Thursday, March 28, 2013

HOT: Rand Paul Endorses Mitch McConnell in 2014 Senate Race, Won’t Back Tea Party Challenger

Just call him, Mr. Establishment--or Jesse Benton tool.

The Daily Caller is reporting that Rand Paul is endorsing Sen. Mitch McConnell for re-election in 2014.

“Rand Paul has endorsed McConnell,” Jesse Benton, McConnell’s 2014 campaign manager, told The Daily Caller.

According to the Caller, Jesse Benton is behind the move:
Benton, who has worked for both Rand Paul and his father, former Texas Rep. Ron Paul, is credited by insiders with brokering Paul’s support for McConnell.
The Caller goes on:
The move quashes a determined effort by Kentucky Republican Liberty Caucus chairman David Adams, who launched Paul’s Senate bid and served as Paul’s campaign manager through the 2010 primaries, and other tea party leaders to mount a primary challenge against McConnell.

Paul recently appeared in a Mitch McConnell advertisement with the slogan “Stand Up to Obama: Join Mitch & Rand,” prompting Adams to complain on Facebook, “Is anyone buying this, really?”
Benton appears gleeful at the corrupting of Rand and block on the tea party. More from the Caller:
“There’s no support at all at this point for a tea party challenge,” Benton said, in a statement confirmed by other Kentucky Republican insiders.



4 comments:

  1. I'm going to go on the record to say that Rand Paul and Jesse Benton have been major setbacks for the libertarian movement in America. Let's start with Jesse Benton first. Jesse Benton, either out of incompetence or out of malice, completely ran Ron Paul's 2012 presidential campaign to the ground. His scheming with Establishment Republicans such as Mitch McConnell definitely does not improve his image within the libertarian community, either. I consider Jesse Benton to be an operative for the Republican Establishment.

    Now onto Rand Paul. Yes, Rand Paul is not a libertarian; he has stated so even during his 2010 senatorial race, and he has taken some unlibertarian positions on issues such as sanctions on Iran. However, until June 2012, Rand Paul was more or less a friend of the libertarian movement. He actively sought (and still actively seeks) support from the libertarian community.

    Then, in June 2012, Rand Paul announced that he was going to support Mitt Romney, the ultimate big-government "progressive" Republican who advocates both domestic and foreign intervention, over libertarian statesman Ron Paul, who was still in the race. That was the ultimate betrayal.

    I have not trusted Rand Paul since his announcement of support for Mitt Romney back in June 2012. Rand Paul says and does good things from time to time, but at the end of the day, he's just another politician who is willing to sell his principles for some political gain.

    Yes, some libertarians believe that his selling out is part of a temporary scheme to gain power, and that he'll revert to his principled self once he becomes president. However, a president has a lot of special interests to serve, especially if those special interests helped to get him elected. What makes you think that Rand Paul would (or even can) turn his back on the Republican Establishment if he becomes president?

    Libertarians and other proponents of small-government need to focus on a combination of educational outreach to the masses to help shape their minds politically, as well as to help beef up the Libertarian Party and get them to nominate principled candidates in the mold of Harry Browne instead of lukewarm candidates like Gary Johnson or outright non-libertarian opportunists like Bob Barr. It is important that libertarians not be suckered into voting for politicians like Mitch McConnell, and that libertarians continue to put the heat on Rand Paul, as Robert Wenzel is doing.

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  2. How could he not support McConnell? McConnell has been his patron all along. Endorsing a challenger now would mean burning all his bridges. He'd never be trusted by the establishment again.

    Whether you think he's Benton's tool or some kind of stealthy libertarian infiltrator, failing to endorse McConnell would undermine his entire strategy so far.

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  3. Quit hating on Rand! This is just part of his brilliant secret plan to restore liberty to America.

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    1. It's so super secret, that if the impossible happens, and he's actually made president, he'll continue to keep it secret as he starves Iranians, bombs Afghanis, and considers the entire American population his property (which he'll hopefully treat a lil' bit nicer than the previous owner). As we surrender our taxes, and read about Afghani orphans and dead Iranian hospital patients, we can keep marveling "what a master strategian Rand Paul is! Keeping the whole liberty thing secret sure is cool!"

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