Months after Rand Paul met the nation with his epic gaffe/completely intentional/let’s just pretend they never happened comments about the 1964 Civil Rights Act on the Rachel Maddow Show, Paul’s Democratic opponent in the Kentucky Senate race is turning what he said into a campaign ad.
Jack Conway’s latest TV ad — coming in the midst of criticism over the stomping of a MoveOn.org activist by a former Paul county coordinator — focuses on Conway’s statement that “when I see a wrong, I try to right it.”
The stomping incident is not directly mentioned in the ad, but Conway’s camp has attempted to make political hay out of Paul’s response to the controversy. Conway’s campaign says Paul’s initial response wasn’t strong enough (in other words, when he saw a “wrong,” he didn’t “right it” immediately) and pressured Paul to say and do more in response. Paul has issued several statements on the incident, including one yesterday where his campaign said it was “extremely disappointed in, and condemns the actions of” the supporter who did the stomping.
The Maddow moment, however, is mentioned in this new ad, suggesting that the general election fight will end where it began — with critics asking Paul to clarify just exactly what it is he thinks about Civil Rights.
“My opponent’s ideas would make things worse,” Conway says in the ad, reeling off a list of familiar attacks on Paul’s positions. Eventually he mentions “ending civil rights,” which can only be read as an attack on Paul’s Maddow moment.
For those who don’t remember it, Paul’s May 19 appearance on Maddow was the highlight of Paul’s disastrous first week as Republican nominee. Putting on his former libertarian thinker hat, Paul proceeded to outline his problems with the 1964 Civil Rights Act in a 20-minute interview. The interview led many to question his political acumen — including Kentucky’s senior Sen. Mitch McConnell, and forced Paul to swear he would have voted for the act as it was signed in ‘64.
Paul never shook the Maddow interview, really, when it came to the national press — though he has repeated his pro-‘64 act stance many times on the trail — and now Conway is bringing it up again.
Will it be enough? Polls suggest that voters have come to accept Paul as he is — a Republican with some some outside-the-mainstream views. Recent numbers show that voters like Paul even as a large number of them worry he might be “too extreme.”
Conway’s not letting go of the Maddow moment, though, doing his best to see that voters remember it to the bitter end.
Watch Conway’s latest ad:
The TPM Poll Average shows Paul ahead 48.7-42.6.
Evan McMorris-Santoro
Evan McMorris-Santoro has covered politics for TPM since 2009. Before that, he was a reporter at National Journal’s Hotline covering election 2008. He started his career covering local politics at newspapers in TN and his native NC.
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