Coming off of a big victory in the Kentucky Republican primary, defeating Republican Minority leader Mitch McConnell's choice to run for the Senate, Rand Paul decided to go on Rachel Maddow for an interview.

It was there that some of his more little known stances on government and its role in people's lives launched onto the national stage.  Now, you should know that Rand Paul is the son of Texas Representative Ron Paul, both of whom are strict libertarians, who both believe that government has no place in private individual's lives and that the only powers given to the Federal government are those explicitly handed out in the constitution.

When asked specifically on his position of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Rand Paul held to his philosophical guns and said that he wouldn't have voted for the bill as written because private businesses should be able to serve whom they want.  Meaning that businesses should have the right to discriminate if they so choose, anywhere from not serving food to black people, gays, or even the need for services for those with disabilities.  He tried to qualify his position by saying that he was all for the end of discrimination for any publicly funded institutions, but draws the line at private individuals and companies.

Now, it's obvious that to him he's only describing a wholly intellectual exercise straight from the realm of his namesake Ayn Rand, because to him individual rights take precedence over anything else.  However, as with many attempts to remain intellectually pure to your point of view, it doesn't translate into practical terms.  Winning a GOP primary is one thing, but to try and run on a platform of a return to discrimination is quite honestly insane, especially if you actually want to win an election.

What businesses will actually support Rand Paul for the Senate publicly now?  Probably not very many considering it would spark boycotts and unwanted negative attention during a time of severe economic uncertainty.  Will the Republican leadership shy away from helping Rand Paul run for the seat it never wanted him to run for to begin with?  I think that's up to Paul and what him and his team do to try and minimize the damage his position on civil rights has done.  Perhaps he won't back off his position, in which case the seat could well head into Democratic hands, but that remains to be seen.

In any event we'll be keeping an eye on this race and see if it's possible to win a Senate seat while taking such extreme positions.

Watch the clip from the Rachel Maddow show below:

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