Rand Paul on "Pure Libertarians"

Rand Paul tells the beltarian Reason Magazine:

"I've got half the libertarians on the Internet beating up on me for not being pure enough," Paul says, "and the rest of the mainstream beating up on me for being too libertarian. It's a box they put me in."

"But I'm in the business of trying to advance a philosophy and advance an economic program that's better for the country. And I'm also in the business of winning elections and trying to convince people to come in the direction of smaller government and more individual liberty," Paul says. "I sometimes wish for a little more forebearance among the purists, but I'm trying to do the best I can to advance a philosophy and program that is more individual liberty for everyone and is pulling in the direction of what some of the purists might want" even if they "might not see it as pure as they'd like."

So how is Rand, as an impure libertarian, doing in advancing "a philosophy" and convincing people "to come in the direction of smaller government and more individual liberty"?

On CNN's Wolf Blitzer show last night, he:

1. Failed to state point blank that the minimum wage law was bad, even though Blitzer pushed him on the point very aggressively.

2. He argued that the President should not have released some of the sanctions against Iran, while negotiations were ongoing.

He also danced on other points that I believe resulted in confusing the libertarian position, but he was so contradictory in those remarks that, as is typical with Rand, it would be hard to completely tie him down.

If you read between the lines here of what Rand told Reason and his answers to Blitzer, it's clear he is really selling out to get a shot at being elected president. "I'm also in the business of winning elections," he said. Selling out never works as a method to advance an ideology. No less an expert that the lefty activist explained why it doesn't work:

Alinsky, in Rules (p. 13) states a critique of the sell out by way of examples in religion and business:

Two examples would be the priest who wants to be a bishop and bootlicks and politicks his way up, justifying it with the rationale, “After I get to be bishop I’ll use my office for Christian reformation,” or the businessman who reasons, “First I’ll make my million and after that I’ll go for the real things in life.” Unfortunately one changes in many ways on the road to the bishopric or the first million, and then one says, “I’ll wait until I’m a cardinal and then I can be more effective,” or, “I can do a lot more after I get two million”—and so it goes.

Expect Rand to move even further away from libertarian principle as the  2016 presidential primaries get closer.