Free Republic

Four years ago, libertarians were an important force in the Republican presidential race. In the campaign for the 2012 nomination, Ron Paul was routinely drawing big crowds on college campuses. He made a strong third-place showing in Iowa's important first-in-the-nation caucuses. Even though he failed to win the 2012 nomination, his supporters continued to organize, drawing attention to their small-government beliefs and taking over control of much of the Republican Party of Iowa for a time. Many observers thought so-called "liberty movement" candidates might have an edge in 2016. But for Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, the heir apparent to the...

Art Laffer, famed member of President Reagan’s Economic Policy Advisory Board, has co-authored, with Stephen Moore, an article for Investor’s Business Daily in which they assert that Rand Paul and Ted Cruz have the “best” tax proposals.

An Iowa jury has acquitted Jesse Benton, a longtime aide to both former congressman Ron Paul and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), on charges of lying to the FBI. That decision effectively clears two key Paul family aides who had been under an ethical cloud since a December 2011 decision to pay a state senator for his endorsement... Benton had been the chairman of Ron Paul's 2012 presidential campaign. Like John Tate, who had been Paul's campaign manager, he succeeded in getting the court to drop most of the counts related to the payoff of former senator Kent Sorenson, a Republican...

When Rand Paul entered the GOP presidential race, he sought to stitch together a distinct coalition: his father's fiercely loyal libertarian supporters, millennials, and others new to Republican politics whom he hoped to draw with his provocative stances on privacy and marijuana laws. Six months later, none of that is working. Paul is a low single-digit blip in the polls. He barely meets the threshold to participate in the next debate later this month. Influential conservatives are urging him to bail out. ... As the Kentucky senator struggles, a sometime ally turned rival, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, is working...

NASHUA, N.H. — Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) came to a convention of libertarian-leaning Republicans and talked about shrinking government, slashing regulations, fighting against the bulk collection of phone data and his great affinity for a rival in the presidential race. “I love Rand Paul,” Cruz said. Paul, Kentucky’s junior U.S. senator and scion of one of America’s most famous libertarian families, was fully expected to lock down the support of libertarian voters in the presidential election. But as Paul’s poll numbers have sagged nationally — and in such libertarian-minded places as New Hampshire — Cruz is trying to pick off...

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...

Another Paul aide told BuzzFeed News that the campaign had made a few new hires in the past two weeks. The campaign insists there will be no shakeups or changes in strategy, that Paul will continue his campaign schedule in the early states and regions off the beaten track, and that it has enough resources to carry the candidate through at least the first four primaries. Now, Paul is bidding for ownership of a niche, and for a long primary where his libertarian base returns to grind out caucus wins. Despite the glimmers of hope, one adviser to the campaign...

As a Libertarian leaning Republican (in Iowa no less), I’m used to my options for Presidential candidates being limited. I’m also used to my choice turning me into an outcast among peers. What I’m about to write may ruffle some feathers among friends, but let’s face it, as the Iowa Liberty movement has grown, we’ve ruffled our share of feathers in the ranks of the establishment, so forgive me if I shake the tree of Liberty for a moment. Let’s get this straight right out of the gate, there will only ever be one Dr. Ron Paul. The former Texas...

Former US congressman, founder of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity, and many-time presidential candidate Ron Paul discusses the 2016 presidential race on the Russian government's English-language propaganda station. RT HOST: I first asked Dr. Paul what he thinks it says that the three candidates from the private sector are doing the best, does that mean the economy is the foremost issue on the minds of most Americans? RON PAUL: Well probably yes, but if you look at the Democrat side, you have someone like Bernie Sanders, who has been in nothing else except politics. And he's doing...

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul's campaign for president will announce in the coming days that it raised approximately $2.5 million in the third quarter and has $2 million cash on hand, Communications Director Sergio Gor said Thursday. That haul is just a fraction of the $20 million the campaign of retired brain surgeon Ben Carson says it is on track to post for the third quarter -- half of that money coming in in September alone. Paul's third quarter total is well under the $7 million the libertarian firebrand raised in the second quarter. Part of that money was transferred from...

