Rand Paul Attacks Ted Cruz In Defense Of Mitch McConnell…

In a move that will no doubt disappoint many of his political supporters, Senator Rand Paul stated publicly that fellow GOP Senator and presidential candidate Ted Cruz is “done for” in the Senate.

Senator Paul’s words appeared to be part of his defense of current Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, himself the subject of increasing pressure from unhappy conservatives to step down from that position due to McConnell’s ongoing unwillingness to more forcefully fight the Obama agenda.

It should be noted that at present, the Paul presidential campaign is floundering at just 1% in most polls while Cruz continues to enjoy a far more significant middle-of-the-pack, 7-8% support among prospective voters. Some have already suggested Rand Paul’s recent attack against his GOP rival is simply out of desperation to give his campaign much-needed publicity.

History though would indicate there is a genuine sense of loyalty between Paul and the senior Senator from Paul’s home state of Kentucky – Mitch McConnell. Rand Paul played a pivotal role in helping McConnell convince Kentucky conservatives to give him a re-election victory in 2014.

Rand Paul supporters continue to suggest that he is just as intent on shrinking the size of government as Ted Cruz says he is, but that Paul does so in a way that does not call out fellow senators as liars and burn bridges that will make future legislative success increasingly difficult to attain.

Yesterday another presidential candidate singled out the floundering Paul campaign, current GOP front-runner Donald Trump who issued yet another controversial tweet on the subject:

I hope when Rand Paul gets out of the race—he is at 1%–his supporters come over to me. I will do a much better job for them.

Why Paul chose to then attack Ted Cruz (who has been among the few GOP candidates to not engage in attacks against Trump) is uncertain at this time. Paul detractors indicate it might very well have been done at the bidding of Mitch McConnell himself.

Senator Paul did state during a subsequent CNN interview he feels his campaign will be around “just as long or longer” than Donald Trump’s.

Follow the money.

Paul ran for the Senate in 2010 as an outsider and won his first election with Tea Party support. His floundering presidential campaign is going nowhere and if he wants to keep his Senate seat will need to suspend his presidential campaign and start running in earnest for reelection to the Senate. To win reelection to the Senate he will need big money.

Paul’s attacks on Cruz are confirmation he has sold out to the establishment for the money and ground support to be reelected to the Senate. Another Tea Party class of 2010 sellout. It goes to show that in politics the outsider can occasionally win an election but without access to big money and the party ground organization it is virtually impossible for a Congressman or Senator to be reelected. Once they understand the money game, most outsiders quickly capitulate and become part of the machine.

The essential truth is the people may get angry in a single year and tilt some individual elections enough to bring in a few outsiders. However, average citizens in aggregate don’t contribute enough money to fund modern campaigns. Unless a politician is independently wealthy, he or she is eventually going to have to sell out to the party, special interest groups, or a group of wealthy individuals.

Paul’s strong support of McConnell’s reelection campaign in 2014 was a strong signal he was already house broken. The fervor of his recent attacks on Cruz is a strong signal the establishment has him on a short leash.

Today’s Republican party cannot tolerate independence. If Cruz does not win national office in 2016 (president or VP) the last two years of his Senate term will be miserable and the party will work against him for reelection in 2018. Unless he is able to find some very wealthy conservative backers Cruz will likely find money to be a problem in 2018.

Rand Paul On Shutdown: "Even Though It Appeared I Was Participating In It, It Was A Dumb Idea"
I said throughout the whole battle that shutting down the government was a dumb idea. Even though it did appear as if I was participating in it, I said it was a dumb idea. And the reason I voted for it, though, is that it's a conundrum. Here's the conundrum. We have a $17 trillion debt and people at home tell me you can't give the president a blank check. We just can't keep raising the debt ceiling without conditions. So unconditionally raising the debt ceiling, nobody at home wants me to vote for that and I can't vote for that. But the conundrum is if I don't we do approach these deadlines. So there is an impasse. In 2011, though, we had this impasse and the president did negotiate. We got the sequester. If we were to extend the sequester from discretionary spending to all the entitlements we would actually fix our problem within a few years.
[Posted on 11/19/2013 12:16:51 PM by Third Person]

Rand Paul: Time for GOP to soften war stance
...by softening its edge on some volatile social issues and altering its image as the party always seemingly "eager to go to war... We do need to expand the party and grow the party and that does mean that we don't always all agree on every issue" ... the party needs to become more welcoming to individuals who disagree with basic Republican doctrine on emotional social issues such as gay marriage... "We're going to have to be a little hands off on some of these issues ... and get people into the party," Paul said.
[Posted on 01/31/2013 5:08:50 PM PST by xzins]

Rand Paul's immigration speech
...The Republican Party must embrace more legal immigration.

Unfortunately, like many of the major debates in Washington, immigration has become a stalemate-where both sides are imprisoned by their own rhetoric or attachment to sacred cows that prevent the possibility of a balanced solution.

Immigration Reform will not occur until Conservative Republicans, like myself, become part of the solution. I am here today to begin that conversation.

Let's start that conversation by acknowledging we aren't going to deport 12 million illegal immigrants.

If you wish to work, if you wish to live and work in America, then we will find a place for you...

This is where prudence, compassion and thrift all point us toward the same goal: bringing these workers out of the shadows and into being taxpaying members of society.

Imagine 12 million people who are already here coming out of the shadows to become new taxpayers.12 million more people assimilating into society. 12 million more people being productive contributors.
[Posted on 03/19/2013 7:04:07 AM PDT by Perdogg]
Rand Paul calls on conservatives to embrace immigration reform
Latinos, should be a natural constituency for the party, Paul argued, but "Republicans have pushed them away with harsh rhetoric over immigration." ...he would create a bipartisan panel to determine how many visas should be granted for workers already in the United States and those who might follow... [and the buried lead] "Imagine 12 million people who are already here coming out of the shadows to become new taxpayers...
[Posted on 04/21/2013 1:52:42 PM PDT by SoConPubbie]
[but he's not in favor of amnesty, snicker, definition of is is]

Rand Slams Congress for Funding Egypt's Generals: 'How Does Your Conscience Feel Now?'
Sen. Rand Paul is hammering his fellow senators for keeping billions in financial aid flowing to Egypt's military -- even as Cairo's security forces massacre anti-government activists. [by "anti-government activists" is meant church-burning Christian-murdering jihadists]
[Posted on 08/15/2013 5:44:10 PM PDT by Hoodat]

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Demagogue, Democrat in all but name ping!