I think this article is a few months out of date. For a while, Rand seemed to have convinced conservatives that he was their savior, but he was eclipsed by Ted Cruz as the Tea Party favorite a while ago. I think if the two of them went head to head now with conservative groups, Cruz would easily win. That includes on FR, too.
You're right that Rand has convinced many conservatives that he's a mainstream spokesman for conservative values, though. They're convinced that he's "different" from dear ol' dad despite the fact nobody can seem to think of a single issue where Rand has visibly parted ways with daddy. Shades of Darin LaThug and Jesse Jackson Jr. The tone and focus on issues may be different but the agenda sure isn't. This is one of the reasons I'm glad nobody drank the Liz Cheney kool-aid. If she had won a Senate seat, they'd immediately start trying to position her as a "rising star" for her daddy's old job in 2016.
>> Purely as a candidate, he doesn’t seem like a strong one. <<
Agreed. The one strength I'd give him is that he's a very effective communicator and would do well in a debate trying to convince everyone in the audience that he shares their beliefs and will fight for them. He comes across as a very articulate and reasonable southern gentleman. Aside from that, I really can't think of any strengths he'd have a Presidential candidate. Even if Rand is totally focused on mainstream America on the campaign trail, I could see one of his daddy's lunatic supporters sabotaging the campaign and getting us dragged into a debate on secession, "funding for zionists", or the 17th amendment or something.
Check out post #42 for a real blast from the past. I'm having deja vu of the bad ol' days in late 2011/early 2012 when FR was rah-rah for Newt for President. The Newt fan has Newt listed as a "N" on "Supported the global warming hoax". I guess Newt missed this memo when he sat on the couch with Nancy and had a "debate" with John Kerry where he agreed "climate change is real" and that we needed to take "immediate steps" to combat it.
Dear God! That man needs a doctor.
My take on this:
Any GOP will be better than the alternative, Hillary!. To paraphrase Rick Pitino, “Ronald Reagan isn’t walking through that door!”
If this was the country that I grew up in, I’d have to think after 8 years of this AA bozo RAT, the GOP should be a shoo-in, but, since the tipping point has been eclipsed, probably not.
Coalesce behind the person with the best chance of winning in 2016, warts and all and go. That’s about all that can be done.
He talks about how he supports all these bipartision ideas, then votes with Ted Cruz against them all.
And he's isolationist which is the popular thing now.
I think he's been working this one very cleverly. I been watching him,
Looks like Dems knocked off Christie for him.
I was in NH and ME with the NEWT people, mostly, and the Santorum people to a lesser extent.
I find it distressing that both of them seem to be reving up for another run. I got an email today from “Newt for President” ... I did not read it ... should have. Perhaps the Iowa caucus will exterminate them. New Hampshire sure will.
the worst part of the Paulistas is they’ve soaked up all the rural grassroots populists in much of the country ... NH and ME included.
Takes a big part of the Teaparty coalition out of the ... coalition. I do not like it and ain’t got no cure.
Rand is either much smarter than dad and he is obviously ambitious, unlike crazy Ron.
On one hand I am impressed with how he has worked himself into the picture of the reasonable conservative(he comes off as very likable ) to many, on the other hand I am deeply skeptical of first term Senators running for POTUS, for both reasons.
Besides that fluff he really hasn't accomplished anything in that office. Not a good test. If the GOP got the Senate control next year now that would be a better test.