(MintPress) – Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky has emerged as a potential presidential party frontrunner for the next run at the White House, yet the verdict is still out regarding whether he’ll follow in the same footsteps of his strictly libertarian father or shift his policies to cater to establishment Republicans.
In February, Sen. Rand Paul introduced a National Right to Work Act, raising questions regarding his libertarian viewpoints that focus more on states’ rights over federal rule. Supporting the legislation at a state level would be no surprise for someone who touts the libertarian title, but the shift to aligning with federal laws over the matter shows an attempt to align himself with the Republican core.
During the same month, he gave what pundits referred to as his “coming-out speech,” during which he pinpointed the differences between him and his father, former Texas Congressman Ron Paul. Addressing a Heritage Foundation crowd, Rand established his foreign policy viewpoints, which align more with the Republican Party’s stance than the positions of his father.
“Some libertarians argue that Western occupation fans the flames of radical Islam — I agree,” Paul said. “But I don’t agree that absent Western occupation (that) radical Islam ‘goes quietly into that good night.’”
Ron Paul, on the other hand, took more of a strictly libertarian viewpoint, calling into question America’s willingness to go to war and highlighting the implications of an aggressive foreign policy. During a 2007 GOP presidential debate, he ruffled feathers among those of “his own” by questioning U.S. foreign policy, both in terms of spending and national security.
“Have you ever read the reasons they (terrorists) attacked us? They attacked us because we’ve been over there — we’ve been bombing Iraq for 10 years,” he said. “We need to look at what we do from the perspective of what would happen if somebody else did it to us.”
Rand Paul is clearly not giving up on his Libertarian roots, but recent comments indicate he’s at least playing the political game, attempting to move away toward Republicans — the same people he’ll need on his side to make a presidential run in 2016 a reality.
The future of the Republican party
As President Barack Obama gave his State of the Union Address, the Republican offered an official rebuttal presented by Florida Senator Marco Rubio. But there was also another candidate, Tea Party presidential hopeful Rand Paul, who also offered his own condemnation of the Obama administration.
In a televised barnstorming speech, Rand Paul pushed to cut corporate taxes in half and slash trillions in federal spending and welcomed the “sequester” cuts in March. “The president does this big ‘woe is me’ over the $1.2-trillion sequester he endorsed and signed into law.”
Rand Paul hit conservative talking points on school choice, Second Amendment gun rights and limiting executive powers, but focused mainly on fiscal issues. He called for a new bipartisan consensus to cut spending, starting with leaders from each party being willing to take on their own sacred cows. He called for a budget plan that would cap the personal income tax rate at 17 percent and cut corporate taxes in half, while still balancing the budget.
As one conservative commentator said about the two alternative State of the Union addresses: “One was a salesman trying to expand his market share (Rubio); the other was a preacher sermonizing to his choir (Paul).
“The argument I would make is Marco Rubio’s was a general election response and Rand Paul’s was a primary election response,” said John Brabender, a Republican strategist who served as a senior adviser for Rick Santorum’s presidential campaign. “I think the leadership of the Republican Party is wide open right now.”
In the Republican race to find a electable leader and 2016 president, Rand Paul is looking more like a candidate for the right. This is a long way from his political roots and his father libertarian views. Observers have commented that Rand Paul is carving out a political career and distancing himself from his father’s views and liberal policies on foreign affairs.
Moving away from Ron Paul
When Rand Paul publicly endorsed Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential race instead of his father Dr. Ron Paul, this sent a clear message to the Republican Party that Rand Paul does not share his father’s politics anymore.
“My first choice had always been my father. I campaigned for him when I was 11 years old. He’s still my first pick, but you know now that the nominating process is over, tonight I’m happy to announce that I’m going to be supporting Gov. Romney,” he said in an interview with Sean Hannity.
And while the likelihood of Ron Paul clinching the Republican nomination was slim, many supporters saw it as a beginning of a movement, one that his son should be continuing. But Rand Paul is his own man and is positioning himself with the right of the party.
It is surprising to see think that Rand Paul is taking the position of the right. Chris Christie, Republican governor of New Jersey, has great public appeal and many think he is the only real candidate who can weather the storm of changing voter demographics of 2016. Christie’s moderate and liberitarian views have more in common with Dr. Ron Paul than his son. The Republican Party is at a crossroad politically and ideologically. It has lost the last two elections, using the right-wing agenda of tax cuts, no benefits, pro-life, anti-immigration and continued-war policies in the Middle East. Rand Paul currently seems to be endorsing the same old right-wing rhetoric, while Chris Christie is surprisingly offering a liberal alternative.