Rand Paul Makes Changes In U.S. Senate Campaign Staff.
Rand Paul makes changes in U.S. Senate campaign staff after series of controversies
By Joseph Gerth
Republican U.S. Senate nominee Rand Paul has made changes to his staff after a week of controversy over his views on issues such as civil rights.
Jesse Benton, who worked on the presidential campaign of Paul's father, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, will take over as campaign manager for the November election. Former campaign manager David Adams will become campaign chairman.
Benton said the changes merely reflect the duties that he and Adams have undertaken over the past three months. He said they don't mean Paul, a Bowling Green ophthalmologist, is unhappy with the performance of the staff he put together in emerging from virtual obscurity to win the GOP nomination in roughly a year's time.
He also said it's not the result of establishment Republicans urging Paul to professionalize his staff.
Benton said he will be in charge of hiring new staff for the Bowling Green office as the campaign grows over the next five months and overseeing campaign operations.
"My job will be sitting at a desk, managing fundraising, working on campaign strategy and running the office," he said.
Benton was communications director for Ron Paul's 2010 presidential campaign and served as vice president of the Campaign for Liberty, which according to its website promotes "the great American principles of individual liberty, constitutional government, sound money, free markets and a noninterventionist foreign policy."
Adams, a conservative blogger-turned-political-consultant, will serve as a senior adviser to Rand Paul, helping him on campaign strategy. He also will be a spokesman and Paul's primary liaison to the people of Kentucky, Benton said.
Spencer Bell, a campaign volunteer, has been named as deputy campaign manager.
Last week, just 24 hours after claiming the nomination, Paul was grilled on national television about his previously stated view that federal civil rights law shouldn't bar businesses from practicing racial discrimination.
An uproar ensured, and the next day Paul backtracked, saying he would have voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which barred businesses that provide public accommodations from discriminating. He also he said he believed government was within its rights to pass such a law.
Some Republicans, in addition to calling for staff changes, urged him to take a lower profile. It appears that he has.
Paul, who canceled an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday, hasn't appeared on national television since last Friday, when he went on ABC's "Good Morning America" to criticize President Barack Obama for sounding "un-American" in his criticism of BP regarding the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
On Wednesday Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., reiterated the call for Paul to take a lower-key approach. He told CNN's John King that "the criticism of BP was obviously well-founded" and that Paul should focus his energies back home.
"My advice to him would be to speak to the people who are going to be actually voting in this election. I think he's said quite enough for the time being in terms of national press coverage," McConnell said.
Meanwhile, the Libertarian Party of Kentucky has criticized Paul for his "hurtful" statements on civil rights.
Paul is often called a libertarian, and his father ran for president in 1988 on the Libertarian Party ticket. But Libertarian Party of Kentucky vice chairman Joshua Koch said in a statement Wednesday that Rand Paul "is not a libertarian."
"Rand Paul's statements regarding all forms of discrimination are not consistent with, nor do they reflect the views of, the Libertarian Party of Kentucky. ... We condemn all bigotry based on any and all factors," Koch said.
By Joseph Gerth
Republican U.S. Senate nominee Rand Paul has made changes to his staff after a week of controversy over his views on issues such as civil rights.
Jesse Benton, who worked on the presidential campaign of Paul's father, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, will take over as campaign manager for the November election. Former campaign manager David Adams will become campaign chairman.
Benton said the changes merely reflect the duties that he and Adams have undertaken over the past three months. He said they don't mean Paul, a Bowling Green ophthalmologist, is unhappy with the performance of the staff he put together in emerging from virtual obscurity to win the GOP nomination in roughly a year's time.
He also said it's not the result of establishment Republicans urging Paul to professionalize his staff.
Benton said he will be in charge of hiring new staff for the Bowling Green office as the campaign grows over the next five months and overseeing campaign operations.
"My job will be sitting at a desk, managing fundraising, working on campaign strategy and running the office," he said.
Benton was communications director for Ron Paul's 2010 presidential campaign and served as vice president of the Campaign for Liberty, which according to its website promotes "the great American principles of individual liberty, constitutional government, sound money, free markets and a noninterventionist foreign policy."
Adams, a conservative blogger-turned-political-consultant, will serve as a senior adviser to Rand Paul, helping him on campaign strategy. He also will be a spokesman and Paul's primary liaison to the people of Kentucky, Benton said.
Spencer Bell, a campaign volunteer, has been named as deputy campaign manager.
Last week, just 24 hours after claiming the nomination, Paul was grilled on national television about his previously stated view that federal civil rights law shouldn't bar businesses from practicing racial discrimination.
An uproar ensured, and the next day Paul backtracked, saying he would have voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which barred businesses that provide public accommodations from discriminating. He also he said he believed government was within its rights to pass such a law.
Some Republicans, in addition to calling for staff changes, urged him to take a lower profile. It appears that he has.
Paul, who canceled an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday, hasn't appeared on national television since last Friday, when he went on ABC's "Good Morning America" to criticize President Barack Obama for sounding "un-American" in his criticism of BP regarding the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
On Wednesday Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., reiterated the call for Paul to take a lower-key approach. He told CNN's John King that "the criticism of BP was obviously well-founded" and that Paul should focus his energies back home.
"My advice to him would be to speak to the people who are going to be actually voting in this election. I think he's said quite enough for the time being in terms of national press coverage," McConnell said.
Meanwhile, the Libertarian Party of Kentucky has criticized Paul for his "hurtful" statements on civil rights.
Paul is often called a libertarian, and his father ran for president in 1988 on the Libertarian Party ticket. But Libertarian Party of Kentucky vice chairman Joshua Koch said in a statement Wednesday that Rand Paul "is not a libertarian."
"Rand Paul's statements regarding all forms of discrimination are not consistent with, nor do they reflect the views of, the Libertarian Party of Kentucky. ... We condemn all bigotry based on any and all factors," Koch said.
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