Rand Paul is right and wrong

By Richard K. Barry

Senator Rand Paul says the Republican brand sucks, and because I don't like to disagree with the Senator, I won't. I will, however, take issue with his understanding of history.

“Remember Domino’s Pizza? They admitted, ‘Hey, our pizza crust sucks.’ The Republican Party brand sucks and so people don’t want to be a Republican and for 80 years, African-Americans have had nothing to do with Republicans,” he said.

In fact, 80 years overstates the case by a fair bit, as the New York Times reported in June of this year.

In 1960, [Jackie] Robinson endorsed Nixon for president, declaring that the civil rights commitment of Nixon’s Democratic rival, John F. Kennedy, was “insincere.” In those times, an African-American Republican was by no means unusual. About 39 percent of black voters had supported the re-election of President Dwight Eisenhower and his Vice President.

The historical relationship between African-Americans and Democrats is, of course, complex. My intention here is only to report the facts.

Paul is still right that the Republican brand sucks, just to clear.