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Title: Rand Paul Found His Voice: Can He Find Noninterventionist Voters?
Source:
The National Interest [Cato]
URL Source: http://nationalinterest.org/feature ... nterventionist-13866?page=show
Published: Sep 17, 2015
Author: David Boaz
Post Date: 2015-09-17 18:24:06 by Hondo68
Keywords: a Reagan Conservative, peace through strength, NFL-level ratings
Views: 1777
Comments: 17
Last night Paul found his voice – not just on foreign policy, but on marijuana, federalism, taxes, and the Constitution – and there are millions of Republican voters who share that range of views. Can he capitalize? Rand Paul found his voice last night. He’s a sincere noninterventionist in foreign policy. If he can get that message across, there’s a Republican constituency for it, and even broader support among independents. Coincidentally or not, Paul’s standing in the polls has fallen as he seemed to move away from the noninterventionist positions associated with his father, congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul. He called for a declaration of war with ISIS, more military spending, and rejection of President Obama’s Iran deal. Meanwhile, hawkish conservative pundits consistently underestimate the extent of non interventionist and war-weary sentiment in the Republican party. In the debate Paul came out swinging on the risks of war and the failures of military intervention. He declared, “I've made my career as being an opponent of the Iraq War. I was opposed to the Syria war. I was opposed to arming people who are our enemies.” He noted that “intervention sometimes makes us less safe…. sometimes the interventions backfire. The Iraq War backfired and did not help us. We're still paying the repercussions of a bad decision.” He chided Carly Fiorina for her incredible promise not to talk to Vladimir Putin “at all,” saying that we need to talk to all the countries with which we have tensions, we “need to leave lines of communication open,” as Ronald Reagan talked to Soviet leaders. Standing in front of Reagan’s Air Force One, he embraced Reaganism: “I'm a Reagan Conservative. I'm someone who believes in peace through strength, and I would try to lead the country in that way knowing that our goal is peace, and that war is the last resort, not the first resort. And, that when we go to war, we go to war in a constitutional way, which means that we have to vote on it, that war is initiated by congress, not by the president.” And most particularly in electoral terms, he set up the alternatives for voters: “If you want boots on the ground, and you want them to be our sons and daughters, you got 14 other choices. There will always be a Bush or Clinton for you, if you want to go back to war in Iraq.” That’s Paul’s best path to the top of the polls. All the other candidates supported the Iraq war (except Donald Trump) and threaten more military action today. Carly Fiorina delivered a strong performance, but substantively it was frightening. While refusing to talk to the president of Russia, she would send more troops to the countries bordering Russia and “conduct regular, aggressive military exercises.” Threatening a renewed war in Iraq isn’t enough, she wants to take us back to the dangerous heights of the Cold War. Marco Rubio is viewed as a knowledgeable foreign policy expert by neoconservative pundits, but his framework begins with “These are extraordinarily dangerous times that we live in.” That suggests a stunning ignorance of history. In the past century we dealt with Hitler, Stalin, the Cold War, the building of the Berlin Wall, the Cuban missile crisis, the long Vietnam war. Today our military is bigger than the next 10 militaries combined, and no power threatens us. Bill Kristol told the Washington Post last year that Paul is “a lonely gadfly” on foreign policy: “Rand Paul speaks for a genuine sentiment that’s always been in the Republican Party, but maybe it’s 10 percent? 15 percent? 