But throughout the primary campaign, Democrats – and some Republicans – had said that Mr. Paul would prove to be a much stronger candidate in the limited field of a primary than in a general election. Democrats had made no secret that they would prefer to run against Mr. Paul than his opponent, Trey Grayson, the secretary of state, a more moderate and politically experienced choice.
And since Tuesday, the reason for Democrats’ optimism — and for the apprehension of Republicans like Mr. McConnell – has become clear as Mr. Paul has struggled to account for his views on issues like segregation, and to explain why a candidate of the Tea Party would hold his victory night celebration at a posh country club in Bowling Green.
In an interview with Rachel Maddow on MSNBC, Mr. Paul appeared uncertain about whether he would have supported forcing private businesses to desegregate in the 1960s, suggesting that might run afoul of his libertarian philosophy. His views emerged as Ms. Maddow asked Mr. Paul if he thought a private business had the right to refuse service to a patron who was black.
(Mr. Paul’s campaign issued a statement late Thursday morning following the Maddow interview, in which he said he supported the Civil Rights Act. It appears below.)
“I’m not in favor of any discrimination of any form,” he said. “ I would never belong to any club that excluded anybody for race. We still do have private clubs in America that can discriminate based on race.”
But things got murky from there in the interview: “Well, what it gets into is, is that then if you decide that restaurants are publicly owned and not privately owned, then do you say that you should have the right to bring your gun into a restaurant, even though the owner of the restaurant says, well, no, we don’t want to have guns in here? The bar says we don’t want to have guns in here, because people might drink and start fighting and shoot each other. Does the owner of the restaurant own his restaurant? Or does the government own his restaurant?”
Democrats were quick to pounce, suggesting that the interview showed that Mr. Paul in fact thought that private businesses had the right to refuse service to patrons based on race.
Update: Mr. Paul’s campaign issued a statement this morning in response to the uproar over his remarks. In it, he said that he supported the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the landmark anti-discrimination law. :
“I believe we should work to end all racism in American society and staunchly defend the inherent rights of every person,” he said. “I have clearly stated in prior interviews that I abhor racial discrimination and would have worked to end segregation. Even though this matter was settled when I was 2, and no serious people are seeking to revisit it except to score cheap political points, I unequivocally state that I will not support any efforts to repeal the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”
Mr. Paul disputed the claim by opponents that he would support repealing the Civil Rights Act.
“These attacks prove one thing for certain: the liberal establishment is desperate to keep leaders like me out of office, and we are sure to hear more wild, dishonest smears during this campaign,” he said.
And in an interview on “Good Morning America” on ABC, Mr. Paul argued that his decision to hold his election night celebration at a fancy country club was not in any way at variance with the grass-roots movement he has now come to epitomize. And in the process of explaining his decision, Mr. Paul invoked Tiger Woods, the golfer.
“I think at one time, people used to think of golf and golf clubs and golf courses as being exclusive,” Mr. Paul said, adding, “Tiger Woods has helped to broaden that, in the sense that he’s brought golf to a lot of the cities and to city youth.”
These interviews have come at a propitious time for Democrats, who greeted Mr. Paul’s victory by noting past interviews in which he hinted at views that appear out of the mainstream, like his favoring abolishing the Department of Education and the income tax, and raising the retirement age.
By ADAM NAGOURNEY
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