The Libertarian Party conducted a poll a few months back in order to better understand the religious demographic of party members. A result which surely shocked many was the stereotype-shattering data the Libertarian Party got back. Of the 19,428 votes caste, around 50% of those who participated came back as Christian. ArenÂ’t libertarians just a bunch of atheist? Well, only 42% of Libertarian voters identified as Atheists. This is incredibly exciting! This is an opportunity to not only expand the message of limited government, free markets, and individual liberty, but on a personal level, to expand the Gospel of Christ...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)In the Senate, Ted Cruz stood with Rand Paul. On the campaign trail, he's stomping all over him. Cruz on Tuesday unveiled a coalition of libertarian supporters that is chock full of activists who backed Paul's father, Ron Paul, in the two previous Republican presidential primaries. Cruz very unsubtly moved to stamp out the competition for this voting bloc with a campaign video that features this group recalling their fondness for Ron Paul and discussing how Cruz embodies his libertarian ethos. Libertarian Republicans were supposed to form the bulwark of Rand Paul's 2016 campaign. "There are a lot of things...

Sen. Ted Cruz has snatched away endorsements for his GOP presidential bid that would appear to be a natural fit for rival Sen. Rand Paul – landing the nod from libertarians who've been supporters of Paul's father, Ron Paul. The backing comes from the Liberty Leaders for Cruz coalition, headed by former Georgia Republican Rep. Bob Barr, who ran for president in 2008 and now heads the nonprofit Liberty Guard, Bloomberg reports. "More than any other candidate for President in 2016, Cruz understands that the oath the president takes is a solemn commitment to always act in accordance with the...

via The Iowa Statesman. Republican presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz today named former U.S. Rep. Bob Barr the National Chair of the “Liberty Leaders for Cruz” coalition. The campaign also released a video of eight leaders in the Liberty movement who are actively working for the Cruz campaign, featuring their personal stories of why they supported Ron Paul, and why in 2016, they support Ted Cruz for President. Additional coverage at Reason. – Fmr. Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA) was the Libertarian nominee for President in 2008, winning on the sixth ballot at a divided and fractured convention. After a...

For months, the presidential campaign of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) has quietly been courting libertarian-leaning supporters -- people who once supported Ron Paul and ostensibly would have been inclined to back his son, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) in the 2016 race. On Tuesday, Cruz released a video showing eight former Ron Paul liberty movement supporters -- a number of them from Iowa -- who are now backing Cruz. The campaign announced that former Congressman Bob Barr will chair a Liberty Leaders for Cruz" coalition comprised of libertarian-leaning Republicans. As Paul's campaign has floundered and Cruz remains in the middle of...

HOUSTON, Texas — Continuing to build the strongest national organization in the Republican presidential field, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, today announced Max Schanfarber will serve as U.S. Virgin Islands Campaign Chairman.“I am proud to have the support of such a well-respected leader in the Virgin Islands,” said Sen. Cruz. “Max is joining a tremendous national political organization that is second to none. His experience will help ensure we compete across the country and clinch the Republican nomination.”“Sen. Cruz promises to always speak the truth and I have found that is exactly what he does. His legal background makes him...

You don’t have to agree with all or even most of Senator Rand Paul’s brand of libertarianism to concede that his candidacy once held so much promise. Paul entered the race buoyed by what seemed like a burgeoning libertarian moment. From the conduct of the global war on terrorism to massive comprehensive reform packages, American political culture had grown suspicious of the federal government’s ability to avert the unforeseen negative consequences of its good intentions. For several weeks in the summer of 2014, Rand Paul led a field of nine prospective Republican presidential candidates in the polls. It was a...

Months ago I saw a rumor that some crooked billionaires had worked out a scheme to profit from a stock market crash. At the time I thought it must be just an urban legend. No one could be so stupid as to try to crash the stock market, particularly while the nation is at war. Now I’m not so sure it’s just an urban legend. Ron Paul and other hucksters are advertising that we should follow their advice to avoid the economic debacle they claim is coming. Someone needs to tell these dopes that if they succeed in causing an...

Gone are the flashing green neon lights advertising $200 ounces of pot. Gone are the caravans of cannabis doctors who signed up hundreds of people in a single day. The medical marijuana business in Montana boomed after voters legalized it in 2004. At one time, this state of only a million people had almost 30,000 patients and 4,900 providers. But the industry has been crippled by state legislators and a determined grass-roots opposition. And a state Supreme Court decision coming as early as October could all but wipe it out. Elizabeth Pincolini is a medical marijuana user and advocate, who...

Last fall, TIME magazine declared Paul the "most interesting man in politics" and stamped him on its cover. Paul launched his campaign earlier this year pledging that he was a "different kind of Republican." Four months later, though it's still early in a crowded, fluid race, it's clear that many Republicans want different — but not him. His campaign is struggling to keep up with his rivals in fundraising. Two of his political allies running an outside super PAC supporting his candidacy were recently indicted on campaign-finance fraud charges. Significant plunges in polling are starting to correspond. And Trump has...