Rand Paul: GOP Can’t ‘Completely Flip’ On Gay Marriage

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. reacts as he is introduced to speak by Iowa Republican congressional candidate Rod Blum, left, during a meeting with local Republicans, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2014, in Hiawatha, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
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Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said in an interview with The New York Times published Thursday that the Republican party cannot “completely flip” on social issues like gay marriage, but it can learn to embrace a “bigger tent” of ideas.

The Times article focused on the idea of a growing Libertarian movement, which Paul said is more moderate on social issues than liberal. He went on to say that when it comes to the GOP, “the party can’t become the opposite of what it is” on social matters.

“If you tell people from Alabama, Mississippi or Georgia, ‘You know what, guys, we’ve been wrong, and we’re gonna be the pro-gay-marriage party,’ they’re either gonna stay home or — I mean, many of these people joined the Republican Party because of these social issues,” the congressman said. “So I don’t think we can completely flip.”

However, Paul said the GOP could eventually learn to “agree to disagree” and should embrace a “bigger tent” of ideals if it wants to win elections.

“I think the party will evolve. It’ll either continue to lose, or it’ll become a bigger place where there’s a mixture of opinions,” he said.

h/t The Hill

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Notable Replies

  1. Let’s hear the Religious Right reply to Rand. Paging Huckabee, paging Huckabee. Hey, I’d settle for John Hagee or even Rick Perry at his prayer-a-thon.

    Theocrats vs Corporatist - I'm off to buy some popcorn.   
  2. Rand completely flipped on drones, he can show the Republicans how.

  3. Walkback in 3…2…1

    This guy is Romney lite.

  4. “Republican party cannot “completely flip” on social issues like gay marriage”

    Guessing that is why segments of the GOP still think issues like desegregation and interracial marriages are bad things.

  5. Sorry Rand Paul, you can’t have it both ways.

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