Posted on 04/03/2015 5:24:03 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
U.S. Senator Rand Paul is running for president … in fact, he announces his candidacy next week in Louisville, Kentucky. From there he travels to early voting Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina – including a big fundraiser in the Palmetto State the day after he announces.
As we write this, money is being collected. Speeches are being vetted.
He’s 100 percent in … and not only that, Paul is one of the few candidates in the race with (we believe) a path to victory. And one of the few candidates (we believe) to be worthy of real consideration.
Is he perfect? No. In fact we’ve blistered him in the past for being too cozy with the establishment at times. But when it comes down to the bread and butter issues that pro-freedom, pro-free market voters want to see addressed, Paul and fellow U.S. Senator Ted Cruz are head and shoulders above the rest of the “Republican” field.
In fact it’s not even close …
Anyway … why are we writing a story about Rand Paul being “in?” Doesn’t everybody already know that?
Yes … well … sort of.
You have to remember, though, we write from a home base in South Carolina – a banana republic known for its thick drawls and thicker skulls. Down here things have a tendency to get, um, “mixed up” pretty easily.
Wanna see what we mean? Check out this recent exchange between a presidential candidate and a South Carolina voter (one who actually used to be a school teacher, believe it or not).
Yeah …
Anyway, exploiting this confederacy of ding-battedness is a perpetual stream of misinformation – particularly political misinformation. It’s all geared toward the whole “you can fool some of the people some of the time” construct … and in South Carolina, the pool of fools is deeper than it is anywhere else in America.
For real …
Enter the “Rand Paul isn’t running” social media campaign … which has been blowing up our Facebook and Twitter feed for the past week. It’s also been blowing up our email and text message “matrixes,” which were flooded with messages from political activists (and a few elected officials) seeking clarification as to Paul’s 2016 status.
The buzz reached a level earlier this week where we felt compelled to reach out to Paul’s people … who confirmed his imminent presidential announcement was a “go.” In fact one Paul supporter told FITS the “Rand isn’t running” chatter was being deliberately ginned up by Cruz supporters.
“It’s a suppression effort,” the source said, referring to the campaign as a “weak and transparent bid to pick up commitments.”
In addition to definitively stating that Paul was not running, these posts often included links back to prior news stories in which Paul offered qualified statements regarding his political future.
One of these stories? A four-month old post by Politico reporter Katie Glueck in which Paul said he wouldn’t run for president – unless he thought he could win.
“It’s ingenious, really,” one digital operative familiar with such campaigns told FITS. “Anyone with half a brain who clicks on the article (will see) what he said – and (will see) when he said it. But the context they are given before they click – if they even click – is what sets the table. That and a lot of people just forward the false narrative around without bothering to click.”
Indeed …
Over the weekend, FITS had two prominent Upstate, South Carolina political activists contact us asking if Paul was running. The next day – March 31 – a pair of Upstate lawmakers reached out to us asking if the rumor was true.
The misinformation worked, in other words … at least to a limited degree.
Obviously Paul will announce next week – putting the matter to bed. But did the “Rand isn’t running” rumor cost him a local endorsement or two? Or cause a fundraiser to hold off on stroking a check? Or get certain activists lined up behind another candidate?
If so … it worked.
Rand Paul was interesting when he first ran for office. Since then he’s decided his best friend is Mitch McConnell. That’s all I need to know.
Cruz 2016
Rand and his father like to play one side of the public against the other. So my guess is someone from Rand’s own office has got this started, using a script written and approved of by Rand himself. He loves theater and drama.
Rand Slams Congress for Funding Egypt's Generals: 'How Does Your Conscience Feel Now?'Sen. Rand Paul is hammering his fellow senators for keeping billions in financial aid flowing to Egypt's military -- even as Cairo's security forces massacre anti-government activists. [by "anti-government activists" is meant church-burning Christian-murdering jihadists][Posted on 08/15/2013 5:44:10 PM PDT by Hoodat]
Rand Paul's immigration speech...The Republican Party must embrace more legal immigration.[Posted on 03/19/2013 7:04:07 AM PDT by Perdogg]
Unfortunately, like many of the major debates in Washington, immigration has become a stalemate-where both sides are imprisoned by their own rhetoric or attachment to sacred cows that prevent the possibility of a balanced solution.
