GOP - Rand Paul's Presidential Highlight Reel w/ his Libertarian Twist

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul's Dream of a Libertarian-Democratic Alliance on Civil Rights Is Actually Happening

On the morning before attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch would face Congress, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul re-introduced a bill that would tie her hands. Paul and a crew of congressmen—Minnesota Representative Keith Ellison, Michigan Representative Tim Walberg—had resurrected the Fifth Amendment Integrity Act. If passed, it would restrict the government’s ability, from the Department of Justice on down to local cops, to seize property from criminal suspects.

“We’ve had protests across our country, and people think it’s about one or two instances,” Paul said from the rostrum. “No. It’s one thing after another. Let’s say you’ve got a poor family in a neighborhood in a big city, and grandmother owns the house. The 15-year old son is selling marijuana. They catch him. They take the house! The house was the only stabilizing thing in a family that was having trouble.”

Ellison, a black Democrat who was the first Muslim elected to Congress, stood by Paul as he summoned the ghosts of the Civil Rights movement.

More...http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/features/2015-01-29/rand-paul-s-crazy-dream-of-a-libertarian-democratic-alliance-on-civil-rights-is-actually-happening

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[Chef Ramsay]

Fox News Poll: Voters believe Romney, Clinton remain top picks for 2016, Obama not tough enough on Iran
25-27 Jan 15

Romney   21%
Paul         11%
Huckabee 11%
Bush        10%
Carson       9%
Walker       8%
Rubio         5%
Christie      4%
Cruz           4%

They also have numbers w/o Romney plus many other questions that were asked.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/interactive/2015/01/29/fox-news-poll-voters-believe-romney-clinton-remain-top-picks-for-2016-believe/

[Chef Ramsay]

Texas GOP chief leaves role, joins Rand Paul political team

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Rand Paul on Thursday picked up the backing of the Republican Party of Texas' chairman, who is stepping down from his role to take a position as a national senior adviser to the Kentucky Republican's presidential campaign-in-waiting

In doing so, Steve Munisteri bypassed two Texans who are also likely to seek the Republican nomination: Sen. Ted Cruz and former Gov. Rick Perry. Munisteri has known Paul for 34 years, dating back to when Paul's father represented Texas in Congress, and counts Paul as a friend.

"I couldn't say no to him," said Munisteri, who will formally leave his post next month and will split his time between Texas and Washington.

Munisteri will be tasked with helping Paul fine-tune his communications strategy, as well as help guide Paul's ongoing effort to appeal to minority and youngers voters, who typically vote for Democrats.

More...http://news.yahoo.com/texas-gop-chief-leaves-role-joins-rand-paul-230036918--election.html

[jaysabi]

David Letterman: Rand Paul Makes 'Pure Good Sense'; Maddow Kind of Agrees

Late night talk show host David Letterman had nothing but positive things to say about possible 2016 presidential candidate Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.

During a conversation with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow on Wednesday about the 2016 race, the comedian said he was impressed by the libertarian Republican, according to The Daily Caller.

"I've heard Rand Paul say things that seem just pure, hardcore, logical good sense," Letterman said on his "Late Show" on CBS.

Maddow was cautious in her agreement.

"Rand Paul sometimes makes a lot of sense," she said, but emphasized, "sometimes."

More...http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/David-Letterman-rand-paul-2016-election/2015/01/29/id/621432/#ixzz3Q8U3NCnz

I like the "Maddow Kind of Agrees."  Haha.

[jaysabi]

Fox News Poll: Voters believe Romney, Clinton remain top picks for 2016, Obama not tough enough on Iran
25-27 Jan 15

Romney   21%
Paul         11%
Huckabee 11%
Bush        10%
Carson       9%
Walker       8%
Rubio         5%
Christie      4%
Cruz           4%

They also have numbers w/o Romney plus many other questions that were asked.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/interactive/2015/01/29/fox-news-poll-voters-believe-romney-clinton-remain-top-picks-for-2016-believe/

Romney confirms he's out for 2016. Interesting to see what that will do to the numbers.

