Posted on 10/06/2015 12:06:52 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
hy has Rand Paul's presidential campaign been such a dud?
There's something perplexing about his failure to take off. He should be building on his father's success and expanding the Paul coalition. After all, his Senate campaign in 2010 revealed him to be a savvy politician capable of blending the major aspects of his father's paleo-libertarian ideology with Republican orthodoxy. And since then, the younger Paul has enjoyed a much bigger media profile than his father ever had. He gave a well-reviewed speech to the 2012 Republican National Convention, a stage that his father never would have been allowed to appear on. He improved on his father's foreign policy, making it appealing to both non-interventionists and realists. He reached out to minority voters, sometimes awkwardly, but no doubt sincerely.
So why is he less popular than his father? Why are donors slow to support him, and why are his libertarian allies carping at him?
Let's start with the fact that in seeking to be less hated by his father's enemies, Rand became less loved by his fans. Polarization has its benefits, and Ron Paul's campaign was polarizing. His followers called it a "revolution," making fan-art that drew from V for Vendetta and dramatizing a high-stakes confrontation not just with the Republican Party, but the entire American system.
The younger Paul's campaign is less of a protest movement. Protest candidates plead with the world, "In your heart, you know he's right." But Paul's bid to lead the GOP asks his libertarian supporters to believe, "In his heart, he knows you're right."
Furthermore, contrary voices abound in the 2016 campaign. In 2008 and in 2012 (albeit to a lesser degree), Ron Paul was the contrary voice. He was not trying to portray himself as the next Reagan. He was the first Paul. In a field where candidates all raised their hands unanimously, Paul was the most likely to say, "Hell no."
This time there are a few different types of protest candidates. Ron Paul tapped into Republican dissatisfaction with the war on terror and the Iraq War. Now it is Donald Trump directly challenging the GOP establishment's orthodoxies, particularly on immigration, tapping into a base of Middle American radicals and their economic anxiety. And Ted Cruz is assaulting the party's moral character, correctly indicting party leadership for fecklessness on issues like abortion.
In contrast, Rand Paul's campaign has failed to establish him as a renegade. In the run-up to his campaign, Paul found a way to join the hawkish protests of Sen. Tom Cotton and others against President Obama's negotiations with Iran. He found a way to support the bombing of ISIS, a big no-no for Paulites who view themselves as consistent non-interventionists and even pacifists.
Instead, Paul has tried to affiliate himself with the core of the party by highlighting the intensity of his Republican commitments. Think of the time he decided to show a metaphor rather than tell one, when he used an actual chainsaw to desecrate a copy of the federal tax code.
Paul was supposed to be a different kind of Republican. Instead, he has become merely the "kind of" candidate. He's kind of a libertarian. He's kind of against dumb wars. He's kind of for reaching out to new Republican constituencies. And therefore he's kind of...not that interesting anymore.
At least not yet. In the last debate Paul showed some hints of finding his convictions again. And he needs to find them fast. If he can survive until the field is smaller, then his opponents may start reminding libertarians why they liked Paulism in the first place. Instead of cringing before party mandarins or his ideological enemies, Paul needs to stand up and explain why he's different from the field, why that's exciting, and why he deserves to lead the party — even the parts of it that disagree with him.
Or he should go back to the Senate and be interesting there.
I don’t care why he is fizzling, he needs to drop out along with Kasich and Linda.
He’s melting....
‘cause he’s a putz ...
because he’s a douche
Because he’s Mitch’s b#tch...
>> “In your heart, you know he’s right.”
Whatever. In your HEAD, you know he’s a tangled-mop-headed glue-huffing libtard. And it’s time to wake up and USE YOUR HEAD.
He is too libertarian for conservatives and too conservative for libertarians. He is too conservative for liberals and does not carry water for the C of C which means the country clubbers have no use for him.
Amen! Paul should just go.
bRand apPaulled — trashing Ted Cruz in the Senate wont win him more conservative gold stars.
“...desecrate a copy of the federal tax code.”
Desecrate? Odd word choice. Written by a democrat?
Because posts 4, 5, 6, and 8 all apply plus the unending list of epithets and personal/political deficiencies that also apply the son of Ron, king of the political clowns.
Rand Paul has the personality of a warm bowl of oatmeal. True, he’s got a lot of substance but there’s just nothing terribly remarkable about the man.
When the electorate ignores a candidate the media should do the same.
Are they reporters or campaign staffers?
Could the fizzling be because he has as much charm as a pile of dog crap?..........just sayin’
Rand has been a pretty good senator. I’d love to see him advance in the Senate and help get our agenda through.
Maybe he can run a better, more focused presidential campaign down the road.
But it says something that a bunch of his father’s supporters and staffers have made a video endorsing Cruz.
That's it. Also, if he wants to rise in the Senate as an insider, that means he can't play the outsider card that is so popular this year. Like Bush, Rubio, Kasich and others, he can't capitalize on voter discontent and the hunger for outsiders. If Rand and Jeb were more like their more colorful and unrestrained relatives, they'd be doing better in the polls.
Why? His support of Mitch McConnell. His willingness to play political games. He’s a phoney, willing to compromise behind the scenes with what he calls evil under the lights. Love him or hate him, Ron Paul is easily twice the man of his son.
check out his followers...then it becomes clear.
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