The Rand Paul Countdown to 2016 Megathread

[The Brain]

I'm bringing hairy back.

[garbon]

I'm glad he's now droning on about Obama losing moral authority...

[CountDeMoney]

***FLASH***FROM THE "HOLY SHIT YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME" DESK AT THE HOME OFFICE IN CINCINNATI OHIO***FLASH***

Poll: Rand Paul Tops List of 2016 GOP Presidential Hopefuls


Sen. Rand Paul has surged into the lead of a wide field of possible 2016 GOP presidential hopefuls, according to a new poll, while Sen. Marco Rubio has dropped from first place to sixth.

According to the Public Policy Polling survey conducted July 19-21, the junior senator from Kentucky leads every other candidate with 16 percent support, his highest since the April survey.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan are all at 13 percent, in the survey of 800 registered voters, while Texas Rep. Ted Cruz comes in at 12 percent.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, once at the top of the list, now has only 10 percent support, a significant decrease from the 21 percent support he had in the April poll.

"The trend in the Republican primary field is pretty clear," said Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling. "Rand Paul and Ted Cruz are up and Marco Rubio is down."

In the general election, the poll found that while former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in the lead against every potential GOP candidate, those leads are narrowing.

In a match-up with Christie, her lead is within the margin of error, with Clinton at 43 percent and Christie at 42 percent.

Ryan, meanwhile, would also come in a close second against Clinton. Forty-six percent of respondents would support Clinton while 44 percent would go for Ryan. Clinton also narrowly leads Bush, 46 percent to 44 percent.

The poll also found that in a Democratic presidential primary, Clinton is the clear front-runner with 52 percent support compared to 12 percent who would back Vice President Joe Biden, though Biden would have a 21 percent lead over every other potential candidate if Clinton didn't run.

[11B4V]

Way to early. But, I would vote for the "Lunatic" over the "Sea Hag", for no particular reason and  just to raise your blood pressure. 

[garbon]

That wide feel looks pretty shitty.

[derspiess]

***FLASH***FROM THE "HOLY SHIT YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME" DESK AT THE HOME OFFICE IN CINCINNATI OHIO***FLASH***

Poll: Rand Paul Tops List of 2016 GOP Presidential Hopefuls


Sen. Rand Paul has surged into the lead of a wide field of possible 2016 GOP presidential hopefuls, according to a new poll, while Sen. Marco Rubio has dropped from first place to sixth.

According to the Public Policy Polling survey conducted July 19-21, the junior senator from Kentucky leads every other candidate with 16 percent support, his highest since the April survey.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan are all at 13 percent, in the survey of 800 registered voters, while Texas Rep. Ted Cruz comes in at 12 percent.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, once at the top of the list, now has only 10 percent support, a significant decrease from the 21 percent support he had in the April poll.

"The trend in the Republican primary field is pretty clear," said Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling. "Rand Paul and Ted Cruz are up and Marco Rubio is down."

In the general election, the poll found that while former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in the lead against every potential GOP candidate, those leads are narrowing.

In a match-up with Christie, her lead is within the margin of error, with Clinton at 43 percent and Christie at 42 percent.

Ryan, meanwhile, would also come in a close second against Clinton. Forty-six percent of respondents would support Clinton while 44 percent would go for Ryan. Clinton also narrowly leads Bush, 46 percent to 44 percent.

The poll also found that in a Democratic presidential primary, Clinton is the clear front-runner with 52 percent support compared to 12 percent who would back Vice President Joe Biden, though Biden would have a 21 percent lead over every other potential candidate if Clinton didn't run.

I stand with Rand.

[Valmy]

Rand Paul versus Joe Biden in 2016! 

[DGuller]

We have to remember: Sheilbh also really liked Huckabee.

You know, for someone who's considered one of the Languish "good guys", e.g. Xiacob, he really has some fucked up tastes when it comes to US politics.

I have a feeling that Sheilbh is just a contrarian, conflating being an unconventional thinker for the sake of it with being an insightful thinker.  I don't think it's limited to US politics either.