[Chef Ramsay]

Romney confirms he's out for 2016. Interesting to see what that will do to the numbers.

Yep, looks like the establishment wants Jeb Bush as their guy (and don't want to split the vote and resources) and to line up another Clinton/Bush election where nothing will change unless we can get Rand in there.

[Chef Ramsay]

Is Lindsey Graham running for president to troll Rand Paul?

...
Graham seemingly has no chance of winning the GOP nomination. The conservative base despises him (he is nicknamed "Lindsey Grahamnesty" for his support of immigration reform) and there seems to be little establishment enthusiasm for him apart from his good friend Sen. John McCain, who's been egging on the man he calls his "illegitimate son" to run for months.

So it seems quite possible that the main purpose of a Graham campaign isn't to win — but to troll Rand Paul.

Okay, the word "trolling" is uncharitable — Graham has serious substantive differences of opinion with Paul on foreign policy. Graham and McCain are now, effectively, the leaders of the GOP's interventionist wing. They've pushed for more hawkish policies in Syria and Iraq, and called for a tougher line against Putin's Russia.

But Paul is making the case that the GOP needs to rethink its recent support for interventionism. In a speech last October, Paul went at the party's foreign policy consensus "with a battering ram," as Zack Beauchamp wrote. He wants more restraint generally, less military interventionism overseas, and argues that the hawkish policies pushed by McCain and Graham are often counterproductive.
...

More...http://www.vox.com/2015/1/29/7944905/lindsey-graham-president-2016

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul slams Bush 'hypocrisy' on pot

DALLAS — Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) accused Jeb Bush of hypocrisy after The Boston Globe reported the former Florida governor was a heavy marijuana smoker while at an elite prep school.

Bush opposed a Florida medical marijuana ballot initiative last year even though he partook liberally of the herb while in high school.

“You would think he’d have a little more understanding then,” Paul told The Hill while en route to a political event in Texas.

“He was even opposed to medical marijuana,” Paul said of Bush, a potential rival in the 2016 Republican presidential primary. “This is a guy who now admits he smoked marijuana but he wants to put people in jail who do.

“I think that’s the real hypocrisy, is that people on our side, which include a lot of people, who made mistakes growing up, admit their mistakes but now still want to put people in jail for that,” he said.

“Had he been caught at Andover, he’d have never been governor, he’d probably never have a chance to run for the presidency,” he added.

Bush told The Globe in a recent interview about his four years at Phillips Academy in Andover, one of the nation’s most prestigious prep schools, “I drank and I smoked marijuana when I was at Andover,” explaining the behavior was “pretty common.”

More...http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/rand-paul-slams-bush-hypocrisy-on-pot/ar-AA8NnOw

[Chef Ramsay]

RAND PAUL IN DALLAS: HILLARY CLINTON ‘YESTERDAY’S NEWS,’ A ‘BLAST FROM THE PAST’

DALLAS, Texas — Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton—a former U.S. Senator from New York, the former First Lady of the United States, and the Democrats’ likely frontrunner and nominee in 2016—is “yesterday’s news.”

Breitbart News asked Paul—flanked by the new addition to his campaign team, Texas GOP chairman Steve Munisteri—for his thoughts on Mitt Romney bowing out of the 2016 GOP presidential contest at the Friday evening press conference held at the Renaissance Hotel.

“I supported and campaigned for him when he won the nomination in the fall,” Paul said of Romney. “I think he’s a great man personally, a great businessman, I think he would have run this country a lot better than this president. But he didn’t get enough electoral votes. I think what it’s going to take is something reaching beyond. There’s nothing that I’m saying is wrong, but it’s just got to be that plus something if we’re going to win a big election. I wish him well, and he’s somebody who I met several times and I have a great deal of respect for him and his wife.”

More...http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/01/30/rand-paul-in-dallas-hillary-clinton-yesterdays-news-a-blast-from-the-past/

There's also a short news video there discussing how Rand is now on top in NH now that Romney is out.

