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

[Chef Ramsay]

Another former Cruz staffer hired by Rand

Ted Cruz’s stable of political operatives continues to be a fertile place for Rand Paul to pluck talent.

Just a few months after Mr. Paul, the junior senator from Kentucky, hired away the digital strategist who was a major asset in building the national profile of Mr. Cruz, the junior senator from Texas, Mr. Paul has brought on another former Cruz tactician, Rachel Kania.

The move is the latest to highlight the rivalry between the senators, who are both considering a bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.

Ms. Kania was Mr. Cruz’s statewide field director during his come-from-behind 2012 Senate campaign. Since she helped him get elected, she has led her own consulting firm. She will now run Mr. Paul’s office in Austin, Tex., about three hours from Mr. Cruz’s home in Houston. Mr. Paul grew up in Texas, but he lives in Bowling Green, Ky.

In its statement announcing Ms. Kania’s hire, Mr. Paul’s political committee heralded her connections to the conservative base, noting that before Mr. Cruz hired her in 2012, his campaign “had little to no field operations running and no clear path to a grass-roots victory.”

She will join Vincent Harris, who was the top digital guru for Mr. Cruz before he decided late last year to join Mr. Paul’s operation. Mr. Harris will also be based in Austin.

http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/03/12/another-ex-cruz-tactician-joins-pauls-team/?_r=0

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul pushes repeal of Obama tax law despised by Americans living abroad

Rand Paul, the Kentucky senator and 2016 Republican presidential hopeful, is leading an effort to repeal a tax law prized by President Obama but despised by millions of Americas who live and work outside the United States.

Mr. Paul formally introduced legislation this month in the Senate to reverse the main requirements of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, saying the law has wrongly deprived American ex-patriots of access to banking services, violated their privacy and forced many to renounce their citizenship.

“Not only is FATCA dangerous with respect to the privacy protections owed to every American — home or abroad — it has threatened the livelihood of millions of Americans working or living overseas,” Mr. Paul said.
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The law was passed by a Democratic Congress and signed by Mr. Obama in 2010 with the stated goal of preventing Americans living overseas from cheating on their taxes. But the law has had far-reaching consequences beyond that.

It requires foreign banks to monitor and report to the Internal Revenue Service on the banking of Americans residing overseas or risk severe punishment.

Mr. Paul said the reporting requirements violate the privacy guaranteed by the Constitution and added a costly burden on banks, many of whom have chosen to stop serving overseas Americans rather than comply.

“As a result, the private data of American accounts is forfeited, and foreign banks have approached the onus of this law by shutting their doors to U.S. citizens,” Mr. Paul said.

If Americans like Mr. Johnson cling to their U.S. citizenship, they face double taxation by the U.S. and foreign governments and huge financial penalties because, they say, the Obama law rests on the assumption that all Americans living and working abroad are tax cheats — and so are automatically treated as guilty until they can prove innocence.
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Whether the bill advances or not, it gives Mr. Paul a forum to raise some of his favorite issues — tax fairness, privacy and government overreach — as he gears up his 2016 presidential bid.
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http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/mar/10/rand-paul-pushes-repeal-of-obama-tax-law-despised-/

[Chef Ramsay]

Sens. Rand Paul and Cory Booker to introduce bill legalizing medical marijuana

Sens. Rand Paul, Cory Booker and Kirsten Gillibrand will introduce on Tuesday a Senate bill that would legalize medical marijuana under federal law, another possible step towards relaxation of once strict policies toward the drug.

The Kentucky Republican and his New Jersey and New York Democratic colleagues will propose legislation that allows states that have passed medical marijuana laws to enact those programs without operating illegally under federal law. That bill would also allow veterans in states with medical marijuana programs to receive care from the government, according to guidance issued by their offices.
Story Continued Below

The legislation was lauded by marijuana legal reform advocates.

“Several marijuana policy reform bills have been introduced in the House of Representatives. The introduction of this legislation in the Senate demonstrates just how seriously this issue is being taken on Capitol Hill,” said Dan Riffle of the Marijuana Policy Project, which first informed reporters of the legislation.

