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

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul: ‘Mistake’ to Question Whether Obama Loves America, Stick to Policy

Because every 2016 candidate now must be asked what they think about Rudy Giuliani saying President Obama doesn’t love America, yesterday Rand Paul got asked about it in an interview with Kentucky news station WAVE.

And, while Paul had nothing in particular to say about Giuliani, he did say, “I think it’s a mistake to question people’s motives. It’s one thing to disagree on policy.”

Paul said he’s not interested in questioning whether Obama’s a “good American or a bad American,” because while he may blame the president’s foreign policy for making the U.S. less safe, he’s not going to question whether Obama’s “well-intentioned.”

Video...http://www.mediaite.com/tv/rand-paul-mistake-to-question-obamas-motives-stick-to-policy/

[Chef Ramsay]

The Libertarian Network That Rand Paul Hasn’t Walked Away From And Can’t Totally Control
A band of libertarian groups provide a big advantage for Rand (a ready-made base of operatives, volunteers, and donors), but a big drawback, too: They don’t work for him.

WASHINGTON — Last month, Rand Paul greeted a crowd of like-minded supporters: gun-rights enthusiasts with a libertarian bent in New Hampshire, the state where the Republican senator seems most likely to chase presidential primary votes.

Event organizers wouldn't let press into the event, devoted to guns, but reporters were able to see Paul greeting supporters in a black letterman-style jacket bearing the letters "NAGR."

The acronym stands for National Association for Gun Rights — an alternative group to the behemoth National Rifle Association, the group that NAGR says just isn't committed enough to the Second Amendment.

Paul routinely signs his name to their mailers. He's helped fundraise for the group on conference calls. But NAGR is just one of the wide network of libertarian activist groups that Paul remains aligned with, even as he prepares for a presidential bid this year.

The informal network of groups — NAGR, the Campaign for Liberty, the National Pro-life Alliance, and the National League of Taxpayers — are something of a holdover from Paul's more libertarian purist father. The groups operate independently from one another and from Paul, but their connections to the family run deep. Their activists provided a foundation of operative support for Ron Paul's presidential campaigns. But they didn't stop when the elder Paul retired: The groups fundraise aggressively and many have used Rand Paul's name to solicit donations and raise their profile.

More...http://www.buzzfeed.com/rosiegray/the-libertarian-network-that-rand-paul-hasnt-walked-away-fro?fb_action_ids=1164515248268&fb_action_types=og.shares#.cyv0NrWEP0

[Chef Ramsay]

Paul to address SXSW music festival

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) will speak at the popular South by Southwest music festival next month.Texas Tribune editor-in-chief Evan Smith will interview Paul about “how technology has transformed politics, campaigning, governing, and citizen engagement,” according to the SXSW website.

In addition to the five-day music and film festival, SXSW features panels of presenters that have turned it into a central meeting place for technology enthusiasts.

Paul is gearing up to run for president. His appearance at SXSW is further evidence that young voters and an aggressive digital strategy will be primary touchstones for a White House bid if he runs.

More...http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/233488-paul-to-address-sxsw-music-festival-in-austin

[Chef Ramsay]

RAND PAUL: DEMOCRATS SHOULD GET ‘BEYOND PARTISANSHIP,’

NAPLES, Florida — Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) tells Breitbart News that Senate Democrats need to drop their filibuster of the House-passed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill if they want to show Americans they can move beyond partisanship.

“The disappointing thing about the Democrats is they don’t seem to be able to get beyond partisanship to actually address important issues so I think there’s an important constitutional issue here between the separation of powers,” Paul said in an exclusive interview while on a trip. “It would be nice, I think, if some of the Democrats stood up and said ‘you know what? We need to reassert Congress’ authority even though this is a Democrat president. I will vote for congressional power here as opposed to presidential power.’ But not many of them will do it. In fact, right now none of them will.”