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul at the 2015 Reagan Dinner in Dallas County, Texas last night

From the camera guy: The dinner itself was very energetic, more than 600 supporters and party loyalists attended the dinner. The reception that Rand received was especially interesting to witness, and it was great that the news regarding Munisteri came right before the trip

Some pics:



Plus another ~120 pics - https://www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/sets/72157650566533421/

[Chef Ramsay]

Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Iowa Poll Rand 2nd 15%

Walker 16%
Paul 15%
Huck 13%
Carson 10%
Bush 9%
Cruz 6%
Christie 6%

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/iowa-poll/2015/01/31/iowa-poll-walker-leads-tight-pack/22659477/

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul is Making His Play for Texas

“If we decide to do this, we will want to broaden the coalition to include a winning majority that means something, that appeals to people that have libertarian leanings, but also some people who are traditional conservatives, Christian conservatives and mainstream conservatives of all walks of life," Rand Paul said in an interview with The Texas Tribune, addressing the biggest difference of his approach to the campaigns his father ran.

Paul, who grew up in Lake Jackson, visited North Texas to give keynote speeches at a pair of North Texas GOP dinners. The trip reflected how Texas is central to his strategy.

But Texas' political operative talent and likely early March 2016 primary delegates are all but certain to be awarded to campaigns on a proportional basis – and Paul is making his play.

“Texas will be early. Texas is big and having roots here and all that sort of points [us] towards it,” he said. “I think that Texas is important for many reasons.”

At both GOP events he attended this weekend, he sported his black “Texas boots.” He said he purchased them 15 years ago for the Texas State Society’s Black Tie and Boots Ball during President George W. Bush’s 2000 inauguration.

His speeches were heavy on privacy, government waste and spending. And he hammered away at the likely Democratic presidential nominee, Hillary Rodham Clinton, for not taking stronger action as secretary of state to prevent the 2012 Benghazi attack.

Multiple times he referred to the United States’ intervention in Libya as “Hillary’s War.”

More...http://www.texastribune.org/2015/02/01/rand-paul-makes-play-texas/

And here's a little 3 min clip of Rand talking with reporters from the Fort Worth Start Telegram during one of these GOP dinners - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx0y7sNRoKk

[Chef Ramsay]

CNN: Jeb Bush & Rand Paul's post-Romney moves
relevant excerpt

3. RAND HITS THE ROAD

Rand Paul was the most active GOP contender early on, and Politico's Mike Allen reports the freshman Kentucky senator has a busy travel schedule ahead as he tries to build his support -- and not always in predictable ways.

"We're told that Rand Paul is going to travel every weekend, going forward-- he's not going to do many cattle calls," said Allen. "Everybody else was in Iowa last weekend, he's in Iowa next weekend, because he can draw a crowd on his own."

"And something that he's doing, as he travels the country, is meeting with physicians -- thinking about a way to bring in some people who are not necessarily politically active who can give, who can talk about among the community, so he's talking to the fellow doctors as he goes around."

But Paul is also including some GOP stops that are a bit more predictable: "He's back to red meat next weekend in Iowa," said Allen. "He's doing a liberty event and his big rally is audit the Fed. That's about the reddest meat that you can get."

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/01/politics/ip-jeb-bush--rand-pauls-post-romney-moves/index.html

[Chef Ramsay]

Liberal paternalistic opposition to Rand Paul’s audit the Fed

If you covet Platonic Guardians in lieu of self-government, you’ll love the antagonists of Sen. Rand Paul’s Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2015.

They include Janet Yellen, chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, and Catherine Rampell, a liberal dogmatist at The Washington Post.

Mr. Paul’s legislation should be uncontroversial and universally supported. Transparency is the rule and secrecy is the rare exception in every flourishing democracy. Secret government violates core democratic principles of accountability and government by the informed consent of the governed. As Justice Louis D. Brandeis sermonized, sunshine is said to be the best of disinfectants.

