Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Why the Next 24 Hours is Very Important to Rand Paul's Presidential Aspirations

The Courier-Journal explains:
Paul’s success might hinge on what happens in the next 24 hours in caucuses from Council Bluffs to Dubuque.

The Iowa Republican Party is in the midst of a power struggle pitting five-term Gov. Terry Branstad, a more traditional GOP leader, against a social conservative faction and a faction dominated by supporters of former Texas Rep. Ron Paul, the Kentucky senator’s father.

State caucuses in off-year elections normally would be a snooze. But, as Jennifer Jacobs of The Des Moines Register, one of The Courier-Journal’s sister papers, writes, not this year.

“Here’s what’s at stake for Republicans: Backers of Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad are urging mainstream, fiscally oriented Republicans to show up; Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition members such as Steve Scheffler are urging social conservatives to show up ‘to ensure pro-family values like life, marriage, religious liberty, etc. are elevated and defended’; and followers of the liberty movement that sprung from Ron Paul’s presidential campaign are urging ‘liberty-minded’ Republicans to show up,” Jacobs reports.

“The faction that turns out in the greatest force will control the party,” she adds. “Turnout will also send a message about which 2016 presidential hopefuls are most welcome here.”[...] if a Paul-friendly faction is deposed in Iowa, the senator’s White House bid could have a tougher challenge in a state that many previous candidates have looked to for early momentum.

4 comments:

  1. ."..Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition members such as Steve Scheffler are urging social conservatives to show up ‘to ensure pro-family values like life, marriage, religious liberty, etc. are elevated and defended..."

    I was wondering why certain Evangie radio show hosts were starting to rev up the anti-marijuana rhetoric, only to come off sounding desperate and vitriolic. Thought it was odd for them to do so considering the obvious facts about domestic and global events, specifically, in Central/South America, Sinaloa Cartel, and USG, but now I know why.

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  2. Rand Paul was the keynote speaker at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition Summit in 2012. There is not a lot of space between the social conservatives and the "liberty movement" (aka the John Birch Society).

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    1. Jerry, you falsely equating the liberty movement with the John Birch Society made me REALLY angry. Grrrr!! Roar! MAD!

      I know you didn't intend to cause problems or negative feelings, so could you please edit your post?

      Thanks.

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    2. The John Birch comment is about as far from reality as one can be. What happened to you to be so angry?

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