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More...http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/senate-medical-marijuana-bill-115904.html

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Speaking at Bowie State University Re: criminal justice reform Today
RAND PAUL TO SPEAK AT HISTORICALLY BLACK UNIVERSITY IN BOWIE, MARYLAND

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) will speak on Friday afternoon to historically black Bowie State University about his criminal justice reform efforts.

“It is important for our party to show up at venues which in the past might not have been a priority,” Paul told Breitbart News about the forthcoming speech. “I look forward to being at Bowie State University tomorrow. Showing up is only part of the solution, we must also embrace policies which are fair and just. I will be discussing the importance of reforming the criminal justice system, and highlighting numerous pieces of legislation which I have introduced on this subject.”

Paul, a likely 2016 GOP presidential candidate, has taken extraordinary efforts to reach out to voting blocs that have traditionally voted for Democrats—including the black community—by visiting places including Ferguson, Missouri, and Detroit, Michigan.

Paul’s plan for reviving Detroit’s economy—which has faltered under the weight of big government in the city and in the state—is to create a “stimulus” with what he calls “economic freedom zones,” places where citizens wouldn’t have to send much taxes if any at all to Washington.

“Economic freedom zones will, over a 10-year period, if my bill were to pass, leave over $1.3 billion in Detroit,” Paul said in a speech to the Detroit Economic Club in December 2013 while rolling out his legislation. “So for those who say, ‘Oh, it won’t work, it won’t be enough money,’ we’ve calculated it: $1.3 billion stimulus, not from Houston, not from Atlanta, from you. It’s your money. We’re not going to take it to Washington, we’ll leave it with you. How could anybody be opposed to this?”

On criminal justice reform, Paul has introduced several major pieces of legislation—most notably the REDEEM Act, which he rolled out with Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ).

More...http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/03/12/rand-paul-to-speak-at-historically-black-university-in-bowie-maryland/

Well, he's back on his mission of building a bigger tent in the GOP by talking about and pushing for more liberty to more demos outside the elderly white crowd. I really think he sets himself apart from the entire GOP primary field by pushing the economic freedom zones concept but the last thing that democrats want is to allow freer market principles to show up their failed big government policies and put a nail in their coffin for the whole country and perhaps the world, to see.

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul Is Right—Give The Kurds A State

Sen. Rand Paul is right to call for an independent Kurdistan, and the arming of its forces, the Peshmerga. In doing so, he strikes a balance sorely needed in the GOP’s 2016 foreign-policy platform after years of imbalance.

The Bush administration’s subtly-stated justification for the Iraq War was to establish a vibrant, Muslim, western-style democracy in the Middle East. Such a development’s efforts in preserving Pax Americana can hardly be underestimated. An Arab democracy in the heart of the Muslim world would abide by the rule of law, uphold private property rights, foster free-thinking education, and enshrine the human rights of women and girls—all necessary ingredients to development and happiness dependent upon democracy, and woefully missing in the Middle East.


A vibrant Muslim democracy in the Middle East would also be a major blow to radical Islam, providing an example of modernity and wealth that an Obama-administration jobs program could never hope to accomplish. This would be the Muslim world’s ticket into the twenty-first century.

More...http://thefederalist.com/2015/03/12/rand-paul-is-right-give-the-kurds-a-state/#disqus_thread

The tradeoff here is quite interesting but don't go the way of letting the neocon Bush's set the tone here. Senator Paul has so much to offer on this point and I think this is the saving grace.

[Chef Ramsay]

STANDING OVATION: RAND PAUL BLOWS AWAY LIBERAL BLACK AUDIENCE WITH CONSERVATIVE MESSAGE AT BOWIE STATE

BOWIE, Maryland — Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) was a hit speaker on the campus of Bowie State University on Friday, earning several rounds of applause and a standing ovation for the conservative message he delivered to a predominantly liberal audience at the historically black university—part of an outreach effort to traditionally non-Republican communities the senator and potential 2016 GOP presidential candidate has been engaged in nationwide for the five-plus years he’s been in the U.S. Senate.

