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MANCHESTER, N.H. Kentucky U.S. Sen. Rand Paul said the government isnt taking Ebola as seriously as it should be while stumping today in New Hampshire for Scott Brown.

Paul addressed supporters at Browns campaign headquarters in Manchester, saying he was lending his support to the former Bay State senator in his bid to unseat U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen so Republicans can secure a majority in the Senate.

He faulted the Obama administration for its handling of Ebola fears.

I think claiming that we know everything about it or claiming that its not very transmissible is a mistake, Paul told the Herald. The government was telling us, Oh it takes direct bodily fluid contact. Well, they then say that direct contact is standing 3 feet from someone. Most people dont think that thats direct contact.

Brentwood, N.H., resident Lois Deyoung, 68, who attended the event, agrees.

I have a serious fear about it, Deyoung said. This Ebola one frightens me because the presidents not willing to shut down the borders.

Rand wouldnt go as far as shutting down the borders, but he said they do need to be more secure. He said the administration should consider halting flights to and from West Africa.

I think that theyve been so concerned about not hurting anybodys feelings that they really havent treated this as seriously as they could, Paul said. We could still give humanitarian aid, stuff going over there but I think if youre coming here to visit your cousin, your aunt, your uncle, it could wait a couple months, and it could be less likely then.

But Harvard Global Health Institute Director Ashish Jha said thats unrealistic.

I think its a good idea until you really think about it, Jha said. People going to Liberia with American ties, theyll go through a third country. Theyll lie, and theyll come back in with Ebola, and well have no idea.

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Rand Paul faults government response to Ebola

Sen. Rand Paul tells POLITICO that the Republican presidential candidate in 2016 could capture one-third or more of the African-American vote by pushing criminal-justice reform, school choice and economic empowerment.

If Republicans have a clue and do this and go out and ask every African-American for their vote, I think we can transform an election in one cycle, the Kentucky Republican said in a phone interview Thursday as he was driven through New Hampshire in a rental car.

Paul on the cover of the new issue of Time as The Most Interesting Man in Politics met with black leaders in Ferguson, Missouri, last week; opened a GOP engagement office in an African-American area of Louisville in June; and spoke the next month to a National Urban League convention in Cincinnati.

(Also on POLITICO: Rand Paul meets with black leaders in Ferguson)

That doesnt mean that we get to a majority of African-American votes in one cycle, Paul continued, speaking between campaign stops in Plymouth and Salem. But I think there is fully a third of the African-American vote that is open to much of the message, because much of what the Democrats has offered hasnt worked.

Exit polls showed the GOPs share of the African-American vote in the past six presidential elections ranged from 4 percent for John McCain in 2008 to 12 percent for Bob Dole in 1996, according to the Roper Center. Mitt Romney got 6 percent in 2012.

When pressed on his ambitious goal, Paul upped the ante: I dont want to limit it to that. I dont want to say theres only a third open. The reason I use the number a third, is that when you do surveys of African-American voters, a third of them are conservative on a preponderance of the issues. So, there is upside potential.

As I travel and I go and meet with African-American leaders they may not be ready to embrace a Republican yet, Paul added. But they say that theyre very happy that were competing for their vote. And they often tell me, You know what? I havent seen my Democrat representative in a while.

(VIDEO: CDC chief: 'Porous' borders in Africa would undermine travel ban)

Paul said that if Republicans win the Senate majority next month and his fellow Kentucky senator, Mitch McConnell, becomes majority leader, the Senate should quickly pass a flurry of bills to put Obama on the spot.

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Paul makes big vow on black vote

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) speaks at the California GOP convention on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2014, in Los Angeles. Paul has sought a broader audience this year as he has aggressively traveled the country ahead of a potential presidential bid in ... more >

Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky Republican, says the 2016 Republican presidential nominee could capture one-third or more of the black vote by pushing the right issues.

If Republicans have a clue and do this and go out and ask every African-American for their vote, I think we can transform an election in one cycle, the likely 2016 contender told Politico.

Mr. Paul has made overtures to the African-American community by recently meeting with black leaders in Ferguson, Missouri, for example, and helping Republicans open up minority outreach offices in various cities.

The senator said he doesnt want to put a ceiling on a targeted percentage, but that by hitting on issues like school choice, criminal justice reform and the economy, there are voters out there who are at least open to being persuaded.

