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This week, Paul’s ideas put him at the middle of a national controversy when he applied his trademark libertarian, skeptical thinking to the question of childhood vaccines. They should be largely voluntary, Paul said, as a matter of freedom. He also said he had heard of children who “wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines.” Paul also ran into trouble on the P.R. front. At times, he has seemed disinterested — or unprepared — for the basic tasks of being a national politician. For instance, this week he “shushed” a female interviewer on national TV. After his vaccine comments drew angry reactions, he accused the media of misconstruing his remarks about vaccines and mental disorders. (Fahrenthold and Hamburger, 2/5)

Back in 2009, when Rand Paul was pursuing his long-shot bid to win Kentucky’s Republican Senate primary, he spoke to a small physicians’ association that has publicized discredited medical theories, including possible links between vaccines and autism and between abortion and an increased risk of breast cancer. At the time, Mr. Paul, an ophthalmologist, was no stranger to the group, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons. He boasted at its annual meeting that he had been a member for more than two decades and that he relied on its research, statistics and views about the role of government in medicine. (Peters and Meier, 2/4)

Rand Paul, who has been mired in controversy over whether child vaccinations should be mandatory, has long been associated with a medical group that opposes mandatory vaccinations and has published reports promoting a handful of other dubious positions. The Kentucky Republican’s association with the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons dates back to at least 1990, though the group’s executive director, Dr. Jane Orient, told Politico that Paul stopped paying dues when he was elected to the Senate in 2010. (Debenedetti, 2/4)