Paul wove individual examples of people throughout history and in modern times who have faced unfair consequences as a result of government’s heavy hand, making his case to the room on the basis of the need to defend the full Bill of Rights in the Constitution—a classic Tea Party style of speech—all while citing the Founding Fathers, and making economic and social limited government conservative pitch that seemed to resonate throughout the theater inside the student center.

“Clyde Canard got out of prison the same month that I was born, which was a long time ago, in 1963,” Paul opened his speech with after a couple thank-yous to organizers. “The reason that Clyde Canard went to prison is that, his crime was he was trying to get enrolled in Mississippi Southern. At that time, it was very difficult for a black man or a woman to enroll. The second time he tried to enroll they planted liquor on him—he didn’t drink—and gave him a $600 fine. Can you imagine what $600 was like in 1963 if you were poor in Mississippi? One thing led to another and he declared bankruptcy. He tried to enroll a third time and he was arrested and bullied by police. But when he tried the third time, he’s declared bankruptcy and he goes by his farm to pick up some chicken feed—$25 worth of chicken feed—and you know what happens to him? He’s arrested, and you know what kind of prison term he’s given? Seven years in prison for stealing $25 worth of chicken feed which really was his—it was on his land which the bank was repossessing. People’s lives can spiral out of control from a $600 fine.”

Paul noted that “a lot of things have improved since” 1963, when this particular example happened—specifically the fact that the United States has gotten rid of segregation by law. However, he said, “we still have a problem in our country that’s a lot like segregation but it’s also like there are two systems.”

More...http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/03/14/standing-ovation-rand-paul-blows-away-liberal-black-audience-with-conservative-message-at-bowie-state/

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul Is Right—Give The Kurds A State

Sen. Rand Paul is right to call for an independent Kurdistan, and the arming of its forces, the Peshmerga. In doing so, he strikes a balance sorely needed in the GOP’s 2016 foreign-policy platform after years of imbalance.

The Bush administration’s subtly-stated justification for the Iraq War was to establish a vibrant, Muslim, western-style democracy in the Middle East. Such a development’s efforts in preserving Pax Americana can hardly be underestimated. An Arab democracy in the heart of the Muslim world would abide by the rule of law, uphold private property rights, foster free-thinking education, and enshrine the human rights of women and girls—all necessary ingredients to development and happiness dependent upon democracy, and woefully missing in the Middle East.


A vibrant Muslim democracy in the Middle East would also be a major blow to radical Islam, providing an example of modernity and wealth that an Obama-administration jobs program could never hope to accomplish. This would be the Muslim world’s ticket into the twenty-first century.

More...http://thefederalist.com/2015/03/12/rand-paul-is-right-give-the-kurds-a-state/#disqus_thread

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul Amasses Influence At South By Southwest In Austin

AUSTIN, Texas — While two of his top likely 2016 GOP presidential rivals square off up north in the Granite State, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is amassing influence—and courting millennials, while winning over top leaders in the tech community—here at the South By Southwest conference this weekend.

Paul on Saturday evening schmoozed with top technology leaders—including executives from the wildly successful internet radio company Pandora and social media powerhouse Snapchat—at a major-players-only private party in Austin hosted by Pandora.

The event at the chic downtown Austin bar the Gatsby, hosted other high profile attendees including Reps. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Will Hurd (R-TX). Paul, who had spent the day Saturday raising campaign cash at various fundraisers with high-dollar Texas donors, posed for photos with the tech luminaries and other major players present as Grammy-award winning DeeJay Mark Ronson performed on a stage out back.
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On Sunday and Monday, Paul will attend a series of events associated with South By Southwest. He’ll do a town hall with Twitter, a question-and-answer session with the Texas Tribune’s CEO, and an event with Young Americans for Liberty—a libertarian-leaning grassroots organization.

Before flying to Texas, on Friday Paul spoke to a predominantly liberal audience at the historically black university Bowie State University in Maryland. He enjoyed several rounds of applause and a standing ovation after delivering a message of conservatism to the students there.

Paul, having made visits this year to Iowa, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada and other early presidential states, is is trying to take a different path than former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker are on the campaign trail.

