If you add up the advantages that come from inheriting his father's (underrated) political and fundraising operation with Rand's ability to soften the edges around his libertarianism -- in a way his father never could or didn't want to do -- and you have a candidate with a unique and lasting appeal to a segment of Republicans.And what does Cillizza think the big "libertarian" issues are:
The ideas of limiting foreign entanglements, spending less time cracking down on marijuana use and being ok with same-sex marriage...First, Rand is not exactly against foreign entanglements. He just wants to "limit" them to what is actually doable (SEE: OUTRAGE Rand Paul Comes Down on the Side of Neocons on Ukraine).
Second, the libertarian position is not "spending less time cracking down on marijuana use." It is the full untaxed and unregulated legalization of all drugs, including heroin and LSD.
Third, libertarians have no interest in the government getting involved in any marriages, same-sex or otherwise.
The greater the degree that politicians wander from these positions, the farther they are from being libertarians. Rand wanders a lot.
It is no wonder, therefore, why WaPo cheers on the diluted, distorted "libertarian" message that Rand delivers.
Surviving being tied to the Rand Paul camp has to be the biggest message/ideology test the movement has faced since Ron's presidential campaigns. Thankfully EPJ, Lew Rockwell, Adam Kokesh, Antiwar.com and other prominent libertarian sites and people show that Rand is not Ron and isn't what libertarianism is about.
ReplyDeletebe sure to check eric peters on rand ...
ReplyDeletehttp://ericpetersautos.com/2014/03/17/rand-paul-just-outed/
911insidejob
Rand Paul is the most interesting political figure right now. Some of the liberty movement is 100% sold, some think he's a lost cause, and some think he's tolerable, but not perfect. Is he a libertarian or not?
ReplyDeleteLike you pointed out, Rand has been labeled a libertarian by mainstream media, so everything he says is going to be said to represent the libertarian position. What a character! If only his father got this much publicity when he was Rand's age.
He's getting the publicity by the media because he represents no change to the status quo.
DeleteHis father didn't get this attention because his father is a REAL libertarian.
DeleteRand gets this attention because he is establishment. They can give him this attention and call him a libertarian for two reasons:
1) They don;t have to worry about him actually being a REAL libertarian, so giving him attention is no problem.
2) They can stick the label libertarianism on him to make it seem more like statist conservatism, therefor poisoning the meaning of the word for potentially interested newcomers.
Two birds with one stone.
There is nothing interesting about Rand. He is poison to the libertarian ideal.
He's the establishment's walking, talking strawman. And his apologists are the useful idiots that help make it happen.
Rand has a 99% libertarian voting record.
ReplyDeleteRand represents a gigantic change to the status quo. You won't find Goldman Sachs donating to him.
ReplyDelete