Posted on 06/18/2015 7:11:23 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The senator from Kentucky continues to takes the road less traveled through the GOP primaries.
Sen. Rand Paul took a risk Thursday. Speaking to an audience of religious conservatives in the wake of a racially charged shooting in South Carolina, Paul delicately suggested that Republicans might want to start focusing on other parts of the Bill of Rights than the Second Amendment.
"Everybody is for the Second Amendment. All 55 candidates running for president are for the Second Amendment—on our side," Paul told the crowd. "But the thing is that a lot of young people, that might not be their primary issue."
Leaving room, even rhetorical room, to one's right—particularly on an issue as important to the Republican base as gun rights—is a gamble in the crowded 2016 GOP primary. But it's one very much in keeping with the Kentucky senator's campaign of almost-gonzo optimism, and it's the type of decision backed by Paul's personal conviction that his libertarian philosophy can unite traditional Republican voters with more independent-minded young people and minorities.
Speaking at the Faith and Freedom Coalition summit, Paul's remarks also mentioned the Wednesday night shooting that killed nine black church congregants in Charleston, South Carolina.
"We had the shooting this morning in South Carolina. What kind of person goes in a church and shoots nine people? There's a sickness in our country. There's something terribly wrong, but it isn't going to be fixed by your government. It's people straying away, it's people not understanding where salvation comes from. And I think that if we understand that, we'll understand and have better expectations of what we get from our government."
Paul's discussion of the Second Amendment was only a snippet of a longer and broader speech, much of which focused on religious liberty and, in particular, Paul's efforts to defend Christians overseas. He touted an amendment in which he proposed to cut off foreign aid to countries that persecute Christians, and said it was a sign of Washington's disconnect from the country that it was voted down in committee by a wide margin.
The speech was sandwiched in between those of his Senate colleagues and fellow presidential contenders, Marco Rubio (who did not mention the Charleston shooting in his speech) and Ted Cruz (who spoke of the event and began his remarks with a moment of silence). As part of his quest to distinguish himself from his GOP competitors while not alienating base voters, Paul emphasized his record of visiting black communities in Washington, Baltimore, and Chicago.
Polling suggests Paul's gauge of young people's enthusiasm about guns is accurate. A 2013 Pew poll found that just 16 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds own a gun, compared to 24 percent of the total population. A 2013 Harvard University study found that young people are split in their opinion about the National Rifle Association.
But young people don't tend to vote in the Republican presidential primaries. At one point in the 2012 election, CBS found that white evangelicals made up half of Republican primary and caucus voters.
And therein lies Paul's big challenge: He's trying to win the White House by reaching well past the Republican base, but if he can't win over enough of the party's base in the primary, his general election aspirations will be over long before they ever begin.
Ssssssssss.....
Hear the sizzling sound?
It’s called “Toast”...
He’s completely done for me.
[[You guys will all cheer him on... ]]
Do you know of a more conservative voice in the GOP? He might not be perfect- but for crying out loud, He’s leagues better than the rest of the gang running- And let’s not forget- He’s ‘suppsoed’ to be a genious- and perhaps there’s a reason he’s doen what He’s done in anticipation of future action that will put the kibosh to the whole kit and caboodle (That’s as technical as I can get- I don’t understand the whole workings of TPP TAA TPA etc)
Sadly many one FR ‘taught America a lesson’ by refusing to support Romney because he wasn’t the ‘perfect GOP candidate’- and now we have an out of control _resident in the whitehouse doing whatever the hell he feels like- with NO opposition hardly- and trampling all over our constitutional rights- and IF these same self proclaimed FR republicans do thje same damn thing next time because Cruz isn’t the ‘perfect GOP candidate’ they think he should be- they will be giving the next democratic president the green light to complete the destruction of this country and violations of our constitutional rights-
The term I think is called ‘cutting off the nose to spite the face’
For all those who abstained from voting because Romney wasn’t perfect- thanks for letting loose the ‘man of lawlessness’ and giving him free reaign to destroy everything this country worked so hard to accomplish- That’ll teach us!
Yep!
Turns out Cruz voted NO on TPA for very good reasons.
He was attempting to ensure the very elements we’re afraid of, would not become part of TPA. You can only maintain that leverage by announcing CONDITIONAL support.
It is a different and more effective political tactic than announcing a negative position from the beginning.
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