20 percent? I don’t think he’s going to be a serious competitor for guiding Republican foreign policy.” Sixty-three percent of Republicans and 79 percent of independents told a CBS-New York Times poll in 2014 that the Iraq war had not been worth the costs. As neoconservatives and Republican senators beat the drums for military action in Syria, Republicans turned sharply against the idea — 70 percent against in September 2013. And of course a massive Pew Research Center survey in December 2013 found that 52 percent of respondents said the United States “should mind its own business internationally and let other countries get along the best they can on their own.” That was the most lopsided balance in favor of the U.S. “minding its own business” in the nearly 50-year history of the measure. Kristol and his fellow pundits should read these polls. There’s more scope for a non interventionist or realist Republican candidate than they want to admit. So far, of course, Paul isn’t reaching even the 10 to 20 percent of Republican voters that even Kristol concedes. But there’s a constituency there, and he may have started to reach it last night in a debate with “NFL-level ratings.” Some observers did notice. Tim Carney of the Washington Examiner tweeted, “Rand Paul just gave the smartest comments on foreign policy from a GOP debate stage in decades.” Jonathan Chait of New York magazine added, “Whoa, Rand Paul talking about foreign policy right now like a person who reads newspapers, not a character in an action movie.” Guy Benson of Townhall and Fox News tied his comments to politics: “Rand Paul making case that Iraq war didn't make us safer…which most Americans agree with.” The debate transcript shows 205 mentions of Trump, 124 of Bush, and only 66 of Paul. He’s still struggling for visibility. But he’s found his voice – not just on foreign policy, but on marijuana, federalism, taxes, and the Constitution – and there are millions of Republican voters who share that range of views. David Boaz is executive vice president of the Cato Institute and author of The Libertarian Mind. Poster Comment:
Full Transcript of CNN debate, Reagan Library
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#1. To: hondo68 (#0)
I think Rand will be next to Jindal and Pataki next debate. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.---Revelation 1:5b-6
I like Rand Paul but I just don't see him being elected president straight out. He could work his way in as a VP and then to presidents spot.
Fiorina is up, Trump down. Trump will fit right in at the Kindergarten debate. He acts like a 5 year old anyway. Trump falling in the polls lifts all boats. Rand is likely to pick up a point or two. I think Rand will hang around through March given he does have some die hard fans.
To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.---Revelation 1:5b-6
I just finished watching the debate on YouTube. Rand did well, but his stand on drugs will leave him unviable. In fact, everybody stood up there with a great big chubby for FAILED drug courts and rehabilitation.... My perfect candidate would build bigger prisons and make career criminals and drug addicts spend most of their lives victimizing each other behind bars. I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح
Move to California and you can live that dream now. Jerry Moonbeam Brown has more prisoners than Pataki ever had! Cali prisons are at 137% of capacity. The prison guard union runs the state. You and moonbeam are on the same page. I'd think about moving there if KOOKIFORNIA started to deport the illegals, cut school and property taxes by 80%, remove all gun laws... and EXECUTE 50% of those in your prisons or build bigger prisons. I want ALL the laws enforced... not just the immigration laws, and I want the populace safe from being repeat victimized.
I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح
a bunch of them are going to hang on hoping Trump crashes and they pick up the pieces . Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
a bunch of them are going to hang on hoping Trump crashes and they pick up the pieces . If that happens, Rand will get some scraps from that. Most will probably head home and be non-voters and the rest will line up with Cruz. Then when Rand is eased out after the first super Tuesday, all the usual non- voters will stop paying attention, wring their hands and not vote or vote for a third party candidate who is on maybe 12-15 state ballots for the general election. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.---Revelation 1:5b-6
Perfect title really. Even if they support a few of his positions, are there enough of these voters who can be motivated to turn out to vote for him?
There seems to be a split from the Neocons, with the antiwar/non-interventionist faction being Donald Trump, Ben Carson, and Rand Paul. Strange bedfellows perhaps, but real enough IMO. Trump even shook hands with Carson when he stated his opposition to the Bush invasion of Iraq. The battle-lines are forming. Rand Paul has some sort of deadline to put up $250,000 to fund a KY caucus today; that way he can still keep his senate seat and run for president. Or something like that. I should be a Rand Paul fan since I'm living in KY, but I'm not. I don't dislike him either. I was a big fan of his dad.
