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At Powerline this week, Steve Hayward penned a post aptly entitled “The Insincerity of Rand Paul.” The senator’s legal arguments against the Patriot Act, he posits, mimic papa Ron Paul’s 2003 calls for a formal declaration of war against Iraq: mere “constitutional punctilio to cover his real feelings.” Steve is right. Congress statutorily authorized the use of military force in Iraq. Nothing more was constitutionally required. The real reason for Representative Ron Paul’s formalistic nattering about a declaration of war was his opposition to American intervention in Iraq. That, in turn, was driven by his theory that it was American...

It turns out that Republicans in Washington are united on one issue: their hatred of Rand Paul. John McCain says that he is “the worst possible candidate . . . on the most important issue.” Marco Rubio opines that “he has no idea what he’s talking about.” Lindsey Graham concludes that it would be “devastating” for the party to nominate him. Conservative commentators are even more vicious and ad hominem. The obsession with Paul is striking. In a Post op-ed last summer, then-Texas Gov. Rick Perry mentioned Paul 10 times. I cannot recall an instance in recent decades when so much vitriol...

He’s turning out to be a lot like his father, unable or unwilling to adjust to changing political realities within his party.There are many reasons to be bullish about Rand Paul's unconventional campaign for president. He's relentlessly courting support from young voters and African Americans, making the explicit case that outreach can translate into wider support. He's embracing issues that Republicans usually don't dare touch, such as criminal-justice reform, drug decriminalization, and reining in government surveillance. And based on the early polls, he's finding himself in solid shape, running competitively against Hillary Clinton and in the top tier of Republican...

Rand Paul is in trouble. At least, it looks like Rand Paul is in trouble. When answering questions about fundraising posed by Politico last week, spokesmen from both the official campaign and America’s Liberty PAC couched on their actual numbers. PAC spokesman Jesse Benton may have revealed much more than he intended when he said, “Results to date have been solid and give us lots of room for optimism as we continue. We also know this is a marathon, not a sprint.” Oof. Marathon-not-sprint is never where you want to be when other candidates are charming the multimillionaires who make...

Can we all stop pretending that there’s any real suspense in this presidential race?As the children’s book says: Voters, it’s time to “Go the [expletive] to sleep.” You can turn off Fox, MSNBC, and CNN; you can close Twitter; you can sign off your crazy uncle’s Facebook feed. I am going to tell you, right now, what the political landscape of the future looks like so you don’t waste your time over the next year listening to a parade of pundits or watching those ridiculous primary debates. The 2016 election is going to come down to Hillary vs. Jeb, of...

DAVENPORT, Iowa — Rand Paul would notch a big victory in Washington just after midnight Monday if he follows through on his promise to block the renewal of the anti-terrorism law used to justify domestic spying programs. But back in Iowa, where Paul has tried to use the issue in recent days to revive his struggling presidential campaign, many Republican voters have responded with unease. Even some who stood in line to see Paul as he traveled the state last week said that they simply could not agree with his argument that the National Security Agency’s bulk data collection was...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)’s America’s Liberty Super PAC is out with a new ad attacking Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) as a “Canadian” who supports President Obama on domestic surveillance extensions in the Patriot Act. The extreme-style smackdown ad features Paul as the shirtless hero of a Sunday brawl in the Senate over the NSA and the right to privacy. Featuring a picture of Cruz with Obama and the backdrop of a Canadian flag, the ad calls the Texas Senator a “capitulating Canadian” who is “backing Barack’s bill.” Technically, the ad is not endorsed by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)'s campaign, but...

Many Americans are taking on more liberal views but Ted Cruz is sticking with his social conservatism. But will his grassroots bible belt base be enough to get him elected in 2016? The 2016 presidential primary season is shaping up to be very interesting. And although some Democrats such as Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have already announced their candidacies, all eyes have undoubtedly been on the GOP field, which seems to be growing every day. The GOP has been struggling in recent years, with Americans becoming increasingly more liberal, especially when it comes to social issues like the war...

“Here in front of Independence Hall, I call for the president to obey the law,” Paul said when he took the microphone, as hundreds of his supporters shouted “President Paul! President Paul! President Paul!” outside Independence Hall after a separate event inside the Constitution Center across the street. The crowd went wild. “The court said last week that it is illegal to collect all of your phone records all of the time without a warrant with your name on it,” Paul said. “I call on the president today to immediately end the bulk collection of our phone records.”

Ted Cruz is intellectually arrogant, like Ronald Reagan. The difference is that Reagan masked his arrogance with self-deprecating humor. Sen. Cruz does a Reagan impression that would do a nightclub comedian proud, but he doesn’t have Reagan’s easy and spontaneous humor. One doesn’t think of Reagan as arrogant, but he was in fact the most arrogant leader we have had since Lincoln. He ignored the whole of the foreign policy establishment in his conviction that America stood to win the Cold War and bring down Communism. Then as now, the foreign policy establishment resembled Jonathan Swift’s scientists on the floating...

