Posted on 06/18/2015 7:11:23 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The senator from Kentucky continues to takes the road less traveled through the GOP primaries.
Sen. Rand Paul took a risk Thursday. Speaking to an audience of religious conservatives in the wake of a racially charged shooting in South Carolina, Paul delicately suggested that Republicans might want to start focusing on other parts of the Bill of Rights than the Second Amendment.
"Everybody is for the Second Amendment. All 55 candidates running for president are for the Second Amendment—on our side," Paul told the crowd. "But the thing is that a lot of young people, that might not be their primary issue."
Leaving room, even rhetorical room, to one's right—particularly on an issue as important to the Republican base as gun rights—is a gamble in the crowded 2016 GOP primary. But it's one very much in keeping with the Kentucky senator's campaign of almost-gonzo optimism, and it's the type of decision backed by Paul's personal conviction that his libertarian philosophy can unite traditional Republican voters with more independent-minded young people and minorities.
Speaking at the Faith and Freedom Coalition summit, Paul's remarks also mentioned the Wednesday night shooting that killed nine black church congregants in Charleston, South Carolina.
"We had the shooting this morning in South Carolina. What kind of person goes in a church and shoots nine people? There's a sickness in our country. There's something terribly wrong, but it isn't going to be fixed by your government. It's people straying away, it's people not understanding where salvation comes from. And I think that if we understand that, we'll understand and have better expectations of what we get from our government."
Paul's discussion of the Second Amendment was only a snippet of a longer and broader speech, much of which focused on religious liberty and, in particular, Paul's efforts to defend Christians overseas. He touted an amendment in which he proposed to cut off foreign aid to countries that persecute Christians, and said it was a sign of Washington's disconnect from the country that it was voted down in committee by a wide margin.
The speech was sandwiched in between those of his Senate colleagues and fellow presidential contenders, Marco Rubio (who did not mention the Charleston shooting in his speech) and Ted Cruz (who spoke of the event and began his remarks with a moment of silence). As part of his quest to distinguish himself from his GOP competitors while not alienating base voters, Paul emphasized his record of visiting black communities in Washington, Baltimore, and Chicago.
Polling suggests Paul's gauge of young people's enthusiasm about guns is accurate. A 2013 Pew poll found that just 16 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds own a gun, compared to 24 percent of the total population. A 2013 Harvard University study found that young people are split in their opinion about the National Rifle Association.
But young people don't tend to vote in the Republican presidential primaries. At one point in the 2012 election, CBS found that white evangelicals made up half of Republican primary and caucus voters.
And therein lies Paul's big challenge: He's trying to win the White House by reaching well past the Republican base, but if he can't win over enough of the party's base in the primary, his general election aspirations will be over long before they ever begin.
As I said, you have no idea.
I suspect the 24% number is due to many people not telling. I would not answer any question about gun ownership asked by a pollster.
Neither would anybody in his right mind.
Rand Paul, that is just a stupid thing to say.
If even one of the people in that no-gun zone had been armed, all of those people would not have died.
Do I fear more the occasional nut, or a government that has control over all personal liberty?
It isn’t even a contest. Listen to the Obamas, Hillarys, Boehners, of the world. They are lying scum who would take the lives of slaves as easily as did the Pharaohs.
It may not matter to those young people, or whomever, but it SHOULD.
As surely as it should matter whether companies can make what products they want and consumers cna buy them. Basically your issue so well spoken regarding toilets and curly-fry ligtbulbs.
As surely as it should whether we should be taxed or not, or marked with a SS #.
It all matters, however narrow-minded some voters are or not.
I’d also suggest that the 24% number is RIDICULOUSLY low! For crying out loud, they say 30% of the French own guns ( and the real figure in France is above that, I am sure.)
Paul told the crowd. “But the thing is that a lot of young people, that might not be their primary issue.”
Then it is your duty to educate them. Without the 2nd Amendment their 1st Amendment is meaningless.
I would love to put the second amendment issue to rest once and for all. Unfortunately, there are a whole lot of liberals that won’t let us. so we aren’t getting beyond anything.
Yes, now lets discuss the Third Amendment.
Because I don’t buy into everything a candidate says, I have no idea? So 50 Repulicans that voted against it have no idea either?
Your insults only further convince me that Cruz screwed up. I am greatly disappointed, because I thought he was smart enough not to get cornered. He did this to himself.
Good luck with the primaries, you are going to lose, early, and big.
Regrettably, Sen. Paul is correct, and the Third Amendment will be the next one to go when the fertilizer hits the ventilator.
This is Paul’s politics, he repeats it as he moves left on issues, it’s always for the “young people”.
“Everybody is for the Second Amendment. All 55 candidates running for president are for the Second Amendment—on our side,” Paul told the crowd. “But the thing is that a lot of young people, that might not be their primary issue.”
“I think that the Republican Party, in order to get bigger, will have to agree to disagree on social issues,” Paul advised. “The Republican Party is not going to give up on having quite a few people who do believe in traditional marriage. But the Republican Party also has to find a place for young people and others who don’t want to be festooned by those issues.”
“The thing is about abortion—and about a lot of things—is that I think people get tied up in all these details of, sort of, you’re this or this or that, or you’re hard and fast (on) one thing or the other,” Paul told Elliott. “I’ve supported both bills with and without (exceptions), you know. In general, I am pro-life.”
If only someone in the church had been allowed a gun, they might still be alive. The government wasn’t their to protect them, nor the police. They should have been allowed and should have taken steps to protect themselves. It is really a shame and very unfortunate that every time some crazy person uses a gun to kill people, everyone around them are defenseless sheep waiting for the slaughter. Arm everyone.
Yep, those young voters Paul is hoping decide to actually register and vote for him in the GOP Primary, aren’t interested in the 2nd Amendment, they’re interested in getting high, getting drunk, getting laid (all for free, naturally) and getting us to pay off their student loans!
Please enlighten us mere pond scum. Why do we need this “living” piece of crap that Obama and Boehner are drooling over that we cannot read, whose details cannot even be written down by our representatives in a sealed secure chamber in the bowels of hell, D.C.? Expound away ... start with how its good for truth, justice and the American way. Please.
If even one of the people in that no-gun zone had been armed, all of those people would not have died.
Which is not Rand Paul's point.
Paul is running for Veep -- positioning himself as the one GOP candidate who can bring the younger demo to the Republican ticket.
Unfortunately, he's attempting to do so by pandering to the demo -- rather than teaching them about the 2nd Amendment, as your point does.
We can do without Senator Paul, I believe.
FYRP! I wouldn’t have voted for you anyway, but especially not now.
See post #29.
From the comments on this thread it doesn’t sound like anybody read what he actually said. He’s saying the other parts of the Bill of Rights matter also, not that we dump the 2A.
FR is rapidly becoming a knee-jerk echo chamber.
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