TAMPA, Fla.—Rand Paul did not hoist the flag high for the libertarian cause Wednesday.
The Kentucky senator instead used his prime-time speech at the Republican National Convention to play footsie with the GOP establishment and offer support for “our nominee:” Mitt Romney.
Wearing a red tie with elephants, he parroted Romney’s criticism of President Barack Obama for telling business owners “you didn’t build that.”
Paul then focused on areas of agreement between conservatives and supporters of his father Ron Paul’s 2012 presidential campaign: antipathy toward Obama, opposition to the federal health care law, support for the Keystone XL pipeline and alarm about the national debt.
“There’s only one option left,” he said. “We have to have a new president.”
During his speech, the younger Paul referred to the elder Paul only once — and not by name. It was part of a perfectl agreeable riff on how his great-grandfather immigrated to Pittsburgh to experience the American dream. By contrast, he name-checked Ronald Reagan three times. Unlike his dad, Sen. Paul has endorsed Romney.
“My grandfather would live to see his children become doctors, ministers, accountants, and professors,” Paul said. “He would even live to see one of his sons, a certain Congressman from Texas, run for President of the United States of America.”
Paul has his eye on a possible run for the Republican nomination in 2016, and the speech seemed designed to show party insiders he can play ball and the rank-and-file that he is not divisive.
The response to the speech from the floor was generally positive, as many Romney supporters cheered. But some Paul supporters appeared to quietly walk out of the hall.
Playing it safe, as Paul did, was a risky move as Paul’s dad controls three state delegations. A ruling by a Republican convention credentials committee invalidated the election of pro-Paul delegates from Maine, which has caused friction on the convention floor. Many Ron Paul backers are irate that Ron Paul himself was not invited to speak. They are also livid about a host of rule changes designed to make it harder for outsider candidates to compete in future elections. Not long after the speech, there were chants of “So goes the nation as Maine goes.”
The 17-minute speech made just passing allusions to two issues that animate the libertarian base: opposition to war and support for civil liberties.
“Republicans and Democrats alike must slay their sacred cows,” Paul said. “Republicans must acknowledge that not every dollar spent on the military is necessary or well-spent, and Democrats must admit that domestic welfare and entitlements must be reformed. Republicans and Democrats must replace fear with confidence, confidence that no terrorist, and no country, will ever conquer us if we remain steadfast to the principles of our founding documents.”
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