Immigration Reform will not occur until Conservative Republicans, like myself, become part of the solution. I am here today to begin that conversation.
Let's start that conversation by acknowledging we aren't going to deport 12 million illegal immigrants.
If you wish to work, if you wish to live and work in America, then we will find a place for you...
This is where prudence, compassion and thrift all point us toward the same goal: bringing these workers out of the shadows and into being taxpaying members of society.
Imagine 12 million people who are already here coming out of the shadows to become new taxpayers.12 million more people assimilating into society. 12 million more people being productive contributors.
Rand Paul calls on conservatives to embrace immigration reformLatinos, should be a natural constituency for the party, Paul argued, but "Republicans have pushed them away with harsh rhetoric over immigration." ...he would create a bipartisan panel to determine how many visas should be granted for workers already in the United States and those who might follow... [and the buried lead] "Imagine 12 million people who are already here coming out of the shadows to become new taxpayers...[Posted on 04/21/2013 1:52:42 PM PDT by SoConPubbie]
[but he's not in favor of amnesty, snicker, definition of is is]
Rand Paul: Time for GOP to soften war stance...by softening its edge on some volatile social issues and altering its image as the party always seemingly "eager to go to war... We do need to expand the party and grow the party and that does mean that we don't always all agree on every issue" ... the party needs to become more welcoming to individuals who disagree with basic Republican doctrine on emotional social issues such as gay marriage... "We're going to have to be a little hands off on some of these issues ... and get people into the party," Paul said.[Posted on 01/31/2013 5:08:50 PM PST by xzins]
Rand Paul On Shutdown: "Even Though It Appeared I Was Participating In It, It Was A Dumb Idea"I said throughout the whole battle that shutting down the government was a dumb idea. Even though it did appear as if I was participating in it, I said it was a dumb idea. And the reason I voted for it, though, is that it's a conundrum. Here's the conundrum. We have a $17 trillion debt and people at home tell me you can't give the president a blank check. We just can't keep raising the debt ceiling without conditions. So unconditionally raising the debt ceiling, nobody at home wants me to vote for that and I can't vote for that. But the conundrum is if I don't we do approach these deadlines. So there is an impasse. In 2011, though, we had this impasse and the president did negotiate. We got the sequester. If we were to extend the sequester from discretionary spending to all the entitlements we would actually fix our problem within a few years.[Posted on 11/19/2013 12:16:51 PM by Third Person]
Rand Paul may be the first to fold. Several in his camp have defected to the TED CRUZ campaign...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-gop/3273028/posts
http://newsmachete.com/?news=518
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/ron-paul-leave-rand-paul-camp-116439.html
http://www.freepatriotpost.com/rand-paul-loses-long-time-die-hard-supporters-concessions-to-mainstream-politics-one-of-the-reasons-cited/#
What do I care?
I stand with Ted
Thanks 2ndDivisionVet. And as if we believe your Twitter alibi!!! ;')
Rand Paul ran as a conservative in 2010, and for the last couple of years has been revealing more and more libertariansim.
Supporters deserting Rand Paul for Ted Cruz (Including key people)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-gop/3273028/posts
Ted Cruz Reportedly Winning Over Some Rand Paul Supporters in Iowa
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3271921/posts
Who considers Rand ‘plagiarist’ Paul a serious candidate? I think he simply enjoys distracting and wasting people’s money on a DOA campaign. Carrying on the family tradition.
TED CRUZ is like a perfect political storm.
And who cares?
Ansell,
Please listen carefully.
Yes, Rand is a Libertarian.
I do not nor would I support him for President.
But you must understand that Paul can bring a boat load of disenchanted democrat voters over from the dark side.
He has political value in that sense. A value that a Cruz campaign would be very shortsighted if they fail to leverage.
Personally, I don’t want to see Rand Paul out of the race, at least not yet. It’s way to early.
Think politics, not ideology. Think strategically.
Ted Cruz can take the high road and use Paul who will go into the gutters and destroy the zombies love of Government.
Best regards,
Z
What issues would bring over democrats?
Can you name a half dozen or more of them that would ge them to abandon their party?
Perhaps if folks obey the 11th Commandment this time, a Republican might stand a chance of taking the White House.
If Rand were smart he would use this story as an opportunity to close the book and graciously decline. The song has found a tail. My, what a foolish man is he...
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