Politico: Rand Paul Aims to Go Mainstream (By distancing himself from his father)

Very sad, more indications that Rand is being run by someone very powerful within the establishment and one important goal is to distance Rand from his father. Politico writes:

Almost from the moment Rand Paul was elected to the U.S. Senate, a team of advisers has been working over time to distance him from his father’s brand of unconventional politics — both in style and substance.

And they may be succeeding. GOP strategists say the junior senator from Kentucky has come a long way in shedding the eccentric label that dogged Ron Paul’s presidential efforts.[...]“He can be a serious presidential candidate because he represents a segment of Republicanism that hasn’t had a voice,” said Steve Schmidt, who ran John McCain’s 2008 campaign, speaking of Paul’s libertarian views. “But he can’t just be a neater package of his dad — that won’t work. He needs to convey his own domestic and foreign vision, and continue to overcome the kook factor, which he inherited.[...]

Rand’s strategic alliance with Senate Minority Leader Mitchell McConnell (R-Ky.) has put him in a position to further garner establishment credibility. Should he run for president, GOP sources say that McConnell would be hard pressed not to support his home state colleague, paving the way for others to follow suit. Rand has endorsed McConnell’s reelection effort, and has played a pivotal role in helping McConnell ward off a tea party challenge.
“You don’t get more establishment than Mitch McConnell,” said GOP pollster and strategist Ed Goeas, who helped the party with its recent self-examination.[...]

Ask advisers to both men, how much counsel father is giving son these days and the answers are predictably aligned: not much.