Posted on 01/15/2015 4:59:05 AM PST by LeoMcNeil
Rand Paul has a lot going for him. He inspires the conservative and libertarian wings of the Republican Party. In many ways he’s a breath of fresh air because he’s different than the rest of the GOP. He’s trying to work with constituencies that the GOP normally ignores. He’s making policy arguments that are different than other Republicans and different from other conservatives or libertarians. Rand Paul is personable, which goes a long way on the presidential campaign trail. Rand Paul can unite the right in the GOP. He has the brashness of Ted Cruz and the values of a Rick Santorum. He only has one problem: His father Ron Paul.
Ron Paul never had any shot at winning the Republican nomination for President in party because he’s a conspiracy lunatic. Ron Paul is his son Rand’s downfall. The Ron Paul Institute, which features numerous articles written by him, posted an article yesterday declaring the Charlie Hebdo attack a “false flag.” In other words, the Ron Paul Institute seems to believe that the attack was really orchestrated by the French government rather than Muslim terrorists. Presumably the French have the same sort of masterminds in government that we have, the writer also believes the 9-11 attacks were orchestrated by our government. The false flag conspiracy theorists believe just about every major news event is orchestrated by the government. This includes the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting and just about every other school shooting. These people seem to believe evil doesn’t exist in the world or that if it does it’s only in the government. Interestingly, a government too incompetent to put together a basic healthcare website is capable of pulling off a “false flag” action with complete secrecy and no bean spilling afterward.
The issue here isn’t really whether the Charlie Hebdo attack was a false flag. No doubt this post will be mocked and roundly attacked by the false flag conspiracy crowd. The issue is whether the Ron Paul Institute and Ron Paul generally will be a problem for Rand Paul. The answer there is yes. We have no idea whether Ron Paul believes the Charlie Hebdo attack was a false flag. However an article promoting the conspiracy theory did appear on the Ron Paul Institute website and as such Ron Paul might as well have penned it. You can bet that every single time the Ron Paul Institute publishes something insane the conservative press will latch onto it and associate it with Rand Paul. If he were to win the nomination then the mainstream liberal press will start digging around. Accusations of false flags are so far out of the mainstream, to say nothing of being utterly baseless, that any association with them will hurt Rand Paul. It’s not like Ron Paul is Rand’s kooky cousin. Ron is his father and political and philosophical mentor.
Is any of this fair? Of course not. Rand Paul has never indicated support for outlandish conspiracy theories. Unfortunately for him, the closeness of his relationship with Ron Paul is going to be held against him. Hillary Clinton has the same problem with Bill. He’s hanging out with a guy who keeps sex slaves on an island. Fair or not, Hillary is suffering the fallout of that information becoming public. Jeb Bush has to deal with the fallout from his brother’s administration. At least in his case he can count on George W. not saying anything bizarre or weird. The former President rarely speaks on politics anymore. Rand Paul cannot count on his father, or his father’s institute, from doing and saying weird things. Unfortunately for Rand, this fact severely hurts his chances of winning the GOP nomination. He’s done his best to be as mainstream as possible. That’s awfully hard to do when your father’s institute is arguing that Charlie Hebdo is a false flag action perpetrated by the French government.
On some level maybe it would be better of Rand Paul didn’t run for President. He’s an excellent Senator and one of the few outspoken conservative-libertarian voices in the Senate. He’s popular in Kentucky, with re-election to the Senate likely in 2016. If he runs for President, he can’t run for Senate again per Kentucky law. The country is arguably better with him in the Senate than out of government altogether. From a conservative standpoint, the fewer conservatives running for President the more likely it will be that a conservative wins. If Paul steps back, he could endorse a conservative candidate and help him win the nomination. By not running, Paul potentially becomes a kingmaker and there’s plenty of power that comes with that. At this point though, Rand Paul has to know that his father will destroy his chances of winning the GOP nomination.
