Buckle up for a long season of Republican presidential candidates tap dancing around issues in order to appeal to the party’s conservative base.
On today’s episode, Rand Paul tries to align his ‘libertarianism’ with his outspoken position that same-sex marriage should be illegal.
CNN’s Dana Bash sat down with Paul, confronting him on his promise to New Hampshire voters that he’d “fight for your right to be left alone.”
“Why do you believe — just as a core principle as a libertarian — that people should be left alone, but not when it comes to their right to marry someone they love?” Bash logically asks the presidential hopeful.
How about we take this to the next level?
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“I do believe people ought to be left alone,” Paul says. “I don’t care who you are, what you do at home or who your friends are, where you hang out, what kind of music you listen to. What you do in your home is your own business. That’s always been who I am. I am a leave-me-alone kind of guy.”
“But not when it comes to marriage,” Bash pushes.
“Well, no, the states will end up making the decisions on these things,” Paul replies. “I think there’s a religious connotation to this. I also believe people ought to be treated fairly under the law. I see why if the marriage contract conveys certain things, that if you want to marry another woman, you can do that and have a contract. But the thing is that the religious connotation of marriage that has been going on for thousands of years, I still want to preserve that.”
“And you probably could have both,” he adds. “You could have both the traditional marriage, which I believe in and then you could also have the neutrality of the law that allows people to have contracts with another.”
There you have it. Rand Paul: anti-gay marriage, pro-gay contracts?
Watch the back-and-forth below:
h/t Raw Story
Francisco Huergo
pwned
Saint Law
Scratch a libertarian and an authoritarian reactionary bleeds.
It’s so great this skank doesn’t have a hope in Hell of attaining the office he wants to defecate all over.
Luis H. Lopez
Another homophobe from GOP !
Volvoguy
A contract are you frigging kidding me, I feel my marriage to my husband is a lot more than a contract .
I want all the rights that the breeders have, nothing more and nothing less from the goverent.
we live in Va. and finally our amazing governor stopped the discrimination in our state.
it will be all legal in the U.S. come June, and all this craziness will be in the past
T.C. McCloud
Funny thing, Jews have been doing marriages with Contracts since the dawn of time, and these contracts have stated what the groom and bride had as responsibilities towards each other.
McShane
That perm is… the best f’ing thing about this whole situation. I bet he cuts his own hair with one of those vacuum powered hair trimmers.
Low Country Boy
This is just typical GOP doublespeak during the primary season. Regardless of his personal beliefs, Paul must pander to the extreme GOP right to get the nomination, and then he must try to swing more centrist during the general election. I don’t understand the disbelief nor the outrage. It happens every election cycle with the GOP, which is why they will lose this next presidential election and Hillary will be president. BTW, posting comments that are coherent and grammatically correct get LOTS of bonus points in proving your point, people.
Xzamilio
Who gives a damn what “religious connotation” you think marriage has? We go be the CIVIL connotation… you know, the one that existed centuries before religious fundamentalists hijacked it. Religion doesn’t own marriage… it doesn’t own morality either. This so-called libertarian is an insult to his father and is clearly pandering to the Republican simpletons in his ranks… the states make decisions on a lot of the things the US Supreme
Court had to step in and undo because a few of our states tend to get things really wrong.
None of you have “traditional marriages”… you have a western construct that doesn’t even remotely resemble the biblical depiction of it… if it did, we’d transport every female rape victim from a hospital to a chapel and make her marry her rapist.
AtticusBennett
if you wanna see what cowards gay republicans are, look no further than the Log Cabin Republicans who are using this quote as if it’s a GOOD thing!
LMFAO!
they’re like “yay! look! he said we can be conditionally tolerated but we’re still an affront to Jesus!”
this is why you gay republicans are looked down on by everyone – you’re too freakin wimpy to stand up for yourselves.
Blackceo
Oh please. Anyone who supports marriage equality can’t “stand with Rand”. What a bunch of BS in his answer. Typical political double speak. Leave your religion out of how you will govern. And I hate the term “traditional marriage”
PS when is this Queerty wine getaway sweepstakes up cuz Im tired of the banner continuously popping up whenever I come on this site.
onthemark
Kentucky – where marriage is a sacred religious bond between two siblings!
Desert Boy
Randy Paul is a 9/11 truther. He’s a kook — just like his daddy.
1898
My church — a Christian denomination — believes that gay marriage is just as valid as heterosexual marriage. Who the heck is he to say marriage is only for heterosexuals? Who the heck is he to say his religion is more valid than mine? Who the heck is he to crap on my religious freedom? He’s not a libertarian, he’s a fascist. There are a lot of young gaybertarians who love this guy and I just don’t get it.