[DGuller]

Rand Paul versus Joe Biden in 2016! 

[Sheilbh]

I have a feeling that Sheilbh is just a contrarian, conflating being an unconventional thinker for the sake of it with being an insightful thinker.  I don't think it's limited to US politics either.

Harsh

I don't think I'm that contrarian and I know I barely think, I just don't hate people very often. I can disagree with people very strongly and still find them a compelling or attractive person. That's how it is with Huckabee, I don't agree with him, but I think he's hinted at a sort of conservative populism that's an important voice and one that deserves to be heard - same with Farage in this country or lefties like Barney Frank. Also I think there are times when political antipathy towards someone becomes a torrent of personal abuse that I find wrong - it happened to Palin and, in this country, it happened to Brown.

The politicians I react against are the ones where I think the flaws are personal not political. It's not that I disagree with them it's that I think there's something up with them as people: Edwards, Romney, Gingrich and, to an extent, the Clintons.

But my views are still Blairite, investment and reform in the welfare state, strong defence and security and liberalisation. They're all mainstream centre-left views. The only other thing is I hate snobbishness and arrogance, which is the vibe a lot of American liberal sites give off - like the Guardian but with more entitlement

Who? Who thinks he has potential?

I'd forgotten about this but I basically agree with this piece from the time by Ta-Nehisi Coates in the Atlantic:

The Journey to Mecca
Rand Paul deserves credit for speaking at Howard University. But one reason the reaction has been critical is that black liberals have high expectations for him.
TA-NEHISI COATESAPR 15 2013, 9:07 AM ET

Reason has a good video up looking at the cross-section of opinion which followed Rand Paul's visit to Howard University. (With Chad Bozeman out there doing work, it's a good time to be a Bison.) I offered some of my own thoughts on Friday's All In With Chris Hayes. Here are a few more.

1.) I've gone back and forth on this but I think Rand Paul deserves credit. These sorts of speeches are often done by conservatives as a way of signaling to moderate whites that they aren't racist. The Mitt Romney show at the 2012 NAACP convention is the best example.

I think Paul's was different. I can't remember a potential Republican presidential candidate standing before a group of black students like that and actually taking questions. And these were not plants. Paul got the full brunt of a school where black history and politics are the air.

2.) Someone should have told Rand Paul he was going to a school where black history and politics are the air. At a university founded by prominent 19th-century Republicans, where every student is subject to an African-American (studies, lit, history, etc.) requirement, you can not hope to surprise them with "Famous Black Republican Facts." They know this. And anyone so moved to attend a Rand Paul speech at Howard will almost certainly know it better than Rand Paul. (Edward Brooke!)

3.) The lack of someones is particularly telling. It's not so much that Rand Paul is a Republican that matters, its his obvious lack of either good African-American advisers, or advisors who simply cared enough to do some recon. Someone who knew Howard could have told him that he was walking into a lion's den. This is the real and hard value of diversity, an area where, for at least the next decade, Dems will enjoy an advantage. They are better are talking to diverse audiences simply because they've had more practice. This isn't mission impossible. But to be good at talking to black people, you must talk to black people.

4.) This should not be a series of "speeches." Paul should go back to Howard and sit in on a couple of classes. He should just sit there and listen. I know he's a busy guy, but there is so much there that he clearly doesn't know. If he can't do it, he should send someone to do it. Better, he should hire a couple of smart kids out of Howard's poli-sci department who are sympathetic to his politics. (They are there.)

5.) Paul's answer to the Civil Rights Act question was deeply damaging. Nothing he did there hurt him more than outright lying. This is 2013. All these kids need do is google Rand Paul and Civil Rights Act to see what Paul actually said. It would be like Obama announcing his support for marriage equality, by claiming he'd always supported it. The worst part is he didn't even have to lie. A simple "I've learned a few things since becoming a senator" would have sufficed. Unforced error. Again, no one around Paul to say, "It's Howard. A third of SNCC went here. You are going to get this question. You must have a good answer."

