Paul to keynote CEI dinner honoring transgender woman

[Mr. Morden]

Rand Paul recently opined that the GOP needs to reach out to a more diverse voter base:

http://therun2016.com/we-need-people-with-tattoos-pony-tails-beards/

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Well, in at least one small way, Paul himself seems to be taking that to heart.  He's going to be the keynote speaker at the Competitive Enterprise Institute's Julian Simon Award dinner in June:

http://washingtonexaminer.com/competitive-enterprise-institute-to-honor-transgender-woman-at-annual-dinner/article/2529854

(CEI is a "free market/libertarian think tank".)

He's the keynote speaker at the dinner, but not actually the award winner and guest of honor.  The guest of honor will be Deirdre McCloskey, who CEI describes as follows:

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It may be a minor thing in the grand scheme of things, but I actually find it hard to imagine Rubio or Walker doing an event like this.

[Mr. Morden]

Think an opponent like Santorum would bring this up in a primary?

There's no actual public policy issue at stake here.  So to bring up any criticism of someone for speaking at a dinner that honored someone who was transgender would come off more as outright bigotry.  The other candidates might be unwilling to speak at such a dinner themselves, but criticizing someone else for speaking there is also risky.

That said, there's no reason why independent Super PACs wouldn't bring up such a thing.