"Is this a story of apple and the tree? Or is Rand his own man. And is he electable?"
Today is the big day. Dr. Paul (aka Rand, senator from Kentucky), is going to formally announce he is running for President. For some, it will be a day of immense excitement. For others, it will be a re-run of a feature which has been seen in past elections. For me (and I happen to like both Rand and his dad) the question is simply this - is he electable?
Rand made one flub already. He announced when his announcement would be. And the announcement is today. So yesterday, a powerful PAC dumped a chunk of money (some say up to $1M) to derail his campaign before it even leaves the station. This PAC has started running commercials aiming at the same (alleged) Achilles tendon his father has - foreign policy. Yep, the ads are saying Rand supports the recently concluded Iran nuclear negotiations and he will be soft on terror.
By the way. Don't think for a minute this PAC was funded by the Democrats. It wasn't. The Foundation for a Security and Prosperous America is a PAC has been around for a while. How long? Remember the 2004 election? Remember the Swift Boat ads against John Kerry? Same group. They hit hard, they hit fast. They are going to run commercials against Dr. Paul in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina - all early primary or caucus states.
Some analysts are asking what the Zeitgeist for Dr. Paul is. Zeitgeist is an uncommonly used word which has a complicated definition. Suffice it to say some believe it to mean "a person of the times". Or a person who represent the times. Or a person who can influence the times. The question therefore is this - for Dr. Paul, do the "times" in the country now reflect more of a Libertarian slant? More of an isolationist slant? It will be interesting to see how this unfolds.
Even today, Ron Paul remains a rock star to many. He recently spoke to a group at the University of Minnesota. He has ardent followers in Minnesota as well as just about every other state. Rand is a softer version of his father, but still has many of his traits. And that scares some (okay I will use the term) Neocons within the Republican Party. It is their intent to derail Rand Paul from the get-go.
My personal feeling toward Rand Paul is very simple. I like him. I like him professionally and as a person. I think both he and his father are very accomplished. Both men have excellent ideas on how to rein in spending and control the Fed. However (and I am not a Neocon), I find some of his foreign policy ideas concerning. A bit too much laissez-faire. In the past 6+ years we have seen what happens to the world when the United States totally disengages. And it is not pretty. Innocent people die. Many have lost their freedoms.
So is Dr. Paul electable? We shall see. The road ahead I am afraid will be bumpy. And the circular firing squad is all dressed up and ready to rumble.
If the US was totally disengaged in the past 6 years we would be better off. The current white house has helped the very people that want to destroy the US.
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