Walker and Bush have been in New Hampshire shooting at each other after Bush’s soft-launch of a likely presidential bid a few months ago, and Walker’s meteoric rise after his explosive speech to the Iowa Freedom Summit in Des Moines in January.
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But what Paul has going for him is these projections of power at events such as South By Southwest, speeches at historically black colleges, and the building of coalition—an army, if you will—that he may surprise the entire political world by storming into the GOP nomination with just a year from now. Just like any other Tea Partier, Paul is frustrated with how Washington works—and is articulate on the trail in detailing his distaste with the permanent political class.

But the difference between Paul and some of the other potential contenders is he seems to have a very detailed and concerted plan—a vision, and a method to the madness—that he’s been executing for over a year on how to build an arsenal to overcome his opponents. As Paul ramps up as things get closer to 2016, he may just catch everyone in the entire political establishment off guard. After all, unlike the others, every move he makes seems to be part of a grander well-thought-out plan–and all his moves, from the political battles he picks to staff he hires to audiences he chooses to speak to and even the content of his messaging, are clearly disciplined. It’s almost as if he’s acting like the GOP nominee already.

His move to speak in Austin at South By Southwest is no different: No other potential 2016 GOP candidates are here, and it’s an opportunity for Paul to garner backing from major tech leaders, youth voters and opinion leaders throughout the country, all while fundraising and laying out for the American people yet again the vision he has for the country should he get elected to the White House.

Because of the fact he’s been building support for a potential candidacy–and for his ideas–for as long as he has, Paul consistently places among the top two or three candidates in most 2016 GOP presidential polls. All this maneuvering and building of a sustainable operation means that if and when Paul hits his so-called “escape velocity” getting his breakout moment like Walker’s in Des Moines, he’ll be able to maintain it and steer and control the ship he built all the way until election day. Paul could be the guy who breaks the endless cycle in which outsider candidates like himself seem to have been stuck in recent GOP presidential primary elections: having simply just one moment in the sun that fades away after the honeymoon from their first big break is over.
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More...http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/03/15/rand-paul-amasses-influence-at-south-by-southwest-in-austin/

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul: Hillary Clinton 'Clearly Broke the Law'

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said today on "America's Newsroom" that he believes Hillary Clinton broke the law the same way former CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus did.

"I'm worried that she left government records in an unsecure site. And actually that she was still in possession of government records after she left government service," he said, referring to the controversy over Clinton's use of a private email server while she was secretary of state.

He explained that high-ranking government officials sign a statement that requires them to turn over all government records when they leave office. It's still unclear whether Clinton signed the form.

"This is a real problem. Some people say, 'well is this really a law? Could this really be prosecuted?' It's perjury. General Petraeus was recently accused of the same thing," Paul said.

In terms of the 2016 race, Paul said he believes Americans will not look favorably on Clinton acting as if she was "above the law."

Video and more...http://insider.foxnews.com/2015/03/16/rand-paul-hillary-clinton-clearly-broke-law

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul Leads Texas Young Republican Federation Straw Poll

The Texas Young Republican Federation (TYRF) conducted a straw poll during February and March, and among potential 2016 Republican presidential candidates, the results show strongest support for Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), followed by Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and Governor Scott Walker (R-Wisconsin).


The poll presented respondents with a list of eighteen potential presidential candidates and asked them to indicate each of the candidates they would like to see as the Republican nominee. Respondents were allowed to select multiple candidates they would support. The TYRF received 504 responses from Texas Republicans age 40 or under, of which 101 were active dues-paying TYRF members.


Among all respondents who were Texas Republicans age 40 or under, Paul came in first, with 50.6 percent saying they supported him. Cruz was second with 41.9 percent support, and Walker was third with 35.9 percent support. Other potential candidates who performed well include former Governor Rick Perry (R-Texas) with 26.4 percent, Ben Carson with 22.8 percent, Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) with 18.7 percent, former Governor Jeb Bush (R-Florida) with 18.5 percent, and Governor Bobby Jindal (R-Louisiana) at 18.1 percent.


Just looking at the respondents who were active dues-paying members of TYRF, Paul had an even stronger performance, with 68.3 percent of respondents saying they would support him for president. Walker came in second with 58.4 percent support, followed by Cruz with 33.7 percent support, and then Rubio and Bush, both with 25.7 percent. Perry received 24.8 percent and Jindal 23.8 percent.

