Posted on 03/17/2026 1:47:09 AM PDT by RandFan
Kentucky senator says he wants to represent 'free-market wing' of Republican Party as alternative to Trump-Vance populism
Libertarian-minded Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky is leaving the door wide open to a possible 2028 White House run.
"We’ll decide after 2026," Paul said in an interview that posted this weekend.
Paul ran for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, but dropped out after a distant fifth-place finish in Iowa's Republican caucuses. He won re-election later that year in the Senate, and was re-elected again in 2022.
The senator, who for years has been a leading voice inside the GOP for fiscal conservatism, civil liberties and a non-interventionist foreign policy for America, has lamented the declining number of Republicans embracing such an agenda in a party dominated by President Donald Trump. And he's pledged to try and bring such an agenda back.
...
Pointing to Trump and Vice President JD Vance, who is perceived as the GOP frontrunner in the race to succeed the term-limited Trump, Paul emphasized that "there needs to be a free-market wing of the Republican Party. And I want to be part of trying to ensure that still exists."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
“Rand Paul floats possible 2028 run, pushes back on Trump-era protectionism”
Americans have higher costs:
1. PPACA health insurance
2. high property taxes
3. environmental protection laws
4. a welfare system far more generous than that of China, Mexico and India
There has to be a modest percentage offset (such as Trump’s 10% base tariff) to make the marketplace fair to ordinary Americans.
I hope I am still around in 2028 to vote against Dr. Paul.
I expect Pat Paulson to knock Rand Paul out of contention before the primary.
There was a circuit board plant in Virginia.
Management said it was no longer economically viable.
Workers asked if they could take a pay cut and stay employed.
They were told that even if they worked for free that the plant couldn’t make it.
Forget it.
My word. They could pivot to AI chips? Seem to be all the rage.
Will Rand cry over those poor fentanyl boat martyrs on the debate stage?
Media whore? Yes. Serious contender, no.
“”there needs to be a free-market wing of the Republican Party”
The reality is that the Chinese are healthier than Americans.
The reality is that the Mexicans are healthier and younger than Americans.
They have lower health care costs than Americans.
Health insurance is generally provided by employers in the American system.
To try to level the ‘playing field’ with respect to health care would require federal product tax to fund health care. That would open up a huge can of ‘worms’.
I’m simply not National Football League material. If I got a job with a team I’d be carried out on a stretcher before the end of the season.
“A man has to know his limitations.”
And so does a nation.
Exactly he looks like he on cartels payroll. Has zero chance
His ego just kills me.
Deep State doesn’t have a deep bench...
But it does have a YUGE collection of dunce chairs.
“My word. They could pivot to AI chips? Seem to be all the rage.”
The problem is circuit boards are made by chemical means.
Disposing of chemicals according to American law is costly.

That is funny.. ;^D
A BRIT pushing Libertarians.. in the USA..
Hmm...
What is wrong with this picture?
Every senator wakes up looks in the mirror and sees the next President, sorry Rand not a chance
I refuse to get all het up two and a half years in advance.
Pushing open borders and off shoring jobs isnt the winning platform libertarians think.
He needs a good SHAMPOOING....GREASY! Ugh
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