Democrats are currently blockading the DHS funding bill under orders from Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid because the bill blocks funding for President Barack Obama’s executive amnesty orders. Some Republican establishment figures say that Congress should water down the bill and remove restrictions on executive amnesty, but Paul said the recent court order from federal judge Andrew S. Hanen that put a hold on Obama’s amnesty means Congress should stay strong and block all of Obama’s executive amnesty.

“It should give Congress even more backbone to stand up and oppose this because the courts have now said it’s illegal and they’re stopping it,” Paul told Breitbart News of the court order.

More...http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/02/23/exclusive-rand-paul-democrats-should-get-beyond-partisanship-drop-blockade-of-dhs-funding-bill-that-stops-obamas-amnesty/

[Chef Ramsay]

President 2016: WINK News in-depth with Sen. Rand Paul

FORT MYERS, Fla.- A possible candidate for President is making bold moves. Senator Rand Paul, R-KY, wants to win over conservative voters in Southwest Florida, despite its consideration by many to be home turf to former Governor Jeb Bush and Senator Marco Rubio.

Senator Paul finds himself in an interesting position balancing his loyalty to Libertarian-leaning Republicans and attracting traditional conservatives.

While speaking with Republicans in Naples Saturday, Paul touted himself as a “different kind of Republican.”

“I think it’s important that we are boldly for what we are for. I think we need somebody who actually believes as Reagan did in peace through strength, but someone who also believes that the federal government needs to be smaller,” said Paul.

Video and more...http://www.winknews.com/2015/02/23/president-2016-wink-news-in-depth-with-sen-rand-paul/

[Chef Ramsay]

Out of Darkness, Light by Rand Paul

Sherri was a little girl, born with big brown eyes and bouncing curls. She was the forth child born to her parents, but was the first girl. She was born into a seemingly normal family, with two parents and three older brothers. More often, this girl grows up into a lovely young woman, prepared to carve her place in the world. However Sherri's story was different.

Sherri became blind at a young age and her father did not want a daughter, especially not a disabled one. Her family had no money, and her brothers were never around. Her mother's mind seemed to live in a very dark and distant place, and she offered little guidance.

Her father cared more about whiskey and drugs than he did about his family, so too often, little Sherri was on her own.

She would try to search for her parents, someone to feed her and care for her -- but even when she did find them, her father would most often snatch her up and throw her in a closet so that she would stay out of his way. She spent the majority of the first six years of her young life in that closet. Maybe, in some ways, it was a blessing that she was blind during these times. The darkness of the small closet might not have been quite as scary.

When Sherri was seven, her father found another use for her. It was the most awful and vile thing that a father could do to his little girl. He repeatedly abused and raped her, over and over, year after year, until she was 11 years old, at which time, she became pregnant. It turned out to be a minor problem for her dad, which he took care of with his large leather boot firmly on her back, kicking her flat on her face at the bottom of the stairs, and ending the pregnancy.

During this time, Sherri's father would also beat her mother daily. Even though her mother wasn't there for her, Sherri loved her, and wanted to protect her. After all, it is all she'd ever known.

The abuse continued and her dad often ran out of money to supplement his habits.

That is when he discovered another use for his blind, teenage daughter.

He began selling her to different men for the night. They would pay him in cash or drugs. It didn't matter to him. He would send man after man into her room each night. Then, when he was done using her, he would throw her back in the closet, which locked from the outside.

This closet became Sherri's sanctuary. She knew that if she was in there, then she was going to be left alone -- at least for a little while.

One day, while Sherri was in her closet, she was feeling around through the clothes on the floor, looking for a place to lay her head. Instead, she found a guitar. She had never held or played a guitar, but she discovered that she loved the pretty sound it made when she thumbed her fingers across the strings. The strings would vibrate, and she would listen to the sweet, soothing sound. For the next several years, this sound blocked out all of the other noises. Sounds that used to frighten her were now replaced by the soothing sounds of the guitar.

Sherri did go to school when she could. She loved school, because it meant that she was not at home. She learned everything she could. She worked on her studies as much as possible -- and despite everything, she became valedictorian of her class, and received a full scholarship to college.

