Rand Paul 2016: His Role At CPAC Could Put Him On the Path, But Hurdles Remain

policymic ^ | January 22, 2013 | By Grant Ferowich

[Jim Robinson]

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), son of the recently-retired libertarian Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas), was recently announced as a featured speaker for this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

CPAC is essentially a litmus test for the Republican Party; it provides a general sense of the party’s direction. Backed by tremendous Tea Party support, Rand Paul is eyeing a 2016 bid to take the reigns of the country, and he doesn’t care if you know it: "I am different than some in that I'm not going to deny that I'm interested," said Paul.

The GOP finds itself in an identity crisis. Among others attending CPAC are Sen. Marc Rubio (R-Fla.), Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), and Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.). Throw in Chris Christie, the Republican governor of New Jersey, and you have all the heavy hitters chomping at the bit for the 2016 GOP bid.

With disciplined libertarian Ron Paul retiring, there is some expectation that Rand Paul will succeed his father in spearheading libertarian causes. After Romney’s mystery campaign many await what a reinvigorated GOP will entail. Does Rand Paul’s rise represent anything transformative in the GOP?

Rand Paul is a rare breed: He is a self-described libertarian, but envisions a world where the government controls matters regarding basic women’s rights, even in cases of rape and incest. The libertarian affection for choice, freedom, and minimalist government gains an interesting meaning for Paul: “I think the answer really is that we need to somehow find our way back to God.” Despite the continued moral decay noticed by some after the Newtown tragedy, government imposition of religious morality hardly defines any libertarian worth his salt.

Rand Paul might be characterized by tea party sentiment, “Get the government out of my life!”

[GRRRRR]

Dream Ticket for 2016?

A. West / S. Palin...

[marron]

I occasionally like to say that leaders lead and fighters fight.

During the first year of O’s regime, when the GOP politicians were so completely demoralized that they wanted only to prove to O how bipartisan they could be, the number of politicals who were prepared to fight back could be counted on one hand. They were people like Bachmann, DeMint, Palin (though she was out of office), and a few talking heads in the media. Romney was not among them as I remember pointing out again and again. He was busy laying low and preparing his position papers for his eventual campaign.

Though from a practical point of view his behavior made sense, it also meant that he was AWOL during the fight of the century as O steamrolled his way through. Though I eventually voted for him, I pointed out repeatedly that such a man was neither leader nor fighter, or else he would be leading and fighting.

Now that O is secure for another 4 years, he is going to be more confident than ever in his ability to steamroll his opponents. The GOP is looking for a way to surrender on just about everything. This is the moment for a leader to emerge, and the only one I see standing up is Rand. He’s not perfect, but he fights.

So he has my attention. Palin is still out there doing what she does best, and there are a couple of others who are also fearless. Our next president should be chosen from among our natural leaders and fighters. We should not simply accept some guy who thinks its his turn. Romney had no problem taking down his GOP rivals but he did not know how to deal with O and his communists. Rand, like Palin, seems to be fearless. We’ve got a long way to go to 2016, but we should be lining up behind our fighters.

At some point Rand is going to get the Palin treatment, the Bork and Judge Thomas treatment, and many of us will want to run for the doors. We have to expect it and be prepared to deal with it.

[BlackElk]

Great post!

Someone on another thread described Sarah Palin as our "flame of the North." That she is and we ought to defend her and fight for her at every opportunity. She is magnificent.

I could never stand Ron Paul but Rand Paul is looking better and better. He fileted Hillary and it is about time someone did. I won't blame him for his father and I will give him the benefit of the doubt unless and until he should prove unworthy as I hope he will not. You are right. He fights. Sarah Palin also fights and a few others do as well.

God bless you and yours!