Rand Paul Shakes Up Campaign Staff

Rand Paul, Republican nominee for Senate in Kentucky and son of Texas Congressman Ron Paul, has replaced his campaign manager. The shake -up comes a week after the campaign scrambled to explain comments Rand Paul made during media appearances when he refused to fully embrace the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the law that legally ended segregation in the United States.

Jesse Benton, the campaign's communication director, was named manager Wednesday, replacing David Adams, The Washington Post reported. Benton, who worked for Rep. Ron Paul's (R-Texas) 2008 presidential campaign, pointed out that Adams still holds a prominent position in the Rand Paul camp.

"David Adams isn't being pushed out in any way," Benton said. "This is just a change in roles. I was just a general consultant, but I'll be taking the official title -- David will become campaign chairman. He'll be Rand's key liaison to groups here in Kentucky."

Benton is married to a granddaughter of Ron Paul.

The younger Paul, a libertarian and Tea Party favorite, caused a political ruckus when he appeared to question whether businesses should have to abide by federal civil rights law provisions prohibiting discrimination. Paul made his comments in an interview on MSNBC's Rachel Maddow show. He later insisted he supports the Civil Rights Act.

Paul also made headlines for calling President Obama's criticism's of BP's handling of the Gulf oil spill "un-American" and then canceling a high-profile appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press."

All the negative attention on the heels of his historic victory in the Kentucky primary led Paul to wonder to CNN's Wolf Blitzer why he wasn't afforded a "honeymoon" from the media.