I mention the above because it’s relevant to the article. Rand Paul is in a position to tell them he’s “One of them”. But, given things like his support for McConnell and his desire to distance himself from his father, the Liberty Caucus is having some doubt.
Their doubt is directly related to concerns that Rand Paul is saying things just to get elected. Maybe he’ll closely resemble his father if elected, but this is a group highly resistant to the ‘say anything to get elected’ argument.
So. I do think Cruz has an opening, but he can’t come across as saying anything to get elected. He has to be frank about his differences.
I think the liberty group could give some on alignment on every issue IF they believe that in return they’ll get someone who’ll stand up and fight where they campaign that they do agree. Wouldn’t you?
If the Liberty Caucus is smart (which they are), they will dump Rand for Ted. Ted is brilliant and a fighter. Rand is only fairly smart and he is not much of a scrapper.