And what is wrong with Ted’s dad over than his strong Christian belief? Though now days that seems to be enough not only by those on the leftist, but many who claim to conservatives.
http://media.perpetuatech.com/watch?v=MDFERjZDOTcyMw#
Thanks for the trip down memory lane.......important Rand highlights...or low lights.
Oh, congrats to the Bucks!
Thank you. The future is very bright on ‘THE banks of the Olentangy’.
Continuing the family tradition of their daddies: the Pauls and the Romneys are professional runners-for-president.
Rand’s biggest problem to date is that he has become squishy on issues and seems to be contradicting earlier stands. There seems to be no group that he will not pander to. He seems to be trying to be all things to all people, and that makes him appear to have little substance.
"He inspires the conservative and libertarian wings of the Republican Party."
I stopped reading right there. Where has this author been the last few years? ...or for that matter, the last six months? When was this pathetic narrative conceived?
There may have been a brief moment in time, back in 2008, even 2009 -2010 when Rand clearly distanced himself from his nutty dad's political positions. Since then, Rand has gone bonkers - going so far as to aid and abet Sharpton's vision.
Rand Paul doesn't have a chance in gaining Conservative's support for a 2016 run for POTUS.
SunkenCiv ...thank you. Nuf said.
What about Rand Paul suggests he’s a liberal? I get the libertarian wing doesn’t like the fact that he’s more interventionist than Ron Paul is but it doesn’t make him a liberal. He’s for far less intervention abroad than any Republican nominated in the last 75 years. He’s hardly a liberal on that.
I understand those who question his support for Mitch McConnell. Having said that, what do you want him to do? McConnell is a big fish in Kentucky and in the US Senate. Sometimes you have to play ball with these people to get some of what you want. That doesn’t make him a liberal though.
At this point no one knows who Ted Cruz’ dad is. Everyone knows Ron Paul though. In the short run (read: the primaries) that’s a big problem for Rand if his old man keeps publishing nonsense conspiracy theories.
The pathetic piece of garbage panders to the lowest common denominator as a big government liberal.
He outright lies to the stupid to push his felon voting rights crap when anyone who isn’t simple knows its up to the individual states but he wants to make it a national issue.
That’s just 1. He panders to the stupid and greedy just like Obama.
I don’t think Rand Paul will actually even run. Why give up a senate seat for an iffy chance at the Presidency? He’s a good voice for personal freedom in the Senate. At Rand Paul’s age he would be better positioned in 2020 anyway.
There is nothing wrong with the senior Cruz’s strong Christian belies, and nothing wrong with Ted’s either. But the notion of putting non-beleivers into concentration camps is something that most Americans would shy away from, don’t you think?
You obviously ignored the direct evidence at posts #11, 12 and 16.
Don’t believe what you read over on DU. ;-)
I’m not buying that Rand Paul is a liberal because he’s realistic about the prospect of repealing Obamacare or because he believes we need to change people’s hearts on abortion as much as we need to change the law. Wanting to expand the base of the GOP doesn’t make Paul a liberal.
Rand Paul is liberal because he is weak on conservative issues, like marriage, abortion, national defense, and social conservatism in general, as he says, we need to “evolve”.
All rinos want us to “evolve” on the same issues.
“Rand Paul To Campaign for Romney”
The younger Paul said he is working out the logistics of appearing at campaign events for Romney between now and November.
“Rand Paul to steer clear of Mississippi runoff”
“Rand Paul: It’s a ‘misnomer’ to say McConnell isn’t conservative”
“Rand Paul To Campaign for Romney”
March, 2013—”Rand Paul endorses Mitch McConnell in 2014 Senate race, won’t back tea party challenge”
Ted Cruz has a father that will be a powerful asset for him.
My pleasure, and thank you.
I don’t frequent those quarters. But I know what can be documented and what can’t.
Then document it.
We’ll have to wait and see how that works out on balance. For myself, I don’t really care about the old man - I’ll be voting for the son, once again.
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