Could Rand Paul be the 2016 GOP presidential nominee?
Sen. RandPaul, R-Ky., speaks at the 40th annual Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Md., Thursday, March 14, 2013. / AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
Twice, former Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, won the straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference - in 2010 and 2011.
Both times, Paul's victory was dismissed by most Republican political pros as a fluke - a product of the unique cross-section of the conservative movement represented at CPAC. Paul had his supporters, they conceded, but he was ultimately a gadfly. He could not win the GOP presidential nomination, and if he somehow accomplished that impossible task, he most certainly could not win the presidency.
And both times, those political pros were right: Ron Paul's straw poll victories evinced a passionate core of disciples who were never able to turn him into a viable presidential candidate.
Rand Paul on campaigning for his father
But after Ron Paul's son, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., won this year's CPAC straw poll on Saturday, some in the GOP are wondering whether the younger Paul is shaping up to be a far more formidable force in the party than his father ever was.
And that question quickly gives rise to another: Could Rand Paul actually be the 2016 Republican presidential nominee?
The answer, according to a handful of GOP strategists, is maybe. But it's probably too early to tell, and it will depend greatly on the direction taken by the GOP - and Paul - over the next several years, they say.
"I think he has a ways to go before he would be considered a viable candidate," said veteran Republican strategist Ron Bonjean. "He's already impressing conservative voters," but "it's a long way to go."
"Does he have potential? Of course," added Bonjean.
Rand Paul slams "stale and moss-covered" Republican old guard
"I think he represents a paradigm shift," said an adviser to both Pauls who declined to be named so he could discuss a Rand Paul bid more candidly. "He's the first candidate to represent a new political philosophy since Ronald Reagan was the ideological champion of conservatives."
According to the adviser, Paul is already laying the groundwork for a potential bid - his team has "already had two meetings" about 2016, and Paul's recent trip to Israel is further evidence of his aspiration. "You don't go to Israel like he did," the adviser said, "unless you're already exploring some of that territory."
And at this early stage, the adviser said, Rand Paul is already more viable than his father ever was.
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The younger Paul, unlike his father, is a statewide official - elected in 2010 to Kentucky's open Senate seat after routing the handpicked primary candidate of the powerful dean of the state GOP, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Ron Paul, by contrast, represented a deeply conservative House district in Texas, rarely facing a competitive election and freed by supportive constituents to sit out on whichever political limb he saw fit.
As a result of his larger platform, Rand Paul has had to be more politically adroit than his dad was. On foreign policy, in particular, the younger Paul has carved out a distinct voice for himself. He recently declared at a speech at the Heritage Foundation that he is neither an isolationist nor a neoconservative, but a "realist," distancing himself from both the isolationism that handicapped his father and the aggressive interventionism of Bush-era Republicans.
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Rand bailed, and said if they jumped the turnstile at the Texas border,so what,they get to stay.
"Republicans should just wait and let Obama care happen...My complsint is it's going to cost double and it will then on top of that we will have lower quality care and death panels."
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LOL! More of that right-wing propaganda, palin-style, parroting all the RWNJ talking points from faux nooz and newsmaxx that were debunked long ago!
From the conservative National Review:
No, Obamacare's Costs Didn't Double
"it's entirely dishonest accounting"
"In 2010, the CBO projected it would be $933 billion; now it's expected to be $1.011 trillion. Not exactly a doubling in cost. (Plus, as noted, net costs are actually lower over that time.)"
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/293932/no-obamacare-s-costs-didn-t-double-patrick-brennan
"If CBO had truly determined that health care reform's cost will be twice the original estimates, it would be huge news. But CBO said nothing of the sort."
http://www.newrepublic.com/blog/jonathan-cohn/101741/cbo-obamacare-cost-deficit-lie-double-price-fox#
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No, ObamaCare's Cost Didn't Just Double
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/03/15/no_obamacare039s_cost_didn039t_just_double_275511.html
The tea potty darling might find this a bit more difficult after supporting a "pathway to citizenship" for illegal aliens.
Lol.. that Carson character is a Seventh Day Adventist.
If you think the GOP had trouble with a Mormon.. just wait.
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tbaggers, bush, fox news, rush, god, oil companies, swiss bank accounts, tax cuts, rich people, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah......
I strongly doubt many would compare him to Wilson, the notorious progressive liberal.
1. It's not the message that they put forth to the American people that was flawed...(They just packaged the message badly) They need to learn to be better media managers. They just aren't up to the Democrats competence level in a management context.
2. Americans actually love conservatives...They just didn't like Mitt Romney...
3. Mainstream Republicans can ignore the adoption of Medicare ACA instruments by (now count 'em) eight Republican state governor...It's still Obamacare...(A phrase conservatives coined to denigrate the Affordable Care Act, but President Obama told Mitt Romney as Romney used the term during the Presidential debates he quite liked...)
4. The leadership of the Republican party believe a Tea party candidate is their best choice to win the hearts and minds of the American people.
Oh yes, the leadership of the Republican party is much smarter than they were five months ago.
Rand Paul is their guy.
Woo-hoo!
Dan
There is an absolute vacuum where the Republican party used to be!!!
I'm sure that Rand Paul will get all of the corporate vote. No, wait, corporations can't vote, yet!!!!!