More...http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2015/03/16/straw-poll-shows-support-for-paul-walker-cruz-among-texas-young-republicans/

[Chef Ramsay]

EXCLUSIVE — RAND PAUL SLAMS JEB AS ‘DEMOCRAT-LIGHT,’ ‘ALMOST LIKE HILLARY CLINTON BUT NOT QUITE’

AUSTIN, Texas — Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) slammed former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush as a “Democrat-light” who’s “almost like Hillary Clinton but not quite,” in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News at the South By Southwest conference.

Paul also laid out his vision for his pathway to victory, should he jump in with a race for the White House as many expect him to—and explained how he plans to build a unique coalition of voters to win the GOP nomination and then the general election.

Paul told Breitbart News:

“We believe that the message of ‘leave me alone’ that forms sort of the ‘leave me alone coalition’ forms this group of people that we think supports the things I’m trying to do is a big enough and broad enough coalition to win in a Republican primary but is also a big enough and broad enough to bring independents and others afterwards. There are two different tactics you could try to do if you want to bring in independents: You could be Democrat-light and run the Jeb Bush campaign that’s uncomfortable with the grassroots of your party and you could run this campaign that’s like ‘I’m almost like Hillary Clinton but not quite’ and then you can get the independents or I think you could run a truly principled campaign as a Constitutional conservative but also still show how the message that big government messes everything up from business to taxes to regulation also can be applied to criminal justice. That big government messes up criminal justice and doesn’t treat people fairly because big government is incompetent. Big government is incapable of feting out justice sometimes because it is too large. So I think there is a possibility, a great possibility, a truly principled Constitutional limited government conservative message, could resonate out to a bigger audience. We try to take it everywhere. We also try to go where Republicans haven’t been going, to the tech community, to historically black colleges, to Berkeley, to places like that with a hope of showing that we can broaden the message. That’s what people will want if we’re the nominee.”

More...http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/03/15/exclusive-rand-paul-slams-jeb-as-democrat-light-almost-like-hillary-clinton-but-not-quite/

[Chef Ramsay]

At South by Southwest, Rand Paul champions Snapchat, criticizes Clinton

AUSTIN – Though Republican Rand Paul is not officially running for president, he had plenty to say here about the woman soon expected to announce her bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The senator from Kentucky took the stage Sunday evening at the annual South by Southwest festival for a discussion with Texas Tribune CEO Evan Smith. The two touched on the potential of campaigning with Snapchat, the changing media landscape, and Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email address while serving as secretary of state.

Asked about the way technology might change the presidency come 2017, Paul replied, “My advice to whoever wins is: Don’t use your private emails.”

Paul was referring to recent revelations that Clinton used a private email address during her time helming State and later deleted more than 31,830 emails after aides deemed anything lacking certain keywords or names to be irrelevant for the purposes of archiving. In a press conference last week, Clinton explained that she chose to use a private email address while in office because it was more “convenient” than carrying  two devices in order to access two accounts on the go.

More...https://news.yahoo.com/at-south-by-southwest--rand-paul-champions-snapchat--criticizes-clinton-031350147.html

[Chef Ramsay]

Nigel Farage (UKIP leader) praises Rand in his new book
Nigel Farage: the American Rand Paul is my soulmate from the Tea Party
In the ninth and last exclusive extract from his new book, The Purple Revolution, the Ukip leader reveals his kinship with a leading member of the Republican Right

[...]

The visit would also afford me the opportunity to meet Rand Paul, the Republican senator for Kentucky, and, at the time of writing this book, a frontrunner for the 2016 presidential election and one of the Tea Party’s most convincing candidates. In September 2014, in an office five minutes’ walk from Union Station in Washington DC, we began to talk about immigration, non-intervention in Syria, and Brussels. Over the course of that half-hour, I realised that in Rand Paul I had found my political doppelgänger. Raheem later said the point that you couldn’t get a cigarette paper between the two of us on the issues we discussed.

