Washington Post: Rand Paul will be a major player in 2016

Washington Post ^ | 03/10/2013 | Chris Cillizza

[SeekAndFind]

Rand Paul is the hottest commodity in Republican Party politics right now. But how high can he rise?

We put that question to a wide cross section of veteran Republican hands in the wake of the Kentucky Republican’s filibuster of John Brennan’s confirmation as CIA director last week and got a nearly unanimous response: Paul is already a national leader within the party and will be a major factor if (but really when) he runs for president in 2016.

“The filibuster is the single largest leap I can recall from one act,” said Dave Carney, a New Hampshire-based GOP strategist who served as a senior adviser for Rick Perry’s 2012 presidential bid. “The old guard’s gratuitous and meaningless tantrum attack the next day further solidified his sole position as leader of the new right.” (In the wake of the Paul filibuster, Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina defended the Obama administration’s stance on drones.)

Paul demonstrated two very important political traits during the filibuster:

1. He is a person of principle, taking a stand on an issue (drones) that almost no one cares about.

2. Paul has a showman’s sense of the moment, a rare and underrated ability in politics. “He is a PR machine who has an uncanny ability to galvanize the conservative base,” acknowledged one establishment Senate insider granted anonymity to speak candidly. (If you need evidence of that trait, look at how Paul kept chatter about the filibuster going; he did a series of television appearances and penned an op-ed explaining himself on the front page of The Post’s Outlook section Sunday.)

[ex-snook]

"what’s the problem with Paul’s foreign policy? "

I think he puts American interests before all others and some don't like that.

[NVDave]

That’s my foreign policy too, so I guess the neo-cons have a problem with me as well.