HOW'S THAT NEW-KIND-OF-REPUBLICAN THING WORKING OUT FOR YOU, RAND?

Rand Paul, as the press regularly reminds us, says non-troglodytic things about the criminal justice system at times. Even Think Progress is impressed:

While the Republican senator follows his party’s beliefs and generally supports conservative social and economic policies, his position on criminal justice is surprisingly progressive. Paul has invoked his positions to try to reach out to African American voters, who typically vote for Democrats.

So here's the guy who's going to introduce Paul at a campaign rally in New Hampshire tomorrow:

One day after announcing his presidential bid, Paul will be introduced by a New Hampshire lawmaker so eccentric that the state GOP tried to gerrymander him out of politics.

Andy Sanborn, a state senator who was the co-chairman of Ron Paul’s 2012 New Hampshire campaign, is an infamous character in New Hampshire politics....

To some extent, Sanborn is the standard "politically incorrect" obnoxious right-wing snarkmeister: He's compared Obamacare to a plane crash that killed several people in California a few years ago, and he's referred to governor Maggie Hassan as "Haggie." But then there's this flyer, which Sanborn distributed in his campaign last year:



Wait, it gets worse:

Democrats discovered that the image came from a Getty image search for "Menacing Hoodie."

Senator Paul, your thoughts?

And your thoughts about this moment, from Sanborn's 2008 campaign against Harold Janeway?

At one point, citing Janeway’s call for reviewing sentencing guidelines, Sanborn accused Janeway of being soft on crime.

“I guess my question to Harold is: How many people does he feel he needs to let out of prison to balance the budget?” asked Sanborn, who has called for greater sentences for violent offenders.

“This is sort of the Willie Horton kind of attack,” Janeway said quietly....

Janeway said a significant number of nonviolent offenders who are in prison for offenses like bad checks or parole violations could potentially be penalized with GPS bracelets, allowing the state to save money and better target its prison budget.

No, Harold Janeway isn't introducing Rand Paul tomorrow. The guy who baited him on sentencing reform is introducing Rand Paul tomorrow. The guy who put out an Evil Black Guy With Hoodie flyer will introduce him. Maybe Senator Paul will explain that choice next time he's telling us how enlightened he is on crime.