The blind little girl with the bouncing curls was now off on her own, finally escaping the dark hell that was all too familiar to her.

At least, this should have been her escape. But every weekend, her father would threaten to beat, rape, and even kill her mother if Sherri did not come home. So, feeling that it was her duty, Sherri would go home and face the abuse that she had suffered all her life, not realizing that she finally did have a choice.

One Sunday, one of Sherri's friends from school invited her to church. Sherri enjoyed church, and she made friends quickly there. One night, after the service, a couple of the women leaders asked Sherri about the visible scars and sores on her body. Sherri confided in them out of desperation, sharing her darkest secrets for the first time.

That same night, the women came to her dorm, gathered all of her stuff, and took her to a safe place -- the first safe place she had ever been -- a 50-acre farm in my home state of Kentucky.

This story is almost too horrible to be true, but it is. I can tell you this, because I recently sat across from Sherri while she shared her story.

More of the intriguing story the culminates with his final message...http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sen-rand-paul/out-of-darkness-light_b_6744026.html?1424796477

This is a great organization for Rand to partner with as it will definitely help his standing among the female and social conservative demographics over and above being the right thing to do. If you're looking for more worthy place to donate money to, their web link is at the bottom of the piece.

[Chef Ramsay]

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell endorsed U.S. Sen. Rand Paul's push for a Republican presidential caucus in Kentucky, lending heavy weight Tuesday to a proposal that had raised concerns among some members of the state GOP's executive committee.

Paul's push for a caucus in early 2016 would allow him to run for two offices in the same year despite a Kentucky law that prohibits a candidate from appearing on the same ballot twice.

The idea was initially met with "respectful skepticism" from McConnell, but after the two men met Monday to discuss the matter, McConnell decided to throw his support behind the idea. In doing so, McConnell joined a host of other big-name Kentucky Republicans backing the plan, including U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie and Agriculture Commissioner James Comer, who is running for governor.

More...http://www.kentucky.com/2015/02/24/3711870_mitch-mcconnell-endorses-rand.html?rh=1

Caucuses are way more interactive than primaries or general elections as they require voters to attend a local event (caucus in this case) and listen to speeches from people supporting different candidates in their respective precincts and then vote based upon what they here and what their friends and families have to think. It keeps away mostly low information voters and those that are being 'helped' into voting for someone unless they have the commitment to participate in this process which takes longer than just walking in the voting booth and pulling a few levers.

[Chef Ramsay]

Sheldon Adelson signals he’ll bankroll effort to stop Rand Paul

Casino magnate and Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson, one of the GOP’s most forceful advocates for a hawkish foreign policy, is willing to fund an effort to stop Rand Paul from securing the party’s presidential nomination, should the libertarian-leaning Kentucky senator’s campaign pick up steam.

The revelation comes in a New York Times analysis of the GOP’s internal divisions over foreign policy heading into next year’s campaign. The rise of the Islamic State militant group has reinvigorated interventionists like Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Marco Rubio (R-FL), both of whom would make national security and global affairs central themes of their presidential campaigns, should they run. Meanwhile, Paul is coming under withering intra-party criticism due to his general reluctance to support military force and his backing for the Obama administration’s positions on the Iranian nuclear negotiations and the diplomatic rapprochement with Cuba.

“The guy who’s now got the biggest challenge because of this is Rand Paul,” former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, told the Times, speaking of the GOP’s increased attention to foreign policy. “The Rand Paul worldview, which I suspect will change, is just incompatible with reality.”

While it remains to be seen how Paul’s all-but-certain campaign will perform, Adelson is telling associates that he’ll bankroll an effort to thwart the senator should he come within reach of securing the party’s nod, the paper reports.