The reason I use the number a third, is that when you do surveys of African-American voters, a third of them are conservative on a preponderance of the issues. So, there is upside potential, Mr. Paul said. As I travel and I go and meet with African-American leaders they may not be ready to embrace a Republican yet. But they say that theyre very happy that were competing for their vote. And they often tell me, You know what? I havent seen my Democrat representative in a while.

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Rand Paul: 2016 GOP nominee could get a third or more of black vote

Chad Grimm is a 33-year-old health club manager running a long-shot campaign as the Libertarian candidate for governor of Illinois.

But his single-digit support could be the deciding factor.

The polling is very close, Christopher Mooney, the director of the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois, Springfield told FoxNews.com. So somebody who is pulling 5, 6 percent, it looks like they could have a big impact.

No one is disputing the fact that Grimm is a -- very -- long-shot candidate. But he's pulling enough support to affect the standing of the front-runners.

Recent polls show the two major party candidates, Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn and Republican challenger Bruce Rauner, in a tight race. The Real Clear Politics average of polls shows Quinn recently taking a slight lead. The Rothenberg Political Report rates the race as a toss up/tilt Republican.

This has opened the door for Grimm to play spoiler. A recent Chicago Tribune Poll had him capturing 5 percent of the vote -- votes which the Tribune notes likely would have gone to Rauner had Grimm not been a contender. Another poll had him capturing 6 percent.

Grimm told FoxNews.com he is not looking to be a spoiler, hes looking to win. He said that after dabbling in everything from acting in Los Angeles to owning health clubs in Illinois, he has found his true passion in the Libertarian movement. He says he will work to eliminate the state income tax, end Illinois war on guns and bring common sense solutions to the states problems.

I wanted to give Illinois the chance to, for once, to vote for a politician that is not bought and paid for, he said.

But Grimms potential to be a spoiler captured the attention of Illinois Republicans, who launched a legal battle to get him removed from the ballot.

According to the Associated Press, attorneys for the state GOP argued that thousands of signatures that qualified Grimm for the ballot were invalid.

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Long-shot Libertarian candidate may tilt Ill. gov race - VIDEO: What Senate majority would mean for GOP - Florida gov ...

Libertarian Adrian Wyllie got shut out from the governor's debate at Broward College on Wednesday, so he went to a Holiday Inn Express instead.

Wyllie planned to set up shop in a conference room, a production crew in tow, and answer the same questions posed to Republican Gov. Rick Scott and former-Republican-governor-turned-Democrat Charlie Crist. Wyllie planned to have his crew perform some technical wizardry and re-cut the debate to make it appear as if he were onstage. Then he planned to post it on the web.

Kind of poetic: A Libertarian taking liberties with reality to protest a debate co-sponsored by a press association that tramped down on free speech.

"The reason I'm being excluded has nothing to do with the public interest, and everything to do with protecting a corrupt, good-old-boy duopoly," Wyllie told me Wednesday.

One day earlier, a federal judge struck down Wyllie's bid to take part. The two groups sponsoring the debate (the Florida Press Association and Leadership Florida) set a 15-percent threshold in a September poll as the benchmark, and Wyllie who's been polling as high as 12 percent fell short.

"They keep moving the bar just out of reach of third-party candidates," Wyllie said. "Back in 2006, it was seven percent. Now it's 15 percent. If I was at 18 percent, I'm sure they'd move the threshold to 20 percent."

I feel bad for the guy and worse for democracy in general. And I feel especially ashamed that a press association which is supposed to support a free exchange of ideas acts more like a bouncer for the establishment, keeping out ideas that might be too different or radical.

"The major political parties and media insiders are controlling what Floridians can hear," Wyllie said. "If I was a fringe candidate that everyone could get a chuckle out of, they probably wouldn't mind. But the fact that I'd be the only one telling a lot of truth, that's what they're terrified of."

I'm not saying I like or agree with Wyllie's platform, which includes eradicating property taxes for homesteaded Floridians, slashing the state budget by 30 percent, blocking federal regulatory oversight of Florida-only businesses, legalizing marijuana, allowing gay marriage and granting unfettered access to guns. He told me that philosophically he'd be OK with legalized cocaine and prostitution, too.

I'm just saying that with all the negativity and scripted talking points coming from Scott and Crist, voters could have used Wyllie's fresh air. It would have been interesting and perhaps illuminating to see how Scott and Crist reacted to the live grenade in their midst. (UPDATE: Although this debate did give us plenty of unscripted fresh air, in the form of Crist's fan and the swirling controversy it triggered, with Scott initially refusing to take the stage at the start in protest.)

Continued here:
Blocked from debate, Wyllie finds room at the (Holiday) inn