"It’s time to start taking Rand Paul seriously"

[applegrove]

It’s time to start taking Rand Paul seriously

By Chris Cillizza at the Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/03/17/its-time-to-start-taking-rand-paul-seriously/

"SNIP............................

* Iowa and New Hampshire. It's easy to forget how well Ron Paul did in both early-voting states in 2012. In Iowa, he came in third -- behind Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney -- with 21.5 percent of the caucus vote. He was less than 4,000 total votes away from winning. In New Hampshire, Ron Paul finished second with 23 percent -- wracking up almost 57,000 votes in the process. Combine his showing in those two states and Ron Paul did considerably better in actually attracting votes than more "establishment" candidates like Jon Huntsman, Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich and Tim Pawlenty. So strong was the Paul organization in Iowa that it wound up taking over the state party apparatus -- although A.J. Spiker's decision not to run for a second term as party chairman will remove one prominent Paul-ite from the ranks of the Iowa Republican leadership.

* Libertarianism on the rise. There is, without question, an expanding libertarian streak within the Republican party -- particularly among younger voters. The ideas of limiting foreign entanglements, spending less time cracking down on marijuana use and being OK with same-sex marriage are all growing in terms of their mindshare within the GOP. Need evidence? Six in ten young Republicans -- defined as between 18-30 years of age -- are in favor of same sex marriage in new Pew data. Rand Paul is positioned at the center of this movement and, if he is able to mobilize these libertarian-tinged Republicans, has a bloc of voters that none of the other Republican candidates can tap into.

If you add up the advantages that come from inheriting his father's (underrated) political and fundraising operation with Rand's ability to soften the edges around his libertarianism -- in a way his father never could or didn't want to do -- you have a candidate with a unique and lasting appeal to a segment of Republicans. Questions, obviously, remain. Among them: 1) How big a segment of Republicans are Paul-ites and can he grow their ranks? 2) How will Paul hold up under the increased scrutiny that comes with being seen as a genuine presidential contender? 3) Has he put plagiarism, civil rights and aqua buddha behind him? Or are those just a sampling of the political problems Paul might encounter going forward? (Make sure to read Dave Weigel's piece on the overrating of Rand.)

But, every candidate in the potential 2016 Republican field has questions he or she needs to answer. None have the built-in infrastructural advantages that Paul enjoys. That's why it's past time people start taking him seriously as a potential Republican nominee.




..........................SNIP"

[NightWatcher]

1. and Infowars is a legit news site and Hot Pockets are fine Italian food

There is no Libertarian wave, the few of them are just noisy and obnoxious.

[applegrove]

3. Low information democratic voters need to be schooled in what Libertarianism

is. Cause left to Rand all they are hearing is about legal marijuana and not NSA snooping on phone calls.

[Capt. Obvious]

2. Aqua Bhudda agrees

[mattclearing]

4. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...

I will read this, but had to get that out first.

[TwilightGardener]

5. Why would anyone take him seriously? What has he done to warrant that?

[Johnyawl]

6. In the immortal words of Capt. Mal Reynolds...

..."Well my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle"