This is the second article I have read which refers to Ted as a "firebrand."
Must be a talking point.
I don’t think Cruz is gunning for Rand - Cruz has the conservative part of the Republican party and a lot of non-voting people pissed at the government ready to go. Cruz is going for whomever stands in his way, period.
If they play it right, Rand Paul can bring in Independents, libertarians, and disgusted dems to vote for him in the Republican primaries. Cruz can monopolize the conservative vote if the attention is drawn to him. If they could marginalize Jeb, Christie, and any other establishment backstabbers, that'll be a real service.
Scott Walker 2016!
Rand Paul’s chief competition is his father - Wrong Paul.
They are in a mortal struggle to dominate the anti military, open borders, legalized drugs demographic...who they expect to leave the Democrats for some reason.
Rand is NOT someone whom most of the base wants.
He’ll get the Paulinistas and the bussed in dopers, like his father, and that’s it.
Anyone that thinks Rand Paul is a credible candidate is sorely mistaken in my opinion. Paul is a wanna be that has zero credibility. He’s an also ran like Rubio.
Ted Cruz probably scooped up at least half of Paul's base by taking the same position on marijuana.
Cruz is going to have a good chunk of the just right of right of center. A good spot for influencing the platform and/or capturing a VP or High level Cabinet position, and if facing incompetents (which he’s not), he could possibly capture the nomination.
But it doesn’t have to be. We’ll all have to see the tone and tenor of Cruz over the next few months. Just subtleties because the big stuff won’t be flying until mid next year.
The electorate needs a positive message of Growth, humble patriotism and personal pride.
2016 is the Republican’s to win or lose.
The main rival is Scott Walker and Bobby Jindal should he get in.
Paul had his chance with the filibuster, but then we Libertarian, and WAY TOO FAR that way.
The filibuster gave him the chance to pick up the milenial vote (he really had them right then), but then his obsession with being against Voter ID, demanding that felons vote, and several other things caused virtually the entire Republican base to shake their heads in disbelief.