Paul is anti-military.
Posted on 04/10/2015 7:50:23 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
(VIDEO-AT-LINK)
Round one in the battle of anti-Establishment Republican presidential candidates goes to Sen. Ted Cruz.
In competition for the Tea Party's vote in 2016, the Texas Republican has bested Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky with a campaign rollout that GOP strategists say exceeded expectations and was almost flawlessly executed. Announcing for president two weeks later, Paul accomplished nearly the opposite, forcing a swift recalculation about which candidate is best positioned to win over the party's insurgent wing and vie for the nomination.
"Cruz had a superb rollout. He hit all the right notes," Republican guru Ed Rollins told the Washington Examiner on Thursday. "Paul had a disastrous rollout…He'll get back on track, but it was not a good first impression."
Heading into the primary, Republican insiders figured Paul was more likely to emerge as the choice of the party's anti-Establishment voters with the potential to grow beyond the base. Indeed, the latest public opinion polling shows him to be a strong candidate.
The first-term senator, 52, appeals to Tea Party Republicans and also enjoys support among libertarian activists who backed his father, former Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, in 2012. That group includes a significant bloc of younger voters. Paul was viewed as the more seasoned and innovative politician. He's operated as a principled conservative, but has prioritized reaching out to ethnic minorities and others who don't usually vote Republican.
Paul's early fundraising has been strong and in line with Cruz, 44; the Kentuckian raised more than $1 million online the first 36 hours of his campaign.
But his choice of a Louisville hotel ballroom for his launch was deemed surprisingly staid for a new wave Republican, and compared unfavorably to Cruz's launch before a packed arena of college students in Lynchburg, Va. Paul's testy, thin-skinned television interviews on day two prompted another round of criticism from Republican power brokers. The purposely-timed announcement that Cruz supporters have raised $31 million in super PAC money was yet another drag on Paul's launch.
"Cruz and his team showed they have a much better grasp on how to seize this moment and really break out of this eventual scrum on the right," said an unaffiliated Republican operative who advised a candidate in 2012.
The Paul campaign dismisses the criticism. His team said the campaign website garnered more than 1 million views in the first 24 hours, with most coming from 24-35-year-olds. The candidate's digital team, monitoring Facebook interactions and conversations about the senator, said he has been discussed in mostly positive terms among a broad cross section of voters since launching Tuesday. His Facebook page received more than 3.5 million unique views on Wednesday alone.
His campaign glossed the senator's clashes with reporters. "Rand Paul has proved that he is not going to let the liberal media walk all over him," campaign spokeswoman Eleanor May said in an email.
"Team Rand is very pleased with the announcement rollout," she added. "Sen. Rand Paul was welcomed into the presidential race by over 1,500 supporters in his home state of Kentucky. During his rollout, he shared the stage with an array of constituencies — local students, pastors, community leaders, veterans and doctors — and they all stood united in defense of liberty."
In trumping Paul's performance, Cruz also set the bar for other midrange Republican contenders hoping to vault into contention. As underdog candidates enter the race, they're likely to be judged against Cruz's fast jump out of the box and smartly played first few weeks on the trail. Paul's initial online fundraising totals will also be a measure for second and third-tier hopefuls.
There is no reason yet to believe that the launch of Cruz and Paul, two senators competing for roughly the same group of conservative primary voters, has upset the top shelf contenders, former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida and Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, and possibly Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who will launch his White House bid on Monday. They have less riding on their rollout, having already demonstrated viability for the nomination — Bush via his fundraising prowess and political machine, Walker because of his broad appeal across the party, and Rubio through his fundraising and fluency in international affairs.
Bush and Walker in particular can probably afford to launch on their own timetable. They're polling at or near the top of the field in polls and have already established themselves as accomplished politicians capable of mounting national campaigns. For them, at least for now, the campaign is a marathon. The underdogs are essentially in a sprint, competing amongst themselves to be seen by voters as viable alternatives.
Although candidates at the top don't depend so much on their rollout, that doesn't mean they have nothing to lose. If they mess it up, they face damaging repercussions. Veterans of GOP presidential campaigns say its important for the top contenders to ignore insurgents like Cruz and to play to their strengths.
"I am a believer that there is no set form for these things," said Stuart Stevens, who advised GOP nominee Mitt Romney in 2012. "It's like a wedding. Big weddings are fine and small weddings are fine. As long as no one gets food poisoning and they actually get married, it's probably a success. The key is to do well what you set out to do."
I’ve heard that claim before. However, Ted Cruz has never run for the Republican presidential nomination before, whereas the Pauls now have what? 5 runs altogether?
The votes Paul is seeking to bring in, are based mostly on his anti-conservative politics, why would we support that?
The Pauls have considerable military support.
That kind of anecdote means nothing, and it isn’t accurate.
Paul is anti-military.
As a Kentuckian I had high hopes for Paul when he ran against the former Bill Clinton supporter and Mitch McWeasel lackey Trey Grayson. But soon enough Paul sold out to McWeasel and is just all over the place on the issues. He is like trying to nail jello to the wall on them.
With Paul, McWeasel and Hal “bob the porker byrd jr” Rogers as my congress creature as a Kentuckian I have no representative in Congress and have to rely on Cruz and Lee to hear and represent my point of view.
Both would move to abolish the IRS (everyone’s favorite black-sheep), but only one (so far) would also move to abolish SS and other unconstitutional programs/dept. (that even those here, on FR, ‘approve’).
With both in the field, I think we’ll see more bloviating to a return of the Republic; knowing the cabal in D.C. and K/Wall-St. would never allow....but at least the lip service will get the idea(s) flowing and maybe the People to wake-up
I like the headline, but frankly, if Ed Rollins says Rand’s roll out was bad, it probably means it was good.
Like Dick Morris and Bob Shrum, he’s right twice a day.
HAH...he may be worse than Morris.....
Today I also posted a David Frum piece (yes, he’s still around) that was so un-Frum-ish that I thought maybe Jim Geraghty or a FReeper had hijacked his account.
I got a laugh out of that!
Any idea what Rove has been up to? We’ll need to pay attention to what he AND Rollins are up to, and unless Cruz is in on it too, and nothing more than a spoiler as well, they’re making deals with Rand for nothing more than to fragment conservative votes to ensure their guy gets in. After all, it IS that guy’s ‘turn’ to be president, whomever that may be. Prolly The Maggot, but perhaps someone it’s else. SOMETHING happened a few or more months ago, some sort of deal, when Rand really showed his true colors by caving on many of the principles he allegedly stands for. His price was met, and he was bought. At that time it was like a night and day difference in him. Lots of FURP! posts on any and every thread about him. I suspect that the GOPe inner circle, with the likes of Rollins and Rove in it, approached him and made him an offer he didn’t refuse. (Ok, tinfoil hat off...)
The Pauls have always been for sale, but nobody was buying what the elder was selling.
Is it just me, or are that many “conservatives” that in love with Rand Paul ..??
As a REAL “conservative” .. there is just no way I would ever vote for Rand Paul. He may be a nice guy and all, but his belief system is not aligned with mine.
And, as usual, the Paulinistas will PO everyone else and drive them into the Cruz camp, if they weren’t there already!
Amen !
The rabid Paulinistas stay home/don't vote/write in Ron or Rand, when their candidate doesn't win.
I agree...even though he is a Senator.
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