Rand Paul

Is Rand Paul The Future Of The Republican Party?

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The stunning victory of Rand Paul, the son of Texas Congressman Ron Paul, for the GOP Senate nomination in Kentucky on Tuesday, has brought a tremendous amount of attention to this man who claims a direct connection to the Tea Party Movement, and is seen as their first significant victory in changing the future of the Republican party!

But Rand Paul has already become the center of controversy with his belief that private businesses should not come under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and that therefore if a business owner does not wish to deal with African Americans or gays, he or she should have that privilege!

But this is just the tip of the iceberg, as Rand Paul has advocated the following ideas as part of his libertarian beliefs:

1. Close down the Department of Education.
2. End the Federal Reserve Banking System.
3. Repeal the Americans With Disabilities Act.
4. Slash spending deep enough to balance the budget every year while still cutting taxes.
5. Raise the retirement age on Social Security and Medicare.
6. Cut taxes on corporations and capital gains.
7. Opposes most of the New Deal and Great Society programs as violations of the Constitution.
8. Opposed the government “bailout” of Wall Street and the auto companies.

There are many other issues that will be brought up, either by Rand Paul himself, or his Democratic opponent, Jack Conway. The area of foreign policy will become another area of debate, as well, as Rand Paul holds many of the views of his father, who has called for America to withdraw from world responsibilities, which may sound appealing upon first thought, until one investigates and analyzes what the father has advocated–in many ways, an outdated isolationism!

Certainly, Rand Paul will be one of the most interesting candidates running for the Senate this fall, and the Kentucky Senate race now comes to the forefront as one of the most important races to watch in this midterm election year!

The question is whether Rand Paul will be of benefit, or be a detriment, to the Republican party in this campaign, and if he wins, in the future fortunes of a party that has never felt comfortable with his father! Can a Tea Party personality such as Rand Paul find a home in the GOP, or will the GOP repudiate him as they have already, many times, rejected and ridiculed his father when he ran for the Presidency in 2008?

The Unfortunate Life Of Mitch McConnell! From Jim Bunning To Rand Paul!

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Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell has been the Minority Leader of the Senate since 2007, and is serving his fifth term, the longest serving Kentucky senator in American history!

A strong conservative, but part of the “establishment”, he has been cursed having to serve alongside a Senator considered by many to be part of the “lunatic fringe”–Senator Jim Bunning, the former baseball player and Hall of Famer, who is usually regarded as one of the absolutely worst senators in American history!

Bunning was a constant critic of McConnell right up to the end, when he finally decided not to run for a third Senate term! He was an embarrassment in so many ways, in his actions and statements! McConnell was certainly relieved when Bunning finally bowed out of the race!

McConnell backed Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Greyson to succeed Bunning, but Rand Paul, the son of Texas Congressman Ron Paul, and like his father, a libertarian and Tea Party activist, was endorsed by Bunning!

Yesterday, Paul soundly defeated Greyson, a real slap in the face to McConnell, and based on Rand Paul’s past statements, McConnell might almost wish Bunning had stayed in the Senate! 🙂

Rand Paul has called for the abolition of the Americans With Disabilities Act, the Department of Education, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Federal Reserve, and supports a balanced budget amendment, term limits, and repeal of the Civil Rights Act of 1964! He promotes constant tax cuts and smaller government, and is a critic of the government “bailout” of Wall Street and the Obama Health Care reform! He also is against abortion rights, including in cases of rape and incest!

Besides being an extremist in so many ways, which will be fully exposed by Democratic nominee Jack Conway in the fall campaign, Rand Paul has made it clear that he has no intention of being friendly with McConnell, even with the fact that McConnell is the Republican leader in the Senate!

So even those who are not fans of Mitch McConnell must have some sympathy for him, as it is a shame that he has weird, extremist colleagues from his home state that he has to, somehow, coexist with and tolerate! 🙁

Who Gained From The May 18 Primaries? The Democrats And Progressives!

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It is interesting how many see the results of yesterday’s primaries as a defeat for President Obama!

Since Obama supported Senator Arlen Specter, because he helped the Democrats on important legislation after switching parties last year, it is argued that Obama lost! But actually, he gained in the long run by having the more “progressive” candidate and a “true” Democrat, Congressman Joe Sestak, defeat Specter!

Obama may have backed Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas in a party loyalty way, but the fact that the more “progressive” opponent, Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter, forced Lincoln into a runoff primary for June 8, by her failure to win a majority of the vote in the the three way race, is seen as leading to the likely nomination of Halter in the final two candidate election in three weeks!

The fact also that the moderate to conservative Democrat in the Pennsylvania district long represented by the late John Murtha, a former aide to Murtha, won the congressional seat by almost ten points over his Republican opponent, despite a large investment of money and advertising by the GOP, is also seen as a major Democratic win!

And although the Tea Party people feel they have accomplished a great victory with their libertarian candidate, Rand Paul, son of Texas Congressman Ron Paul, over the “establishment” Republican candidate in Kentucky’s Republican primary, it will likely be a mixed blessing as the attack against the extremist views and statements of Rand Paul will be one of the highlights of the 2010 Congressional elections! This is NOT a great moment for the “Establishment” Republicans or Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell! Rand Paul represents an attack on just about everything that most Republicans profess in domestic and foreign policy!

It is noticeable that neither House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio, nor Republican National Chairman Michael Steele, had much to say today about yesterday’s election results! It is obvious that they realize their party is being marginalized, while the Democrats have seen a swing to the left, but not a move toward anarchism, which will never solve the problems this nation faces!

The Mystery Of Ron Paul And The Republican Party

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Republican Congressman Ron Paul of Texas has long been a problem to the Republican party.

A member of the House for more than two decades, and a Presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party in the past, as well as having been a candidate for the GOP nomination for President in 2008, Paul is much admired by many libertarians and young people of college age who find his views fascinating.

Paul has been a strong critic of many federal government agencies, and would love to wipe out the Federal Reserve System.

Paul is also a critic of any violations of civil liberties, and was opposed to the Patriot Act, passed after September 11 in a fit of patriotism and hysteria.

He also is a critic of our military interventions overseas, and calls for bringing home our troops from all of the many nations we have military and naval bases, arguing that we should not be an “Empire”.

All this is very appealing to many, even though at times, Ron Paul comes across as a bit weird and whacky on a personal level. 🙂

The problem for the GOP is that Ron Paul appeals to many in the base, but not to the leadership of the party, who try to ignore him. He was ridiculed by both Rudy Guiliani and Mitt Romney during the Presidential debate season in 2007-2008.

But Ron Paul won the Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll recently, and now has ended up just one vote behind Mitt Romney in a similar straw poll at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference this past week.

So what does the GOP do about Ron Paul? He is totally against the typical Republican attitude toward big business, civil liberties, and foreign policy. He is a mosquito who bites the Republican body politic, and is seen as a pest.

So one wonders if Ron Paul has any chance to be a serious factor in the Presidential Election of 2012. It would have to be said that is highly doubtful, and the fact that Ron Paul will be 77 years old in 2012 also rules against any influence, other than being an annoyance.

The one hope that Ron Paul could have an influence on the future of the GOP is the fact that his son, Rand Paul, is running in the GOP primary for the Senate in Kentucky. Were Rand Paul, who sounds very much like his father, to win the nomination and triumph in the Senate race in November, we might very well have not heard the last of the Paul “dynasty”! 🙂