Release dull, ultra-sanitized, uncontroversial autobiography that folks will own but never read. Check. Buy and memorize The Quotable Ronald Reagan. Check.Lose the beer gut. Camouflage the bald spot. Hire writers to concoct explanation for all that weed smoked in high school? Check. Check. Check.It is now safe to enter the Republican primary. But there is still one major problem left: the current state of the Republican party. Tea Partiers, evangelicals, establishment RINOs, Libertarians, neocon foreign policy hawks, and moderates. According to Dr. Stella Rouse, associate professor and Director of the Center for American Politics and Citizenship at the University of...

On April 17, New Hampshire hosted a Republican Leadership Summit, which drew GOP presidential hopefuls and over 500 Republican activists. The horse-and-buggy show highlighted and defined the 2016 Republican field. Covering all 19 prospective candidates was a stretch, but I will share my insights on a few here. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker: My Wisconsin skeet-shooter friend Margaret claims Walker is a "good man." Is that enough though to win the presidency? Billionaire election investor David Koch seems to think Walker will be the nominee. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) almost ruined the governor's reputation by saying, "I don't...

Caffeinated Thoughts completed a non-scientific poll of our readership from May 1-8, 2015. U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) leads overall being first choice for just shy of 37% of those polled. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) leads among Iowan readers with almost 29% saying he is their first choice. Our overall results (1st Choice): 1. U.S. Senator Rand Paul – 36.8% 2. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz – 19.6% 3. Former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum – 11.2% 4. Former Texas Governor Rick Perry – 8.0% 5. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal – 5.2% 6. U.S. Senator Marco Rubio – 4.0% 7. Former...

When the Tea Party began in 2009, even those of us at the heart of the movement couldn’t have predicted how it would permanently alter America’s political landscape. Just six years later, it’s undeniably at the heart of American politics in spite of countless attacks from the political establishment and from the national media. Because of the Tea Party’s strength and influence, candidates who call themselves conservative must prove their bona fides to successfully court any grassroots support at all. Sen. Ted Cruz is a great example. Clearly a Tea Party favorite, Cruz has stood strong in the Senate for...

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee will be entering a very different Republican primary field when he announces his candidacy Tuesday, one that will likely bring up the debate over where libertarians stand in the Republican party, while also facing more competition for social conservative voters than eight years ago. “Huckabee does have name recognition having been on Fox News all this time,” Tim Hagle, a political science professor at the University of Iowa, told TheBlaze. “At the same time, after he won the caucuses here in 2008, there was a lot of concern that he wasn’t as conservative as some...

The Conservative Review hands out its first report card for 2016 Republicans Monday, and two candidates get schooled. According to the group, which was formed last year to score GOP lawmakers' adherence to conservative dogma, Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Rand Paul of Kentucky need improvement. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz earns top grades -- just as he used to at Princeton and Harvard Law. International Business Times got an early look at the ratings of the three Republicans who have officially launched presidential campaigns. The Review graded them on criteria including immigration, foreign policy and "moral issues" like abortion,...

Seasoned conservatives celebrated when Ted Cruz announced his bid for presidency. Mr. Cruz is the Tea Party's favorite candidate and he is despised by liberals. Ted Cruz refuses to set aside his belief in traditional values to appease "moderates" and "swing voters". Ted Cruz knows that we need to look to our freedom loving, Christian past to get this nation back on track. The sad thing is that Rand Paul also announced he will run. Mr. Paul is one of these "libertarians". Even the word itself, "libertarian" sounds too much like liberal. Rand Paul is liberal on social issues such...

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who is putting a lot of emphasis on Iowa in his presidential campaign, is continuing to notch endorsements from some well-known activists in the state. Former Secretary of State Matt Schultz told the Quad-City Times on Wednesday he is endorsing Cruz for president. "I’m looking for somebody who’s going to stand up and fight for our country, and he gives me hope we can turn things around," said Schultz, who is now the Madison County Attorney. "He's not going to back down from a fight." In a letter to two dozen members of the Cruz...

10. He wants to rebuild the old Reagan Coalitions Cruz without argument is a constitutional conservative, unwilling to compromise with progressives if it means government grows even an inch bigger. His plan to win the presidency won’t involve shifting towards the mushy middle like previous GOP candidates, but instead reforming the old Reagan Coalition of Evangelicals, Conservatives, Reagan Democrats, and Libertarians to help him get to the White House. 9. He shut down the government and beat Rand Paul’s filibuster record During the fight to defund Obamacare, Cruz pushed his filibuster past the deadline for the government shutdown; while in...

Call it the anti-Rand primary. There are at least three Republicans who seem likely to run for president in part so they can attack Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul’s libertarian-leaning foreign policy stances on the campaign trail. These anti-Rand candidates — South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, former U.N. ambassador John Bolton and New York Rep. Peter King — are ramping up their criticism especially now that Paul has officially entered the race for the White House. All three are the longest of long shots when it comes to actually winning their party’s nomination. But each of them — national security hawks...