Though Adelson has yet to back a 2016 candidate, GOP hopefuls are vying assiduously to secure his support in next year’s contest. Scott Walker, Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Marco Rubio, Mike Huckabee, and John Kasich have all made sojourns to Las Vegas to curry favor with Adelson, who contributed $150 million to Republican candidates and outside groups during the 2012 campaign. Adelson backed Gingrich in that year’s GOP primaries, pouring $15 million into his campaign. While Gingrich lost the nomination to Mitt Romney, Adelson’s contributions kept Gingrich’s campaign afloat far longer than it would otherwise have remained above water.

More...http://www.salon.com/2015/02/24/sheldon_adelson_signals_hell_bankroll_effort_to_stop_rand_paul/

This what happens when special interests are threatened, good thing Rand has a billionaire or two of his own.

[BitMos]

Edward Snowden for Pres 2016.

A short message to the others candidates, their loved ones and extended families (including undelivered): please once you receive money from the gmoers, give it immediately to charity, otherwise like Hillary (who worked for the lawyers of the gmo groups), you and them are exposed to sudden loss of homeostasis. I hope you will be smart, but if you don't, it will be a pleasure to watch the replay in slow-mo if it occurs at a public event. (this warning is extended worldwide!).

/_\ NEVER BOW BEFORE THEM! A: I WILL ALWAYS STAND WITH YOU! Q: WHO AM I ? /_\

Never be trapped in the rule of another people, never. Or of your own making. the only rule : Don't bow before them, God is Watching.

[Chef Ramsay]

Chuck Todd: Rand Paul a 'Tier 1' 2016 Candidate

NBC News political director and host of "Meet the Press" Chuck Todd says Kentucky U.S. Senator Rand Paul will be a formidable candidate for president should he decide to seek the Republican nomination next year.

Todd spoke Tuesday on the campus of Murray State University before he delivered the school's 2015 presidential lecture. He said he thinks Paul could overcome a deep divide with his own party over issues like foreign policy and prognosticators should underrate Paul’s chances "at their own peril."

“The insider world of the Republican party kind of writes him off,” Todd said. “They know he’s a powerful force, but they don’t think he can win the nomination. And yet I look at our polling and with independent voters, he does better than any other Republican. With young voters, he does better than any other Republican. So, this is a case where this is why we have campaigns.”

Todd said Paul is a “tier 1” prospective candidate alongside former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Paul is expected to announce his intentions for 2016 in the next six weeks.

...

More...http://wkms.org/post/chuck-todd-rand-paul-tier-1-2016-candidate-ky-dems-not-aligned-national-party

[Chef Ramsay]

New Iowa Poll: Walker 25, Paul 13, Carson 11, Huckabee 11, Bush 10

An early look at likely Iowa Republican Caucus participants shows a strong conservative tilt as Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker leads the pack with 25 percent, twice as high as his nearest rival, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

Voters who identify as "very conservative" make up 45 percent of the caucus participants surveyed by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University. Tea Party supporters make up 32 percent of likely caucus-goers and Walker gets 33 percent of that Tea Party vote.

There is a horse race for second place, with 13 percent for U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, 11 percent each for Michigan physician Ben Carson and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and 10 percent for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. No other candidate is above 5 percent and 9 percent are undecided.

Walker gets 13 percent when caucus participants name their second choice, with 11 percent for Bush and 9 percent each for former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Paul.

In a combination of first and second choices, Walker tops the list with 37 percent, with 21 percent for Paul, 20 percent for Bush, 19 percent for Carson and 18 percent for Huckabee.

More...http://www.quinnipiac.edu/news-and-events/quinnipiac-university-poll/iowa/release-detail?ReleaseID=2158

I highly suspect that Walker is being pushed by Bush's establishment crew to hide who the true opposition candidate is - Rand. Doesn't matter, tea party/conservative voters are fickle and we're so early in this game that Walker is already starting to plateau.

[Chef Ramsay]

CATO President: Rand Paul Will Be The Next President of the United States

NAPLES, Florida — Before Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) spoke to a banquet of libertarian and conservative activists hosted by the Cato Institute here on Saturday evening, Cato’s president John Allison introduced Paul as: “The next President of the United States of America.”

