Rand Paul has won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Kentucky, and he’s likely going to win the general election too, given that Kentucky is not a state that’s friendly to Democrats (even to right-leaning Democrats).
This vote won’t shift the balance of power between Republicans and Democrats in the Senate. Instead, it shifts power within the Republican Party. All of a sudden, Rand Paul is the hot ticket in the GOP, much to the consternation of some Republicans.
When I say “hot ticket”, here’s what I’m talking about: Presidential candidate in 2012.
Rand Paul is the son, and ideological compatriot, of Ron Paul, the libertarian Republican that went a long way toward setting the stage for the Tea Party of 2010. Ron Paul’s supporters would love it if the elder Dr. Paul would run for President again, but then, he is the elder Dr. Paul. Rand Paul has got relative youth and energy, and now he’s got a strong political platform.
I can believe that a lot of people would like to see Rand Paul run for President in 2012, but do you think that a significant number of people would vote for Rand Paul in the presidential primaries, Truman?
I think that more people would vote for Rand Paul than voted for Ron Paul, because Rand Paul has had less time to alienate people than his father has had. Also, Republicans are now less devoted to defending their party leadership’s record than they were in 2008, when being a Republican was still about justifying George W. Bush.
But no, I still don’t think that Rand Paul would win many primaries. More than his father, but not too many.
I would vote for Rand Paul in a heartbeat. Have you seen our options? I google 2012 republican presidential candidates weekly and have researched all the names that pop up. Most of these people are not even conservative. They are progressive republicans.
So Huckabee, Palin, etc all too liberal for ya?
it’s not that they are too liberal.
it’s that they aren’t conservative where they need to be (on economic issues), and liberal where they need to be (on social issues)
which is why I’m voting for either of the Pauls. Whichever one is running. I’ll take as much freedom as I can get thank you.
I personally LOVE them both.
I agree with Nat. THe Pauls haven’t really thought it all out. Consequently Rand can sound too whacky but they have a reasonablility on their side and Palin does not. What does she believe but that she hates all Democrats. That won’t get any independents. Ron Paul’s reasonableness will. I can’t see that she really has anything but vitriol as her partner. And that’s exhausting. At a time the country desperately needs to be united in order to get us back on track her message is wrong. She got on the tea party wagon, she did not create it.