman Cooper: "I Not Only Represent Kentucky, I Represent The Nation, And There Are Times When You Follow, And Times When You Lead." YEP!
Rand Paul in the spotlight
By James R. Carroll
In the summer of 1964, Washington was engaged in a great debate, a debate on a moral issue, as President John F. Kennedy had said the previous summer.
"It is as old as the Scriptures and is as clear as the American Constitution," Kennedy had declared. He was talking about civil rights.
A year later, after Kennedy's assassination, Congress worked in the Washington heat and passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Among the key lawmakers who helped make that happen was a Republican senator from Kentucky, John Sherman Cooper. And among those who watched the skillful senator, whose ability to work across the aisle with Democrats was a given, was a 22-year-old fellow working as an intern in Cooper's office.
That young man was Addison Mitchell McConnell Jr.
As detailed in John David Dyche's book, Republican Leader: A Political Biography of Senator Mitch McConnell , the young Kentuckian was inspired by Cooper's stand on civil rights at a time when there was fierce opposition to action by Congress.
So McConnell asked the senator: "How do you take such a tough stand and square it with the fact that a considerable number of people who have chosen you have the opposite view?"
Cooper's answer: "I not only represent Kentucky, I represent the nation, and there are times when you follow, and times when you lead."
It was an example McConnell never forgot. The following year, McConnell was in the nation's capital visiting Cooper on a day in early August. On impulse, Cooper grabbed McConnell's arm and took him into the Capitol Rotunda to witness President Lyndon B. Johnson sign the National Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Forty-five years after that summer, a man who wants to join McConnell in representing Kentucky in the United States Senate suddenly injected the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into the campaign of 2010.
Rand Paul, in a meeting with The Courier-Journal's editorial board, and then in post-primary broadcast interviews, balked when asked point-blank whether he supported the Civil Rights Act. While he abhorred discrimination and racism, Paul said, he had problems with the federal government dictating what private business owners could do.
Suddenly, Paul's overnight rise to national prominence as a successful tea party candidate brought with it a spotlight on his views about issues many others might have considered settled.
The furor has yet to die down, even as Paul walked back his position late Thursday to say he, in fact, supported the landmark civil rights measure.
McConnell, who had just announced his support for Paul on Tuesday night after Paul trounced Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson in the Republican Senate primary, was compelled to say something.
McConnell spokesman Robert Steurer offered this: "Among Senator McConnell's most vivid memories and most formative events in his career was watching his boss, Sen. John Sherman Cooper, help pull together the votes to break the filibuster and pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He has always considered the law a monumental achievement for the country and is glad to hear Dr. Paul supports it as well."
Paul's post-election crisis on civil rights is unlikely to be the last conflict between the new Senate GOP candidate's views and those of McConnell and, more broadly, those of many among Kentucky's electorate.
With his comments on civil rights, Paul has broadened the conversation that dominated the primary campaign about the role of government in spending (and related issues on taxes and debt).
Now, Paul's views on the nature of the role of the federal government in American life are going to get closer examination. It is a natural consequence of his becoming the Republican nominee for the Senate.
People naturally will want to know the implications of Paul's views on federal "overreach," and whether his philosophy of limited government means he supports or opposes any number of programs or laws. The list of questions is potentially endless.
The GOP strategy is, in part, to try to define Paul's Democratic opponent, Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway. The GOP obviously does not want to get sidetracked by daily sensations over Paul's opinions.
Likewise, Republicans running for congressional seats in other states would prefer not to be peppered with questions about whether they agree with Paul on various issues. That prospect is further complicated by the fact that other GOP candidates are casting themselves as outsiders like Paul.
At the very least, what Paul has done is to ensure that the Kentucky Senate contest will be in the national political consciousness right through Election Day in November.
Reporter James R. Carroll can be reached at (202) 906-8141.
Editor's comment: So SAD we lack PRINCIPLED Leadership, like that provided by Senator Cooper, all across our nation.
By James R. Carroll
In the summer of 1964, Washington was engaged in a great debate, a debate on a moral issue, as President John F. Kennedy had said the previous summer.
"It is as old as the Scriptures and is as clear as the American Constitution," Kennedy had declared. He was talking about civil rights.
A year later, after Kennedy's assassination, Congress worked in the Washington heat and passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Among the key lawmakers who helped make that happen was a Republican senator from Kentucky, John Sherman Cooper. And among those who watched the skillful senator, whose ability to work across the aisle with Democrats was a given, was a 22-year-old fellow working as an intern in Cooper's office.
That young man was Addison Mitchell McConnell Jr.
As detailed in John David Dyche's book, Republican Leader: A Political Biography of Senator Mitch McConnell , the young Kentuckian was inspired by Cooper's stand on civil rights at a time when there was fierce opposition to action by Congress.
So McConnell asked the senator: "How do you take such a tough stand and square it with the fact that a considerable number of people who have chosen you have the opposite view?"
Cooper's answer: "I not only represent Kentucky, I represent the nation, and there are times when you follow, and times when you lead."
It was an example McConnell never forgot. The following year, McConnell was in the nation's capital visiting Cooper on a day in early August. On impulse, Cooper grabbed McConnell's arm and took him into the Capitol Rotunda to witness President Lyndon B. Johnson sign the National Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Forty-five years after that summer, a man who wants to join McConnell in representing Kentucky in the United States Senate suddenly injected the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into the campaign of 2010.
Rand Paul, in a meeting with The Courier-Journal's editorial board, and then in post-primary broadcast interviews, balked when asked point-blank whether he supported the Civil Rights Act. While he abhorred discrimination and racism, Paul said, he had problems with the federal government dictating what private business owners could do.
Suddenly, Paul's overnight rise to national prominence as a successful tea party candidate brought with it a spotlight on his views about issues many others might have considered settled.
The furor has yet to die down, even as Paul walked back his position late Thursday to say he, in fact, supported the landmark civil rights measure.
McConnell, who had just announced his support for Paul on Tuesday night after Paul trounced Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson in the Republican Senate primary, was compelled to say something.
McConnell spokesman Robert Steurer offered this: "Among Senator McConnell's most vivid memories and most formative events in his career was watching his boss, Sen. John Sherman Cooper, help pull together the votes to break the filibuster and pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He has always considered the law a monumental achievement for the country and is glad to hear Dr. Paul supports it as well."
Paul's post-election crisis on civil rights is unlikely to be the last conflict between the new Senate GOP candidate's views and those of McConnell and, more broadly, those of many among Kentucky's electorate.
With his comments on civil rights, Paul has broadened the conversation that dominated the primary campaign about the role of government in spending (and related issues on taxes and debt).
Now, Paul's views on the nature of the role of the federal government in American life are going to get closer examination. It is a natural consequence of his becoming the Republican nominee for the Senate.
People naturally will want to know the implications of Paul's views on federal "overreach," and whether his philosophy of limited government means he supports or opposes any number of programs or laws. The list of questions is potentially endless.
The GOP strategy is, in part, to try to define Paul's Democratic opponent, Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway. The GOP obviously does not want to get sidetracked by daily sensations over Paul's opinions.
Likewise, Republicans running for congressional seats in other states would prefer not to be peppered with questions about whether they agree with Paul on various issues. That prospect is further complicated by the fact that other GOP candidates are casting themselves as outsiders like Paul.
At the very least, what Paul has done is to ensure that the Kentucky Senate contest will be in the national political consciousness right through Election Day in November.
Reporter James R. Carroll can be reached at (202) 906-8141.
Editor's comment: So SAD we lack PRINCIPLED Leadership, like that provided by Senator Cooper, all across our nation.
Labels: Keeping them honest
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 12:12 PM
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