“We want government so small in Washington, we barely see it,” Paul said in his speech to the group, a speech for which Breitbart News was the only media outlet allowed inside. “Instead it’s the opposite. I tell people that it’s sort of like going into AA. I’m Rand Paul, and I’m from flyover America. The thing is we are so much different—thinking is so much different—outside the Beltway than inside the city.”

Paul went through several of his major stump speech elements. How he wanted to cut $500 billion from the government’s spending when he first got to Washington, but was laughed at inside and outside the Beltway. Inside, he was mocked for wanting to cut so much—while outside the beltway, he was rapped for wanting to cut too little. Paul laid out how he wants to close the Department of Commerce and the Department of Education, and took a minor shot at former Texas Gov. Rick Perry for the campaign gaffe that wiped out his 2012 presidential campaign.

“I was tired of the liberal media saying well all you conservatives you say for you’re for balancing the budget but you never tell us where you’ll cut, so I gave them a list of $500 billion I would cut including four or five Departments—I won’t try to name them because it never goes over well if you can’t remember the name of them,” Paul said. Perry famously forgot during a debate where he’d cut. “Some of them, if we were to eliminate them, people would never know the difference. The danger is if we close the Department of Commerce that people wake up and say, ‘Oh when did they close the Department of Commerce?’”

More...http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/02/24/cato-president-rand-paul-will-be-next-president-of-the-united-states-of-america/

The Cato think tank is mostly known as a libertarian policy outfit inside the beltway yet they've been viewed as libertarian-lite for many years going back a few decades. They were founded by the Koch bros and are likely still largely funded by them and they've been at odds historically with the hardcore Austrian economist/libertarian movement strengthened by Murray Rothbard and popularized by Ron Paul. However, it seems that things are starting to move together going forward.

[Chef Ramsay]

Doug Wead: The Difference between Rand Paul and Ron Paul

Rand Paul is the U.S. Senator from Kentucky who is favored by many to win the 2016 Republican nomination for president. He appeals to a broad range of constituents from the Tea Party to Evangelical Christians, African Americans, Gays, Independents and Democrats concerned about Civil Liberties. He has picked up the Civil Rights torch and now leads the most active effort to reform social justice. His father, Ron Paul, was a U.S. Congressman from Texas, who ran for president three times.

Here’s how they differ.

The father, congressman, Ron Paul, is a classic Libertarian. The son, Senator, Rand Paul, is a practical Libertarian.

The father believes in the personal freedom of the individual. The son recognizes that there are times when the needs of the wider community must be considered. For example, the father would allow local communities to decide for themselves about legalizing marijuana. The son agrees but openly favors laws against marijuana – for the greater good.

In foreign policy there is a big difference. Both men believe that the nation should not go to war without congressional approval. They both believe it is a mistake for Congress to forfeit war making powers to the president alone. Both men believe that the United States should not assume the role of policeman of the world. But the difference is in degrees. And it is huge. The father, Ron Paul, would prefer that America stay out of everybody else’s business. For example, he does not see Iran as a threat to American security. In an ideal world, Senator Rand Paul would agree but in a world of terrorism and nuclear weapons he sees genuine danger.
...
The best example of a Rand Paul foreign policy would be that of former President Ronald Reagan. For Reagan, the security of the United States was the paramount concern and thus his focus was on the Soviet Union and the threat it posed. Reagan’s wars were always proxy wars against the Soviets. For example, Reagan did not go after Cambodian leader, Pol Pot, the man who killed half of his own people in a nationwide genocide. Reagan did not go after Idi Amin, who had slaughtered hundreds of thousands in Africa and had just been driven from office when Reagan arrived in the White House. Both of these despotic leaders, left untouched by Reagan, were far more evil than Saddam Hussein.

When Reagan stuck his toe in the Middle East in 1982 and it resulted in the death of 241 marines, he withdrew our forces. He decided that it was not in America’s security interest to be involved in the intractable problems of the Middle East. How wise that seems in retrospect.

