Will Rand Paul emerge as the new Sarah Palin?

Politically tinted eyes have been focused dead on Ohio’s neighboring state to the south in recent days. It is there — in Kentucky — that ophthalmologist Rand Paul hit the bull’s-eye in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate last week.

His victory over an establishment Republican and its aftermath pave Paul’s way to upstage former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as the centerfold darling of the American right.

Paul now holds a commanding lead over Democrat Jack Conway in the November general election and appears likely to replace Jim Bunning, the oldest Republican in the Senate.

Why the success?

Paul’s soaring popularity and appeal are understandable. The political climate this year is hot for anti-establishment candidates and ideas.

As the nation continues to be dragged down by the debilitating effects of the Great Recession, the “throw-the- bums-out ” chorus grows louder.

Paul’s voice long has been prominent and robust in that refrain.

As an active campaigner with a politically familiar name, Paul stands poised to emulate Palin as the champion of many of these frustrated, disaffected and rightward-moving Americans.

The coattail effects of that popularity could wield impact in important races far beyond the borders of the Bluegrass State, including the U.S. Senate contest in Ohio between Democrat Lee Fisher and Republican Rob Portman.

The Palin-Paul comparisons

That’s why Libertarian Paul’s extremist views and erratic demeanor in recent days — similar to Palin’s extremist views and erratic demeanor in recent years —deserve front-burner attention and should give many would-be turncoats reason for pause.

Shortly after his victory, he told MSNBC talk-show host Rachel Maddow that while he would have supported nine out of the 10 titles in the 1964 Civil Rights act, the government had meddled too far into private enterprise by forbidding businesses from discriminating on the basis of race. Paul later qualified his statement, saying that had he been in Congress in 1964, he would have voted for the bill, apparently regardless of his misgivings.

In the aftermath of the fallout from his civil-rights posturing and his defense of BP Oil, which is responsible for what may be this nation’s most severe oil spill, Paul decided to lie low.

He canceled appearances on the Sunday talk-show circuit. It appears that he may be preparing to follow Palin’s example, dealing with only friendly media — not those outlets that ask tough questions and challenge his positions.

Like Palin, too, he is relatively new to the national political stage and has stumbled over his own words on more than one occasion.

And like Palin, as well, Paul has launched national tours and has become a master money maker. His “Moneybomb” fundraisers in Kentucky have set new records for 24-hour campaign fundraising.

That funding has played a role in the success of his image making. His emerging image, however, is that of an overly strict ideologue.

Rigid constitutional ideology sculpted back in 1776 that resists a little chiseling here and there works against the fiber of a dynamic representational democracy that America still needs in 2010. We hope Americans proceed with caution until more is known about the whole range of Paul’s views.