Mack
A contract is not valid when you try to visit your love one in the hospital. There it’s either your marriage license or “family members only”. If it were a contract then we wouldn’t be in this fight right now.
If a gay person votes for Republican then they just don’t care about their lives only what someone tells them to care about.
Ron King
Hurry up discriminate….
not fit to serve all Americans.
..
Giancarlo85
This is how most libertarian liars and shitheads are. I am sorry for calling them that… but that is what they are. They are backstabbing liars who only want “freedom” for themsselves. Most libertarians are extreme gun nuts… and the ones I’ve seen like Rand Paul are anti-gay marriage and against abortion. All over the fucking place. Well what can you say… the Paul family is the family of drunk raving lunatics. Just take a look at Rand Paul’s son… yeah there is a shining example of family!
Giancarlo85
Hey where is the LCR loser who said he would vote for Rand Paul? Some really lack a brain on here. Go back to the LCR forums please. We like to use logic and reason on here.
Justin Vanstechelman
Rand paul is NOT against the rights of anyone. His position is for individual rights not lumping people into groups ie. Womens rights, blacks rights, gay rights etc… but rather all people have equal rights as individuals. Stop being biased and learn your facts.
Don Salvato
That was such a stupid answer that you gave. Straight people don’t always get married for religious reasons. I say more than half the couples that get married probably don’t even get married at the church. It’s an easy way and an easy out to skirt the issue equal rights should be equal rights not different from one to the other he’s a total idiot in my book.
Bob Ashworth
Idiot
Justin Vanstechelman
https://youtu.be/279w76eHr_4
martinbakman
My impression is most younger libertarians favor marriage equality.
Rand Paul is just a Repub trying to widen his appeal and his money donations. For example bringing up a religious connotation to the argument is merely appeasing the bible beaters. He really said nothing meaningful about that.
Alex Rothwell
A bunch of B.S.
Giancarlo85
@Justin Vanstechelman: You don’t know what you’re talking about. You haven’t a clue. Rand Paul is against equal rights for same sex marriage, as he is appealing to religious clowns who vote for him.
You libertarians are just so stupid and you’ll do anything to defend this nutcase.
Giancarlo85
@Giancarlo85: *same sex couples
Giancarlo85
@Justin Vanstechelman: “but rather all people have equal rights as individuals. Stop being biased and learn your facts.”
What the fuck is that supposed to mean?
More libertarian fantasy.
This is not a nation of individuals. Nothing works that way. Humans are social. They are not hermits.
You libertarians are more ignorant than I thought!
AlliterationAddict
@1898: Yeah. For somebody who’s all about individual liberties and religious freedom, it’s a little bit hypocritical for Rand Paul to turn around and tell the Unitarian, Quaker, Lutheran and Episcopal churches how they should be practicing their own faith.
Firefigher Jim
Speak the truth! You don’t want gay rights!
jwtraveler
Rand Paul supports anything that will help him get elected and opposes anything that will prevent it. He’s a liboppurtarian.
cajuninvegas
@McShane….Boo, that’s a really, really, really bad hair piece!!!!
northwest
Rand Paul is a plagiarist, a double-talking bullshitter. The media better learn to call him on his crap a lot more than they have so far. Rachel Maddow seems to be the only reporter out there who knows that Rand is a fraud.
Noel Hoklin
Every candidate needs to
Be feted for their stance on homosexuality. For me it’s a black / white issue.
Cam
Typical Libertarian, they want the govt. to leave them alone on anything that matters to them, and then want the govt. to become a dictatorship about anything that wouldn’t be inconvenient to them.
AtticusBennett
Justin’s post is typically devoid of truth and understanding. Gay Libertarians always look like their mom’s drank heavily whilst pregnant….
lefawzi
Well, libertarians can forget my vote. WTF, they don’t let me marry the way my partner and I want to marry. They are just as reactionary as conservatives. Bizarre.
andy_d
@T.C. McCloud: Just remember, Paul is pandering to the so-called “Christians.” These are the same people, some of whom want only weddings performed in a church – not a synagogue, not a mosque, not any other religious venue. As far as a wedding performed in city hall or by a judge? These people don’t want that allowed either. The willful separation of religion and state to the extent that there has been legislation introduced on the state level to do this.
Curty
Contracts? That’s what romney said in new Hampshire in 2012…
Ron Parsons
Contracts are not good enough for the militant gay crowd, T. C.
James Hart
Once SCOTUS legalizes gay marriage nationwide in June, this stuff will be moot.
Giancarlo85
@Ron Parsons: Militant? LOL. As compared to the nutcases like yourself on the right wing? Gay people aren’t militant. Those who oppose gay people are highly militant and often have many guns… scary shit.
tjr101
Libertarians are just republicans in sheep’s clothing, they’re just as self-righteous, entitled bigots like the rest of the GOP crowd.