Likewise, Senator Rand Paul has refused to support the endless calls for international adventures from his colleagues in the Senate. And yet, when the ISIS threat emerged Paul had razor sharp focus. He was the first public figure to call for a declaration of war. He saw ISIS as a threat to America’s national security.
...
Finally, there is style. The father was a great provocateur and a born teacher. The son is a superb politician, a natural pleaser.
...

More...https://dougwead.wordpress.com/2015/02/25/the-difference-between-rand-paul-and-ron-paul/

Doug Wead is a presidential historian and New York Times bestselling author.  He has been an adviser to two American presidents and served in the White House as special assistant to the president under George Herbert Walker Bush.

In 1979 he co-founded Mercy Corps, which has distributed more than $ 2 billion of food and medicine around the world.

As a corporate-motivational speaker he has addressed business audiences in coliseums and soccer stadiums in forty countries.  He is the author of 30 books. Recent titles include All the Presidents’ Children and The Raising of a President. He advised the 2012 Ron Paul campaign and likely will do the same for Rand coming up here.

[Chef Ramsay]

RAND PAUL FLEXES 2016 MUSCLES ON FLORIDA TRIP, CAMPAIGNS AGAINST DC POLITICAL CLASS

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), a contender for the 2016 GOP nomination, flexed his potential presidential campaign muscles during a trip here this weekend—showing off his pull with grassroots voters and his ability to win over donors.

After arriving late Friday night after a speech in Montgomery, Alabama—Paul was the keynote before the Alabama GOP’s annual winter dinner—Paul on Saturday morning kicked off his day by holding a roundtable discussion with local doctors about healthcare policy.
...
Jan Glassman, another grassroots activist who sits on the executive committee of the Collier County Republican Party—and splits her time between Florida and New Hampshire, another early primary state—spoke highly of Paul as well and noted similar things about the GOP influence Collier County has in the general election in the all-important state of Florida.

“Number one, I think candidates come here to raise money,” Glassman told Breitbart News. “But number two, Collier County turns out the greatest percentage of Republican votes in the state—a very, very Republican county. It can make all the difference. George Bush won by 537 votes I think it was? Something like that—very, very small.”

Glassman spoke highly of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Paul. About Paul, she noted she met him when he endorsed former Sen. Scott Brown’s campaign against Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) at the University of New Hampshire last cycle.

“I saw him at UNH last summer,” Glassman said. “He’s a great guy. He resonates. His dad always resonated with young people.”

Paul showed off his fundraising appeal later in the day, attending a finance meeting with several high-level donors from the area but the most interesting thing is he seems to be able to walk in both worlds: Appeal to the donors, and appeal to the grassroots.

More...http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/02/25/rand-paul-flexes-2016-muscles-on-florida-trip-campaigns-against-dc-political-class/

[Chef Ramsay]

Crunch Time for Rand Paul at CPAC (annual Conservative Political Action Conference)

With Republican rivals like Scott Walker and Jeb Bush off to a strong start in the 2016 presidential race, Rand Paul will seek his own breakout moment at an annual gathering where hopefuls go to burnish their conservative credentials.

Of all the potential candidates speaking at the meeting of the Conservative Political Action Conference, the Kentucky senator should feel most at home. He won the event's presidential straw poll the last two years, buoyed by support from young libertarian-leaning conservatives who plan to turn out in force again this year.

The 52-year-old Paul, famous for his non-interventionist approach to world affairs, could find himself at odds with a growing hawkishness among other Republican hopefuls mustering support with their calls for more aggressive action against Russia and Islamic State militants.

"He's got a challenge to overcome," said Al Cardenas, former chairman of the American Conservative Union which organizes the event known by its acronym, CPAC.

Due to speak on Friday, Paul can nonetheless count on a generational divide of sorts between the party's traditional foreign-policy hawks and younger activists who have come of age during 13 years of nonstop U.S. engagement in wars.