I liked Paul enormously: he is a realist, he is down to earth and very modest. He certainly comes from a political family – I knew his father Ron – but he is not a career politician. He trained as an ophthalmologist and set up his own clinic, so he knows something of the world. It is unsurprising that Ukip and the Tea Party have plenty in common. The Tea Party has its own share of oddballs and mavericks who sometimes espouse pretty extreme stuff, but they also have truly impressive politicians, like Rand, who believe that the state is too big, too costly, too powerful, and robs the individual of inherited rights and freedoms.

They believe that there is no reason why America has to be run like Europe. They have come to their conclusions via similar routes to me. The Tea Party did the numbers and took the view that there is simply no reason why the American state should cost more than 30 per cent of GDP. I left the meeting thinking that Rand was a man I could do business with in the future – there are plenty within the Tea Party with whom I could not. The truth is their party has been hijacked by the religious right. If you look at people such as Sarah Palin, they are just downright scary.

[Chef Ramsay]

Paul: Criminal laws 'biggest impediment' on voting rights

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) late Sunday said the “biggest impediment” to U.S. voting rights was the tangle of American criminal laws needing reform.

“You know what the No. 1 thing preventing people from voting in our country is?” Paul asked during an address at the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas. “It’s having a felony conviction on your record.”

Paul said scores of Americans could not vote due to nonviolent felony convictions. The potential 2016 GOP presidential candidate said that status was unfair for potential voters who had reformed after their convictions.

“You have to obey the law,” Paul said. “You also have to have good policies. It’s sort of like rules of engagement.”

The senator cited mandatory minimum sentencing and felonies for nonviolent narcotics crimes as instances of government overreach.

Paul added, enforcing unfair laws created tension between law enforcement and the communities they protect.

“The vast majority of police are good people, but we put them in difficult situations,” he said.

Paul said he was working on legislation with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that would restore voting rights to felons who had completed their sentences for nonviolent offenses. The Kentucky lawmaker also noted the immense progress on minority voting rights since the civil rights era.

More...http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/235771-paul-crime-laws-biggest-impediment-on-voting-rights

[Chef Ramsay]

Why libertarians who want to write off Rand Paul over the Tom Cotton letter are being shortsighted

In light of my most recent column, I thought it might be worth trying to clarify some of the points I made in this post on Rand Paul signing Tom Cotton’s Iran letter.

I agree that Paul shouldn’t have signed the letter. Even if the substance was defensible, its intent — subverting the negotiations that are the best alternative to a preventive war with Iran — was not. If the letter derails the talks and we end up with either war or a nuclear Iran, Paul and the other 46 senators should be held accountable.

But the Cotton letter is at least as likely to have no more impact than a deport Justin Bieber petition. That’s why the “red line,” to borrow a phrase from President Obama, should be the imposition of additional sanctions while negotiations are ongoing, which will mostly certainly short-circuit diplomacy. If Paul is able to help keep the negotiations going, it will outweigh his signature on the Cotton letter and even a vote for Corker-Menendez.

Lots of things are suboptimal. Kirk-Menendez and any preventive Iran AUMF are non-negotiable.

That’s why expecting Rand to “lead the non-interventionist cause” is both asking too much and too little. For better or worse, he’s not using his Senate seat and his likely presidential candidacy as platforms to educate people about his principles the way his father used his House seat and presidential candidacies. The younger Paul is trying to win elections and shape policy. He should therefore be judged by how successful he is at doing those things and whether his efforts actually improve policy from our perspective.

More...http://rare.us/story/why-libertarians-who-want-to-write-off-rand-paul-over-the-tom-cotton-letter-are-being-shortsighted/pVbQYXJSD0GWJRWE.99

[Chef Ramsay]

And he's off: Rand Paul preps for April announcement

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul isn't waiting for the Kentucky Derby to shoot out of the starting gate.

Next month — the day after the NCAA championship game — Paul plans to announce that he is running for president in front of hundreds of supporters at Louisville's Galt House.

While Paul's team stressed that the senator might still decide against running for president, they confirmed the planned April 7 launch date, which was originally reported by The New York Times, and said invitations to the event have already been sent to supporters and Republican officials.

