Paul's Civil-Rights Remarks Ignite Row

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 unexpectedly became a focus of the midterm elections Thursday as tea-party favorite Rand Paul criticized the federal role in desegregating private businesses, then later said he would have voted for the law. Mr. Paul, the Republican Party's newly elected Senate nominee in Kentucky, has built his campaign around limiting the reach of the federal government. Pressed in two interviews on Wednesday—the first day of his general-election campaign for the Senate—Mr. Paul declined to say that he would have voted as a senator for the landmark civil-rights law. "I'm opposed to any form of governmental racism or discrimination or segregation," he told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow. But he said the question of imposing standards on private businesses was "still a valid discussion." "The thing is, is if we want to harbor in on private businesses and their policies, then you have to have the discussion about [whether] you want to abridge the First Amendment as well," he said. His comments prompted a day of discomfort for GOP leaders, just before the Senate's senior Republican, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R, Ky.), was scheduled to stand with Mr. Paul at a unity rally Saturday in Kentucky. The statements also underscored the challenge for the national GOP of absorbing insurgent, anti-establishment candidates such as Mr. Paul, who have tapped into the energy of the tea-party movement and other frustrated conservatives...more