Tag: Rand Paul

Rand Paul Determined to Stick Out from the GOP Crowd

Buck Banks

Sen. Rand Paul didn’t get the same backing from his Republican colleagues than the last time he talked his way through legislative deadlines – but that’s part of the point. This was a stunt that was about his 2016 candidacy, if the campaign merchandising push and online trolling of Ted Cruz and Hillary Clinton didn’t make that clear. It shows, again, that Paul will inject a strain of national-security thinking into the GOP debates that will push his rivals in uncomfortable ways. It’s possible that his timing is off; the march of ISIS, with scenes of beheadings seared into memories, might change the tone of any discussion inside the Republican Party. But Rand standing alone will make him stand out, for better or worse.

— Rick Klein, on ABC News.

Rand Paul’s Consistent Inconsistency Could Be an Asset

Buck Banks

As the press struggles to label him, Paul’s plunge into the primaries has the potential to upconvert his opponents. His value to Republicans is that his final position on a number of issues cannot be predicted from his past statements. This is valuable, and not a knock against him, because his unpredictability will force the rest of the field to respond in real time to a politician who seems willing to change his mind. … Paul can’t quite acknowledge his penchant for inconsistency, because there’s a convention in politics that equates consistency with strength. But it’s perhaps his most genuine quality.

— Marc Ambinder, in The Week.

Paul Calls Foreign Donations to Clinton Foundation ‘Bribes’

Buck Banks

The normal Clinton response is to cover up, deny, refuse to acknowledge. But the question is whether the country will rise up and respond to the unseemly nature of accepting foreign donations.

— Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), telling Politico that foreign contributions to the Clinton Foundation are “thinly veiled bribes.”

Cook: Bush, Walker Have 1 in 3 Chance of Winning Nomination

Buck Banks

1 in 3

Odds that Bush and Walker each seem to have of “winning the nomination — call it 35 percent for each. There’s maybe a 1-in-5, or 20 percent, chance that the nod will go to any tea-party candidate, so let’s give Cruz and Paul each a 10 percent chance. The rest of the field gets the remaining 10 percent; right now, that’s what I estimate is the likelihood that someone other than one of the aforementioned four will win the nomination,” predicts Charlie Cook.