If I had to hazard a guess you would only have about 50% capacity filled if all the illegals were deported. Just think of how much money that would save in just 1 year?? Probably enough to build a good sized portion of the fence along the Mexican border... He paid up so that Mitch McConnell wouldn't kneecap him... (CNN)Rand Paul's campaign met a deadline Friday that will ultimately allow him to run for president and for re-election to his U.S. Senate seat at the same time. Kentucky law bars candidates from appearing on the same ballot for more than one office, so Paul's campaign pushed the state party to move up its presidential preference vote from the May primary to a March caucus. Though the decision had its critics, the party voted last month to hold the more expensive caucus, but only if Paul paid $250,000 by Sept. 18 to help cover the costs. Kentucky GOP Chairman Steve Robertson said in a statement Friday that those conditions have been met. "We would like to thank Senator Paul for his effort and due diligence in working to ensure that Republicans across Kentucky will now have an early and relevant say in the 2016 presidential primary process," Robertson said. The caucus is set for March 5, and voters will make their choice for the Republican nominee by secret ballot. Presidential candidates have until Jan. 7 to file a declaration of candidacy with the state party. The state's Republican delegates will be awarded proportionally. The sum paid by Paul, however, only represents about half of the expected costs of the caucus, and Paul's campaign has pledged to pay the full bill for the contest as the process unfolds. Rand knocked himself back into Ron Paul's poll numbers with his answer on drugs this last debate. Weed is no big deal... but Rand fucked himself on his narcotic love. That 250,000 was money well spent. Looks like I'm gonna have to vote for Trump... I'm truly disappointed in some of his answers. His love for O'bungholes nuclear arms deal was a KILLER for him. I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح
Thanks honddope! I don't get these obscure rules, but I'm sure there's a reason for them. /not Secret ballot?
Rand is voting against the Iran deal. You'll vote for Jeb!/Pataki and love it! Rand Paul Found His Voice: Can He Find Noninterventionist Voters?
#2. To: hondo68 (#0)
#3. To: redleghunter (#1)
(Edited)
I think Rand will be next to Jindal and Pataki next debate.
"We (government) need to do a lot less, a lot sooner" ~Ron Paul
#4. To: hondo68 (#3)
#5. To: hondo68 (#0)
#6. To: GrandIsland, moonbeamer (#5)
My perfect candidate would build bigger prisons and make career criminals and drug addicts spend most of their lives victimizing each other behind bars.
"We (government) need to do a lot less, a lot sooner" ~Ron Paul
#7. To: hondo68 (#6)
(Edited)
#8. To: redleghunter (#4)
I think Rand will hang around through March given he does have some die hard fans.
#9. To: tomder55 (#8)
I think Rand will hang around through March given he does have some die hard fans.
#10. To: hondo68 (#0)
Title: Rand Paul Found His Voice: Can He Find Noninterventionist Voters?
#11. To: TooConservative, non-interventionist coalition, Trump Carson Paul, *Neo-Lib Chickenhawk Wars* (#10)
"We (government) need to do a lot less, a lot sooner" ~Ron Paul
#12. To: hondo68 (#11)
#13. To: hondo68 (#6)
Cali prisons are at 137% of capacity. The prison guard union runs the state. You and moonbeam are on the same page.
#14. To: Fred Mertz (#12)
Rand Paul has some sort of deadline to put up $250,000 to fund a KY caucus today
Rand Paul meets payment deadline for Kentucky caucus
"We (government) need to do a lot less, a lot sooner" ~Ron Paul
#15. To: hondo68 (#14)
(Edited)
#16. To: hondo68 (#14)
The caucus is set for March 5, and voters will make their choice for the Republican nominee by secret ballot. Presidential candidates have until Jan. 7 to file a declaration of candidacy with the state party. The state's Republican delegates will be awarded proportionally.
#17. To: GrandIsland, Jeb Pataki ticket, *2016 The Likely Suspects* (#15)
(Edited)
His love for O'bungholes nuclear arms deal was a KILLER for him.
"We (government) need to do a lot less, a lot sooner" ~Ron Paul
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