Mr. Paul elaborated: “A complete and thorough audit of the Fed will finally allow the American people to know exactly how their money is spent in Washington. [The Fed] currently operates under a cloak of secrecy and it has gone on for too long.”

More...http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/feb/2/bruce-fein-liberal-paternalistic-opposition-rand-p/

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul Started His Own Medical Certification Board? He Attempted Every Doctor's Dream.
Doctors in multiple specialties perceive the existing system as favoring established players without improving the quality of care.

Sen. Rand Paul's somewhat quixotic 1990s-era effort to start an organization to certify opthalmologists in competition with increasingly onerous and expensive old-guard practices gets an interesting write-up in the Washington Post. Unlike early coverage that treated the then new senatorial candidate's National Board of Opthalmology as odd or dodgy, David A. Farenthold's Post piece is ultimately fair, quoting other eye surgeons who praise both Paul's medical skills and his effort to establish an alternative to the existing board certification process. That's the way that it should be, considering that his complaints about the established process are shared by plenty of physicians, and his try at creating an alternative choice, though it ultimately failed, is a cherished dream of many doctors.

The American Board of Opthalmology is the "official" certifying organization for eye surgeons. It operates under the umbrella of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) along with 23 other member boards. Certification is nominally voluntary, but the ABMS has convinced many hospitals and health organizations to require it for employment, and the various boards constantly threaten that insurers will demand it, too.

More...http://reason.com/blog/2015/02/02/rand-paul-started-his-own-medical-certif

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul on Vaccines: 'Most of Them Ought to Be Voluntary'

UPDATE: A few hours after this story went up, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul appeared on CNBC and was asked to clarify if he thought most vaccines should be voluntary.

"I guess being for freedom would be really unusual?" Paul said, sarcastically. "I guess I don't understand the point, as to why that would be controversial."

As he clarified, he mostly stuck to what he'd said on talk radio today. Only toward the end of his answer did he explain the dangers, as he saw them, in vaccinating children.

“I didn't like 'em getting 10 vaccines at once.”

"I've heard of many tragic cases of walking, talking, normal children who wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines," said Paul. "I'm not arguing vaccines are a bad idea. I think they're a good thing. But I think the parents should have some input."

More...http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-02-02/rand-paul-on-vaccines-most-of-them-ought-to-be-voluntary-

[Chef Ramsay]

This post is the final day (Fort Worth) of Rand's two day trip to Texas that coincided w/ the TXGOP chairman joining Rand's future campaign team.

Here's the physicians' breakfast roundtable (that he seems to be holding in most locations that he visits)

Rest of the photos from this event - https://www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/sets/72157650592995841/

Here's the photo lineup from the private luncheon
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/sets/72157650186361529/

Lineup from the Tarrant County GOP reception (mostly pics w/ supporters)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/sets/72157650537516606/

Lastly, here are pics from the County Party's Lincoln Day Dinner where Rand keynoted


And the rest of the photos from the event - https://www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/sets/72157650551620396/

[iCEBREAKER]

Here's the physicians' breakfast roundtable (that he seems to be holding in most locations that he visits)

Getting the doctors aboard is smart politics.  Ron was unbeatable in Victoria because he delivered so many babies!   

Ted Cruz?  No thanks.  America needs a doctor, not another lawyer!

[beetcoin]

I really doubt Rand will make it out of the primaries. He's not going to end up fundraising enough money to even stand a chance. The game is rigged.

[iCEBREAKER]

I really doubt Rand will make it out of the primaries. He's not going to end up fundraising enough money to even stand a chance. The game is rigged.

2016 isn't the only primary.  There will be another one 4, and then 8, years later.  Rand is still a relatively young man!

The game is rigged, but the GOP operates on an 'it's my turn' hierarchy and is *really* sick of losing the White House to the Dims.

President Hillary (BARF!) is their worst nightmare, and they might be ready to abandon the War On Drugs and other 'social conservatism' BS in a come-to-Jesus moment of existential terror.