The event will prominently feature Kentucky in an effort to capture the historic nature of the announcement for the state. That also dovetails with the desire of Paul's budding campaign team to build a sense of state pride around his candidacy, building a foundation for the senator's presidential campaign and keeping his approval numbers aloft as he tries to run for re-election to his Senate seat simultaneously in 2016.

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More...http://www.kentucky.com/2015/03/17/3752245_and-hes-off-rand-paul-preps-for.html?rh=1

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul targets young voters with Austin tech office



Sen. Rand Paul opened a tech office Monday in Austin, in yet another push by the presidential hopeful to reach out to constituencies that aren’t typical for Republicans.

A day after courting young voters at the SXSW festival, the Kentucky senator opened an office at the Capital Factory — an incubator for tech startups in downtown Austin. Paul’s vision is for his Austin office to be a place for digital engagement and product innovation.

“I was glad to be in Austin and open my first tech office today,” Paul said. “Austin is filled with the brightest minds in the tech community and should I decide to run, it will be a very valuable part of any campaign. This past weekend in Austin allowed me to meet some of the top tech entrepreneurs from across the nation, and many seemed very receptive to a liberty minded message.”

Paul has made no secret of trying to win the hearts — and votes — of millennials, an increasingly sought-after group in politics. He’s been courting tech entrepreneurs such as Peter Thiel of PayPal and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, and he plans to open an office in the San Francisco Bay Area.

More...http://onpolitics.usatoday.com/2015/03/16/rand-paul-young-voters-tech-sxsw/

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul's Disruptive SXSW Adventure

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In choosing Austin, known as the Silicon Hills, Paul is hoping to tap into the city's tech "brainpower" to give the possible 2016 presidential hopeful an edge against Democrats that have trounced his party on the technology front in previous elections. Austin is also the home base of Vincent Harris, the digital strategist Paul poached from Texas Senator Ted Cruz's network. Harris spent the whirlwind first weekend of SXSW alternating between updates on Paul's visit and updates on the general election in Israel, where he'd traveled to advice Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud.

"I think we've lagged and that's part of trying to start so early," Paul told Bloomberg Politics in a freight elevator that he used to escape fans awaiting him. "I would say President Obama's team exceeded in the last two elections. I think we have an uphill battle, but starting this early I think we have a great chance."

Austin is the destination in an annual music and technology pilgrimage that tens of thousands of people make from around the world to hear live music, watch up and coming films, and learn about the next tech innovation. The festival has become a must-be place for tech entrepreneurs are seeking venture capital. It's also a place for emerging artists to make a name for themselves. Paul was the only potential 2016 presidential candidate who made the trip.
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More...http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-03-16/rand-paul-s-disruptive-sxsw-adventure

[Chef Ramsay]

How Islamic State Threatens Rand Paul’s 2016 Campaign
Written by a former staffer to neocon McCain

The past few months, it has come to look like Islamic State cannot defeat U.S. airpower. It’s an open question whether the extremists can overcome the reconfigured Iraqi military. But it appears that they can, at least, defeat Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.).

Sen. Paul shot to the fore of the Republican presidential field last year about the same time voter exhaustion with unpopular wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was revitalizing a long-dormant isolationist wing of the Republican Party. In modern history, Americans have turned inward following prolonged military conflict. This happened after both world wars, Korea, and Vietnam. In recent years, voters had once again become skeptical of further foreign involvement. Along with a non-traditional approach to criminal justice in this country and to drug policy, Sen. Paul capitalized on this wariness as he developed the platform for his 2016 campaign.

Establishment Republicans were flummoxed. Since Ronald Reagan’s election, their party’s successes had been constructed on a three-legged foundation of economic conservatism, social and cultural traditionalism, and national security assertiveness. Losing the most reliable of those three legs heading into the post-Obama era was hardly a recipe for victory in 2016.

htxp://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2015/03/17/how-islamic-state-threatens-rand-pauls-2016-campaign/

[Chef Ramsay]

MTV News: Rand Paul Talks Tech, Social Media And Youth Issues At SXSW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MDVLiNI38o
Good Interview. Rand is relaxed and informative, speaks well off the cuff! For those that don't know, MTV is the biggest hipster music station viewed by many millenials.