"We've grown up in war in Afghanistan and Iraq and we all have friends who have gone overseas and either have not come back or have come back mentally scarred. There's a toll that's been taken on young people in this war," said Jeff Frazee, executive director of Young Americans for Liberty, a libertarian group that has had a heavy presence at recent CPAC gatherings.

The influence of libertarians can be seen this year on panels that will tackle criminal-justice reform and marijuana legalization, as well as more traditional topics such as abortion and President Barack Obama's signature healthcare act.

More...http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/conservative-event-CPAC-Rand-Paul/2015/02/25/id/626890/

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul: CPAC More ‘Difficult’ for ‘Moderates’ Like Jeb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hysABETF0ac
^His interview on The Kelly File on Fox last night which is referenced in the article. For those that don't know, this show comes on at 9pm EST and it's the #2 show on the network (~2.5 million viewers) featuring an attractive blond female host which is part of Fox's shtick to drive viewership.

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) said that CPAC would be “kind of a difficult crowd” for “moderates” like Jeb Bush on Wednesday’s “Kelly File” on the Fox News Channel.

Asked about the competition he’ll face from Jeb Bush if he runs in 2016 and the attention Bush has received, Paul said “well, being related — when your brother had been president and your father president, that tends to draw some attention. But I think it will be, you know, it’s kind of a difficult crowd out here because it’s going to be the Conservative Political Action Committee. So, we think there will be a lot of friendly faces for us, and there’s definitely a place for moderates, but it may not be quite the same level of enthusiasm for moderates at this conference.”

He further criticized Bush by stating “I think if you talk to young people they’re not very tolerant of hypocrisy, and the fact that Jeb admits that when he was in an elite prep school where very wealthy kids went to school, that he smoked pot, but he’s still willing to put somebody in jail for medical marijuana in Florida, a 75-year-old guy using medical marijuana for multiple sclerosis, I frankly wouldn’t put them in jail. A lot of poor people go to jail for drug offenses, and when Jeb was a very wealthy kid at a very elite school, he used marijuana, but didn’t get caught, didn’t have to go to prison. I think it shows some hypocrisy that’s going to be difficult for young people to understand why we’d put a 65-year-old guy in jail for medical marijuana.”

Paul did say that while he didn’t know a whole lot about Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s (R) record, “I like what he did in Wisconsin with fighting to take away excessive power from the unions and give the power back to the workers, and I think there are many things he’s done well.”

More...http://www.breitbart.com/video/2015/02/25/rand-paul-cpac-more-difficult-for-moderates-like-jeb/

[Chef Ramsay]

Feisty Rand Paul eats up CPAC
The Kentucky senator jabs Clinton, Bush and Christie as he tunes up for the conservative Woodstock.

Sen. Rand Paul will beseech conservatives to follow “a new way” as he takes the podium of the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday and tries for a triple crown — a third consecutive win in the annual straw poll that reflects the young, libertarian crowd of raucous activists.

The Kentucky Republican will spend parts of two days at the convention center in National Harbor, Md., showing up late Thursday afternoon to sign books, drop by a College Republicans reception, then pose for hundreds of pictures at a “liberty reception” hosted by groups that include Young Americans for Liberty.
Story Continued Below

In an interview with POLITICO to preview his CPAC remarks, Paul offered backhanded advice to one of his GOP 2016 rivals, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush: “A lot of kids are concerned with privacy, and the fact that he’s come out to be a big advocate for the surveillance state and the dragnet, collecting all the phone records — if he’s smart, he won’t probably bring that up at CPAC.”
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Previewing his national message for the months ahead, Paul said his “new way” means that conservatives “take the defense of the Bill of Rights and instead of only sort of talking about the Second Amendment, we take the First Amendment, the Fourth Amendment, the Fifth Amendment to all kinds of audiences who are ready and waiting to hear this.”

Paul said his mission is to “get these kids excited” and convince them “that you’re going to really do something to make their future better and brighter.”

