Rand’s mother, Carol, tells me over the phone from her house in Texas [...] the prospect of a Rand Paul presidential campaign “feels real,” she adds. “Rand says he won’t declare that he’s going to run until after 2014. . . . Groundwork has to be set.”Curiously, Ron Paul was not able to comment. He was:
at that moment swimming laps.
Amidst the puff, we learn that as a result of Rand's trip to Israel, he has:
softened his position on cutting foreign aid to Israel.
The piece also has some perspective from Democratic operatives:
“If he announces, he’ll be considered a first-tier candidate,” says James Carville, Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign manager, who knows a thing or two about winning elections—and who adds that he’ll tip his hat to Paul if he can find a way to broaden his appeal without losing his Tea Party base. The senator is already catching the eye of elite operatives, including Obama’s political guru David Axelrod—currently a news analyst for NBC. “He’s not your father’s Dr. Paul,” he tells me.
Parsing this:
ReplyDelete"broaden his appeal without losing his tea party base" means that he needs to find ways to sacrifice whatever anti-state principles he has left without letting the anti-state right catch on. Too late
"Softened his position on cutting foreign aid to Israel" means that he now realizes he has to play ball with the Israel lobby and will start kissing ass in earnest soon with jingoistic statements against whatever Arab country he's told to bash for the week.
"Not your father's Dr. Paul" means he is willing to sacrifice his principles for a shot at power. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that's all it is, a shot. No one seriously believes he will be President. He doesn't have the name recognition or power connections to go up against Hillary, and his attempt to fleece the libertarian-right base just won't work. He's sold his soul for a mess of pottage and he'll get what he deserves.
What kind of weasel interviews someone's mother over something like running for President?
ReplyDeleteIsn't that kind of like asking every contestants mother in a beauty pageant what they think of their daughter's chances of winning?