Rand Paul worries me.

[randys1]

If I wasn't informed and had I not lived long enough to know better, and had I not heard his interview with Rachel Maddow and didn't know he does NOT support civil rights laws, I might give him a second listen (not really, I couldnt as long as i had one brain cell left).

Whether it is his desire to fix the system that jails Black people way out of proportion to whites or his overall softer rightwing approach to everything, I fear lots of well thinking people may be drawn to him, especially younger, anti big brother folks.

Something has to be done to draw out the issues he is terribly wrong on like Women's rights, civil rights, etc., to point out to well meaning younger folks that he is not the one.

What do you all think?

Did you see Rachel talk about his anti Raygun speeches? Hell, he could work those to his advantage if he knew what he was doing.

[CherokeeDem]

1. Living in Kentucky....

I am more than worried about Rand Paul.

I remember driving between Lexington and Georgetown a year before the Senate election, and seeing a campaign sign for Paul. I thought at the time there was no way Kentucky will elect that idiot. But they did.

Rand is like his father... they keep their real attitudes about civil rights, women, government cloaked by careful rhetoric and seemingly charming demeanor. It's all a façade, and Rand is slicker than his father.

I am worried about Rand Paul as well.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

2. Thanks for your concern. nt

[TBF]

3. So much concern ... nt

[Gothmog]

4. Rand Paul has no chance of being elected

The GOP donor class will not let Rand Paul get the nomination

[standingtall]

5. There is no way

a well thinking person would ever be drawn to Rand Paul.

[frazzled]

6. He will use marijuana legalization to fool young (and other) people ...

into thinking he's not the right-wing (in extremist) Republican libertarian that he really is. He's dangerous, but people are easily fooled.

The other worrisome thing is that he will have the backing of the Libertarian financial moguls of Silicon Valley, who will use him to their own ends to avoid any kind of government intrusion into their house-of-cards, oligarchic, billions-of-dollars profits. As outlined in today's NYT:

Rand Paul and Wealthy Libertarians Connect as He Weighs Running

As he has risen in prominence as a Republican presidential contender, Mr. Paul is avidly courting a small but influential cluster of wealthy libertarians. His pursuit offers an intriguing window into an eclectic network of potential donors who have made fortunes in Silicon Valley start-ups and Wall Street hedge funds, a group that could form a vital donor base if he makes a bid for the Republican nomination. A tight-knit tribe of philanthropists and entrepreneurs, they have exerted enormous intellectual influence on conservative policy. But they have historically spent more on nonprofit groups and endowing college economics departments than they have on backing candidates.

Now Mr. Paul is seeking to nudge them into the comparatively messier world of presidential campaigning.

He has recruited libertarian-leaning financiers and money managers from across the country, including Kenneth M. Garschina, founder of a $5.4 billion New York hedge fund and a contributor to The Review of Austrian Economics, and Donald G. Smith, an investor and board member of the Cato Institute, a libertarian research organization based in Washington. Mr. Paul’s nascent finance team includes Joe Lonsdale, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist who helped start an organization dedicated to building new sovereign cities on floating ocean platforms.

In January, Mr. Paul was the star attraction at a fund-raiser for the Goldwater Institute, a libertarian foundation and legal watchdog based in Phoenix. (Top donors were given 10 autographed copies each of the senator’s book, “Government Bullies: How Everyday Americans Are Being Harassed, Abused and Imprisoned by the Feds.”) In February, at the Club for Growth meeting, held at the Breakers resort in Florida, Mr. Paul pitched a roomful of small-government true believers on the importance of reducing prison sentences for drug offenses.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/25/us/politics/paul-and-wealthy-libertarians-connect-as-he-weighs-running.html?hp&_r=0

[standingtall]

7. His use of legalizing marijuana to fool young

People will only work on Paultards. Never enough for his dad to win the presidency.

[Reter]

9. His dad is more outside of the mainstream

I don't know if he will win the nomination or not, but I promise you he will gt more votes than his father did. He will win many states (for battle of the Republican nomination).

[KamaAina]

12. His dad is NOT, repeat NOT, pro-legalization

He is only opposed to federal drug laws. If Texas wanted to make possession of a joint a capital offense, he'd be cool with that.

Not sure if that describes the Rug Doctor's position, but I wouldn't be surprised.

[Brother Buzz]

13. Rand Paul tailors wedge issues for every voter block; something for everyone

[Bluenorthwest]

18. Except that he does not support legalization at all. 'Young people' know this

even if you don't. Rand Paul is just another Republican, anti choice, anti gay rights, racist and opposed to cannabis legalization.
He has given his support to the Republican bill that would allow Congress to interfere in the Colorado and Washington cannabis legalization laws by forcing the Federal Government to enforce the Federal laws. This is a contradiction of his 'State's rights' argument that is often used to claim he's pro legalization. He is not.

" I think people who use marijuana all the time lose IQ points, I think they lose their drive to show up for work.” Rand Paul

[crazylikafox]

8. I agree. I can see young people going for him big time.

They don't always pay attention to the details. We need to point them out.

[standingtall]

10. Young people will not go

For Rand Paul in big numbers, but yes there will be some who will ignore his stance on economic issues for the sake of smoking a little pot. Most young people abhor Paul's economic philosophy.

[Bluenorthwest]

20. Rand Paul is not in favor of legalization of nor use of marijuana

"I think people who use marijuana all the time lose IQ points, I think they lose their drive to show up for work.” Rand Paul

And it is not just his economic philosophy most young people abhor it is the rest of his off the rack Republican policies, opposed to choice, to marriage equality, constantly spouting racist bullshit.

[m-lekktor]

11. i encounter more people who fall for Ron Paul's bullshit

than i do for rand. these are low information types who get convinced he is the outsider fighting the bad insiders and fall into the obsessed ron paul personality cult. many of these folks are decent people, which scares me. i encounter them on facebook, friends of friends, etc.

[standingtall]

14. I would love for

Steve Bashear to take another run at the Senate in 2016. So that way if Paul does get the GOP nomination. That way he can lose twice on the same day.

[Blue Idaho]

15. Hi dad made a huge living out of running for President.

I doubt his son wants to kill the goose that lays the golden egg by actually winning an election. Its far more lucrative to run campaign after campaign and get the rubes fork over their hard earned cash than live on the pitiful salary the President makes.

Rand knows what his dad knows - there's a sucker born every minute...

[sabrina 1]

16. The way for Dems not to have to worry about Paul, or anyone else talking about wars and drug laws

and Reagonimics, Constitutional Rights or whatever they are talking about is for THEM to come out strongly themselves about those issues and mean it. Iow, stop supporting the draconian Drug laws, our for profit Foreign Wars or Proxy Wars, start reigning in our 'Security Agencies AND their thousands of Private for profit Security Contractors.

Those are all Dem issues which combined with NOT putting social programs on any table that ties them, erroneously to the Deficit eg, opposing 'free' Trade agreements that are secret and that give more power to even Foreign Corps over our labor laws, environmental laws etc.

The ONLY reason people like Paul get any traction is because Dems allow them to steal those issues by not standing up for them, themselves.

[bemildred]

17. He worries me too.

But you won't get far attacking him. He needs to be ignored, while taking his issues away, as others here have said.

[Dawson Leery]

19. There are many young white males who will vote for him

because of his anti-government rhetoric. I do not see him winning the majority of the millennial vote though.