“There’s probably no speech with more kids all in one room that you’ll have in almost any one season,” he said. “I see it as a way to try to pump up the next generation.”

More...http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/rand-paul-cpac-speech-115531.html#ixzz3SrS71XQQ

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul Interview with Katie Couric (well known mainstream media interviewer)
Rand Paul on the fight against ISIS

If Rand Paul were commander in chief, his strategy for fighting Islamic militants in the Middle East would start with the Kurds.

“I would arm the Kurds directly,” the Republican senator and potential presidential candidate told Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric. The two sat down in Washington on Wednesday, just hours after the FBI announced it had arrested three men charged with plotting to join the Islamic State, or ISIS, and stage attacks against the United States.

Despite urging Congress to make an official declaration of war — for the first time since World War II — against ISIS last November, the Kentucky senator’s reputation as an isolationist still precedes him. Dismissing that as a “mischaracterization,” Paul told Couric he’s not willing to send American troops to fight anywhere if the people who live there are not also willing to fight.

And he believes the Kurds — the disenfranchised ethnic groups whose Iraqi contingent has been fighting ISIS for months — are particularly up to the task.

“The only people over there that can fight and have been showing some ability to fight are the Kurds,” Paul said. “The president has been sending weapons to Baghdad. They’re not adequately getting to Kurdistan. I would fund them directly. I would take some of the weaponry that we have left over in Afghanistan and I would send that directly to the Kurds.”

More...https://news.yahoo.com/katie-couric-interviews-rand-paul-160100857.html

[Chef Ramsay]

CPAC Hails ‘President Paul’

CPAC activists waited an hour-and-a-half for Senator Rand Paul (R., Ky.) after congressional votes delayed his speech, and the pent-up energy made for a rowdy welcome. “President Paul! President Paul! President Paul!” the attendees chanted in the middle of Paul’s speech when he said America needs ‘a new president.’ The salutation came after Paul promised to unveil a plan that would balance the budget in five years while passing “the largest tax cut in American history.” “My tax plan will get the IRS out of your life and out of the way of every job creator in America,” he said. Paul turned to economic issues only after citing the Benghazi terrorist attacks as the centerpiece of an indictment of Hillary Clinton and a defense of his own foreign policy. Paul noted that terrorists took over Libya after Clinton backed intervening against the incumbent dictatorship. “As [Hillary Clinton] was declaring victory in Libya, Ambassador Stevens was pleading for more security,” Paul said. “Her dereliction of duty should forever preclude her from higher office . . . It’s time for Hillary Clinton to permanently retire.”   As Paul tied the rise of terrorists in Libya to the U.S. intervention, he also argued that ISIS was empowered by a misguided decision to arm Syrian rebels.   “Without question, we must now defend ourselves and american interests from this barbarous aberration; but it troubles me that we must now fight against our own weapons,” he said. “As conservatives we should not succumb to the notion that a government inept at home will somehow become successful abroad.”

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/414566/cpac-hails-president-paul-joel-gehrke

[Chef Ramsay]

Once again, Rand Paul stands tall at CPAC
The Kentucky senator's prowess at the annual gathering was on full display Friday.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — It’s still Rand Paul’s CPAC.

A day after other Republicans tossed out hawkish lines on foreign policy at the Conservative Political Action Conference, the Kentucky senator forcefully asserted his own, more anti-interventionist views to a hall packed with his supporters, once again showing his prowess at this annual gathering.

“At home conservatives understand that government is the problem, not the solution,” the likely presidential contender said Friday. “But as conservatives we should not succumb to the notion that a government inept at home will somehow become successful abroad.”

Paul’s speech, which was punctuated by standing ovations and chants of “President Paul,” led off with condemnations of brutal interrogation methods and government surveillance, two other issues in which he parts ways with many national security hawks in his party.

“You do have a right to privacy,” he said. “Your rights are in your DNA and the government can, quite frankly, get over it.”

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More...http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/rand-paul-cpac-2015-speech-115591.html