OnTheIssues.org is a nonpartisan organization that tracks candidates voting record and their answers to questionnaires etc, and rate them based only on the facts.
Not opinions, just the facts about their record.
They list him solidly in the Liberaltarian column.
You can go to the site and see it yourself, all the way at the bottom of the page.
You can also check every other House/Senate/POTUS candidate.
They also have McCain listed as a “moderate conservative”.
The ACU, that rates CONSERVATIVES, gives Rand a higher CONSERVATIVE rating than McCain.
They tell you he's not the same as his father, despite the fact that we regularly run into him making comments that espouse similar positions on defense, immigration, gay marriage, drugs, et al. He often emends those comments; but suspicions of Rand Paul aren't just entirely due to his last name. They're due to his expressed positions uttered before he gets the chance to gray them up semantically with the help of professionals.
Strangely enough, we hear from his supporters that he's a serious presidential contender because he's already got a national infrastructure. Oh, really? A first-term Senator from Kentucky has a national presidential infrastructure? How is this so? I'll tell you what they mean: they mean Ron Paul's infrastructure. Interesting how Rand can just seamlessly fill in for Ron and not lose any of his father's supporters, despite their supposed major differences.
I really hope Ron Paul runs in 2016. In fact, we need to raise some hell and make some noise and draft him to run! Maybe if both Ron and Rand run, we can have a real discussion about their major issue differences!
Don't be fooled. There's a reason all Ron Paul supporters are behind Rand, and it's not because he's a Reaganite Republican, or because he's so different from his father. It's because they know, just like we know, the differences are miscible.