Jennifer Rubin: "Rand Paul’s Hypocrisy Here is Stunning"

The crazed neocon has a point:

In 2013, the Virginia state Republican Party in its infinite wisdom decided to hold a convention, not a primary, to choose its statewide ticket. Predictably, a small group of hard-core Republicans handpicked two far-right candidates, Ken Cuccinelli and E.W. Jackson. Both lost, and Jackson’s incendiary rhetoric caused the party no small amount of grief. The takeaway by many in the state party was that if the party is to be competitive in a purple-leaning state, it needs to get out of the insular party confines of a convention and stage primaries where candidates with wider appeal can compete and bring in new voters.

But now, with the Virginia Republican Party central committee set to meet tomorrow, an effort is underway to keep the selection within the good-old-boy convention. Ironically, that effort comes from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who repeatedly presents himself as a man determined to open up the party and appeal to non-traditional voters. Republican insiders say there is a full-court press by his supporters, trying to pressure the 84-person central committee that will decide the issue. Whether the attempt by one candidate to rig the system in his favor is successful remains to be seen...

Paul’s hypocrisy here is stunning. For a couple of years now, Paul has been saying things like, “I’m working very hard to make sure our party’s bigger and more inclusive” and going to traditionally black colleges to show how much he wants voters who would never before have contemplated voting Republican. He also has been arguing, “We have to have a bigger party, a more inclusive party, and when we do we’re going to be the dominant party again, but if we do the same thing we’ve always done, and say hey, we’re going after the same people, we’re going to get the same result and that’s not been good for us in presidential elections.” So much for all that. Instead, because he lacks wider appeal, he’s making efforts to cut the GOP selection system off from non-traditional voters. Turning Virginia’s primary process into an affair for party insiders is precisely the wrong way to bring in minorities and independents.

If Virginia Republicans fall for this, forgetting the lesson of 2013, they have no one to blame but themselves. And if the GOP wants a candidate who can attract new, diverse voters, it should move away from closed-door conventions and sparsely attended caucuses. A candidate truly interested in expanding the party’s appeal — instead of furthering his own political aims at the expense of the party — would understand that.