Posted on 03/27/2014 7:01:42 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Sen. Rand Paul has become the first Republican to assemble a network in all 50 states as a precursor to a 2016 presidential run, the latest sign that he is looking to build a more mainstream coalition than the largely ad hoc one that backed his father’s unsuccessful campaigns.
Paul’s move, which comes nearly two years before the 2016 primaries, also signals an effort to win the confidence of skeptical members of the Republican establishment, many of whom doubt that his appeal will translate beyond the libertarian base that was attracted to Ron Paul, the former Texas congressman.
Rand Paul’s nationwide organization, which counts more than 200 people, includes new backers who have previously funded more traditional Republicans, along with longtime libertarian activists. Paul, of Kentucky, has also been courting Wall Street titans and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who donated to the presidential campaigns of George W. Bush and Mitt Romney, attending elite conclaves in Utah and elsewhere along with other GOP hopefuls.
For the rest of this year, his national team’s chief duties will be to take the lead in their respective states in planning fundraisers and meet-ups and helping Paul’s Washington-based advisers get a sense of where support is solid and where it’s not. This is especially important in key early primary battlegrounds, such as Iowa and New Hampshire, and in areas rich in GOP donors, such as Dallas and Chicago.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
This what anyone who wants to run better be doing as of yesterday.
Sounds like the same strategy Romney and McCain tried.
Court the moderates and RINO’s and forget about conservatives.
That strategy did not work out well for Romney and McCain.
Key word: “coalition”
Please don’t let the liberaltarian into the exec. branch
Meh
I prefer a Ted Cruz type but if it comes down to Rand Paul or another GOPe type, Paul gets my vote.
I would easily support Rand Paul over Chris Christie, Jeb Bush and their ilk.
Paul has some flaws, but he is significantly more conservative than McCain/Romney. More importantly, he is a fighter.
However if Ted Cruz or even Scott Walker decide to run, I would have to support them over Paul.
I pretty much agree. I won’t get behind anyone who hasn’t put a machine together though. They would have no chance.
Please don’t let the liberaltarian into the exec. branch
__________________________________________
Every Conservative who voted for full blown liberal Willard better also vote for Sen Rand Paul..
or forever shut up about how much better dear Willie would have been than Obama..
Paul is the 3rd most conservative senator on record behind Cruz and Lee. We could do a little better, but we could do a lot worse. No need to destroy the guy because he isn’t your first choice, especially considering we have no idea who will even be on the ballot.
I don’t want any RINO or any one who supports Amnesty or Common Core. OR WANTS TO LIMIT MY 2ND OR 1ST A RIGHTS!
Don’t come looking for my vote.
TN US sen lamar alexander RINO promised 2 terms and out in his book on it. Has gone back on his word. Running again, TN State Rep Joe Carr has a good strong conservative voting record. lamar has his big war chest and National GOP orgs behind him. He just voted to MUG the Military health care, while clinging to his Platinum healthcare tooth and nail!
DO NOT DONATE TO THE NATIONAL GOP ORGS, THEY PROP UP OLD DINOSAURS RINOS LIKE LAMAR 73! GIVE DIRECT TO YOUR CANDIDATE!
True, but Rand Paul is so far away from conservatism that there is no other strategy available to him. Conservatives won’t vote for him any more than McCain or for Romney, and Rand Paul can not win without them anymore than McCain or Romney won.
Social Conservatives are not on any plantation. Most of them are Christians who more concerned with their relationship with and obedience to God than with the fleeting events of this world.
It is a fundamental difference in the very focus of their world view.
There are plenty of things I disagree with him about but that’s true of pretty much everybody.
Remember the 2012 GOP Nation Convention where the establishment/leadership locked out and changed the rules to shutdown any opposition?
I sure do, that is when I renounced being a ‘Republican’
Regarding state GOP primaries, my state is again low in the list — late May. The nomination will probably be decided long before that date, as it was in 2008 and 2012.
The advantage is that I don’t have to jump on any presidential preference bandwagons — I can throw mud at all of them.
I’m not concerned with your little Jihad against Rand Paul.
Paul was flaky on Amnesty when the Senate voted, but he did eventually vote the right way. His kick about letting felons vote annoys the hell out of me. Republicans seem to have this suicide streak in them - trying their best to encourage voting from people who will vote Democrat, almost to the person.
But Rand has been excellent in other areas - especially on the privacy side, and he can bring in MILLIONS of young voters, just on that. No other Republican has a prayer reaching them. He’s also good on most other Republican issues.
So given everything, I will HOPE that Rand figures out that tens of millions of new Democrat voters will NOT help the Republicans and will act accordingly - and that is actually BETTER than what I can say about other Republicans as I already know they are on the wrong side.
In what ways? Could you post some specific examples?
The way the word "conservatism" is used these days it's hard to be sure what people actually mean or are trying to accomplish when they use that word.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.