It is not surprising that Rand Paul has a media target on his chest for announcing himself as a Republican presidential candidate. What is unusual is the fact that CNN saw fit to bring in Van Jones, a man with flirtations with communism and 9/11 conspiracy theories (and who briefly President Obama’s "green jobs" czar) to evaluate Paul’s political aspirations.
When Carol Costello asked Jones for his thoughts regarding Paul’s outreach to the black community, he used the opportunity to slander Republicans: “You know, the Republicans have a very tough branding issue when it comes to people of color. Since that they are not in touch. They don't care about some of these communities. I think Rand Paul has been the big exception to that over the past couple of years.”
Pointing out that the Republican Party hasn't attracted the black vote is stating the obvious. Which begs the question, why do CNN commentators fail to emphasize the demographics that Democrats haven't had success in reaching out to?
If the Republican Party's failed outreach to minorities means they don’t care about them, does that mean that the Democrats’ poor outreach to Christian fundamentalists is proof that Democrats don’t care about conservative Christians?
Despite his applauding Paul for not being one of those “out of touch” Republicans who “don’t care about” minority communities, Jones warned that his extreme views may keep the progressive vote out of his reach, “I think there are other issues though that for young progressives, once they look behind that initial foray, they are going to be concerned. He's rabidly anti-choice. He's against a woman's right to choose when it comes to rape and incest. That's going to be off putting for I think a section of young people.”
Why Jones is talking about the progressive vote when Paul is pursuing the Republican platform remains a mystery.
Also unexplained is how Jones can find the idea of not forcing children to pay for the crimes of their fathers to be an “rabid” position. Especially since most of the aborted children are minorities, and Planned Parenthood, one of the largest abortion mills was founded by a woman who associated with eugenics and the Ku Klux Klan.
Jones concludes that Rand “is not going to be an easy candidate for either side to deal with because he's so unusual in the mix of views that he has and he has tried to reach out and help that Republican branding problem. I think it has been effective when it comes to young people of color.”
In other words, Jones predicts that Rand will alienate Republicans because he likes minorities and he will alienate progressives (who he might not have wanted in the first place) because he has the audacity to believe that children should not pay for the sins of their parents.
This is what happens when CNN hires former Obama administration staff to provide political analysis.
Transcript is below:
CAROL COSTELLO: Van, Paul has also made this concerted effort in the last year to reach out to minority communities. He's met with community leaders after Ferguson. He's backed legislation on voting rights and revamping parts of the criminal justice system. Effective strategy? Will it resonate?
VAN JONES: Look I think it will certainly on the front end. You know, the Republicans have a very tough branding issue when it comes to people of color. Since that they are not in touch. They don't care about some of these communities. I think Rand Paul has been the big exception to that over the past couple of years. He started off on a very bad foot saying that he wouldn't have supported Dr. King on the civil rights bill that shocked a lot of people. I think that kind of forced him to really look at how he can relate better and he’s spoken out about criminal justice reform and a lot of issues.
I think there are other issues though that for young progressives, once they look behind that initial foray, they are going to be concerned. He's rabidly anti-choice. He's against a woman's right to choose when it comes to rape and incest. That's going to be off putting for I think a section of young people. Also, when it comes to things like war and peace, he came across initially as someone who was very, very strong about keeping young people out of wars, he's waffled on that. But this is not going to be an easy candidate for either side to deal with because he's so unusual in the mix of views that he has and he has tried to reach out and help that Republican branding problem. I think it has been effective when it comes to young people of color.
