Rand Paul: Ron Paul surging at the right time
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said his father, Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, is surging at the right time ahead of Tuesday's Iowa caucuses.
"I think this is the best time to be surging to the top," Rand Paul said on "Face the Nation." "Ron Paul has surged probably as much as anyone in the last two or three weeks and has been the frontrunner or near being the frontrunner in Iowa. He's closing the gap in New Hampshire. So I think he's surging at precisely the right time."
Ron Paul, the Texas congressman, spent most of the campaign at the back of the pack, but has recently risen to near the top of the polls in Iowa. In the most recent poll, released last night by the Des Moines Register, Paul was in a statistical tie with former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.
However, the poll also showed a surge by Rick Santorum, who was leading Paul when only the most recent two days were taken into account.
When asked by "Face the Nation" host Bob Schieffer about Santorum, Rand Paul said the former Pennsylvania Senator "has a lot of things to overcome" as the race continues, even if he does well on Tuesday.
"He was, in his last election, defeated by over 20 points," he said. "He's really been a big-government type of moderate. A lot of people don't know that because he hasn't surged to the top yet so he hasn't had much scrutiny. When he has the scrutiny, I think he's going to have some of the same problems that some of the other fair-weather conservatives have had."
Rand Paul also addressed the conventional wisdom that, despite a recent rise in the polls, his father would be unable to win the Republican nomination, or the general election.
"Who is scoring the best with Independents and Democrats among Republicans? Ron Paul is the only one getting significant Independent vote, and Democrat vote," he said. "So I actually see Ron Paul as the one Republican who could reach across the boundaries of party, collect a lot of people who don't vote normally and really energize the party.
"Look at the crowds... Ron Paul is having these big huge crowds in Iowa and really exciting a lot of young people and new people. I think there is a lot of momentum. I think he could win by bringing in the Independents."
