Mavericks: Turnabout is Fair Play

24 August 2010 |permalink | email article

Politics is a contact sport which demands orthodoxy. One tenet is liberals do not suddenly become conservatives, nor conservatives convert to liberalism. But there are occasions when well known politicians stray as a matter of conscience. Two mavericks, Republican Rep. Ron Paul of Texas and former Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel from Nebraska, are interesting case studies.

Last Friday Paul split with his son, Rand Paul, the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in Kentucky, over the mosque near Ground Zero.

The senior Paul lashed into opponents of the religious and cultural center, comparing lawmakers to Emperor Nero. “It looks to me like the politicians are ‘fiddling while the economy burns,’” and goes on to blame the neoconservative movement for fueling the controversy. “This is all about hate and Islamaphobia.”

Rand Paul told TPMDC that he does not support the construction of the mosque but said it is a local matter which should be decided by the people of New York. When libertarian leaning Rep. Paul was asked by Talking Points Memo about the apparent disagreement with his son, a spokesman said via e-mail, “Rand Paul is his own man.”

Hagel will endorse Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak for the U.S. Senate in appearances today in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia – a stunning and unique bipartisan boost. Sestak defeated Sen. Arlen Specter, a former Republican, in the Democratic primary but needs support from both Republicans and independents to beat conservative former Rep. Pat Toomey in November.

Sestak called Hagel the “No. 1 guy I’ve met in the Senate” in a forum earlier this month. Noting that he talks to Hagel often, he added, “I think he’s the guy I most admired in the Senate.”

Hagel decided not to run for reelection to the Senate in 2008, but has a reputation for bucking the Republican Party. He declined to endorse Arizona Sen. John McCain in the 2008 presidential election, and his wife went step further and endorsed Barack Obama. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a former Republican turned independent, endorsed Sestak last week.

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