6.) If you are a libertarian and dismayed by the largely critical reaction to Paul's speech, you should understand that much of it is because black liberals, like me, actually expect more of Rand Paul than we expected of Mitt Romney. Again, a lot of us have family whose politics are not very different from Rand Paul's. These are people who don't like foreign wars, who don't like our incarceration rates, and don't like our deficit.

These people are not me. But the fact that we end up voting for the same guy is a distortion of democracy. We deserve to fight it out. Having that fight doesn't require the GOP to fully embrace Obamacare. It requires the GOP to stop attempting to limit the number of people who are voting, and start competing for them. At this moment, the GOP has a choice. It can embrace the "Gifts" logic of Mitt Romney which holds that black people will never vote for a Republican, or it can make a pitch and compete.

Rand Paul -- skeptical of foreign war, skeptical of the drug war, skeptical of mass incarceration -- is the most credible Republican to make that pitch. We don't have any expectations for Steve King. Paul is different, and is being judged accordingly. You don't get to do something striking and courageous (like Paul's actual filibuster) and get judged by the standards of cowards.

[DGuller]

I can disagree with people very strongly and still find them a compelling or attractive person.

As I said, an unconventional thinker.

[11B4V]

Rand Paul versus Joe Biden in 2016! 

Spot on

[jimmy olsen]

I can disagree with people very strongly and still find them a compelling or attractive person.

As I said, an unconventional thinker.

I do that too, I don't think its that unusual.

[Phillip V]

I changed my voter registration today to swing state North Carolina ; will later decide to be registered Democrat or Republican for next state primary depending on competitiveness.

[Savonarola]

Ten thousand dogs roam the streets as ten thousand junkies lie in the gutter in the shadows of the ruined shell of ruined factories.  As the maelstrom of violence and the maelstrom of want engulfs the broken city only one man stands up against the bleak and forlorn future that awaits:

Senator cites Detroit's bankruptcy as reason to deny aid to Egypt

Rand Paul

By Todd Spangler

Detroit Free Press Washington Staff

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Rand Paul cited Detroit's problems — blight, bankruptcy and crime — as a prime reason for denying government aid to Egypt.

Paul, R-Ky., offered an amendment to the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development spending bill today calling for $1.3 billion in aid to Egypt to be redirected to bridge repairs and infrastructure replacement in the U.S.

The amendment was tabled on an 86-13 vote with many Republicans voting against — and speaking out against — Paul's position, saying foreign aid is necessary to strengthen strategic allies around the globe. The vote to table the measure effectively stripped any chance it had of being attached to the bill.

Although the subect was foreign aid, Paul began his speech by invoking the situation in Detroit, saying tens of thousands of dogs roam the streets in a city blighted with abandoned houses at a time when the U.S. is sending billions of dollars overseas in foreign aid.

"It is a bleak and forlorn future that awaits Detroit," said Paul, who also mentioned what he called a "maelstrom of violence" in Chicago that should be dealt with instead of spending on foreign aid.

In his remarks, Paul made no mention of specifically dedicating any funds to Detroit, Chicago, or any city, but said the funds now going to Egypt should instead be used to repair bridges in critical conditions across the U.S.

But he said Detroit's situation is a stark example of the issues here in America that are not being dealt with as money continues to go overseas.

"As Detroit decays, as Chicago's overrun with violence, as Americans struggle," he asked President Barack Obama rhetorically, "why are you sending money to people who hate us?"

From the early remarks, it appeared from the outset that the amendment would have a hard time of passage. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., spoke against it, saying he "didn't believe we should be bailing out cities," even though the amendment doesn't call for that. U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., noted there is "nothing in this amendment (that) suggests that cutting all aid to Egypt means putting that money into the cities of America like Detroit."

As the Free Press reported last week, Detroit's bankruptcy filing — the largest municipal filing in U.S. history — has become a political football. Several Republican senators are suggesting amendments that would prohibit a bailout, and potentially limit other forms of financial aid, to Detroit or any other city in severe fiscal straits, even though Detroit officials haven't requested a bailout.

I like Rand Paul, his oratory reminds me of Spiro T. Agnew.