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.
Paul is on his way out. Rand Paul has reveled himself to be a tool.