Interesting question here: Who’s the target audience for this endorsement? Obviously it’s not grassroots conservatives. If anything, as a few of our commenters in the Headlines thread on this demonstrate, it’ll call Paul’s tea-party credentials further into question. Rand’s not worried about that, though — if you’re a “conservatarian” or someone who wants a nominee more heterodox than the usual establishment/conservative choices, McConnell’s endorsement won’t scare you away. The target audience here in theory is the GOP establishment itself, particularly the donor class to whom Rand will soon be appealing for contributions. They’re worried that he’ll be too dovish as commander-in-chief and, more importantly, that he’ll be agreeable to draconian spending cuts that might hurt business. Establishmentarians don’t like unpredictability and Paul’s the least predictable man in the GOP. The endorsement of McConnell, a Beltway chieftain, is designed hypothetically to reassure them that he’s not a loose cannon after all
Saturday, November 8, 2014
Hot Air is Calling Mitch McConnell's Support for Rand Paul the First Major Endorsement of 2016
Allahpundit at Hot Air discusses the Mitch McConnell support for a Rand Paul presidency:
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I have statement (paraphrased) "we came to change Washington. Instead, Washington changed us." It only took 4 years for the "outsider" Rand Paul to become apart of the Republican Establishment that spawned the Tea Party.
ReplyDeleteInteresting to see who Rand is surrounding himself with as he ramps up his Presidential campaign:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.politico.com/story/2014/11/rands-grand-plan-112729.html
"Headed into the presidential campaign, leading Paul advisers include Jesse Benton, a longtime Paul family operative, who lives in Louisville; Doug Stafford, who is considered Paul’s chief strategist and leading planner of his presidential campaign; Nate Morris, an entrepreneur who recently was named to Fortune’s “40 Under 40” list and has been a Paul door-opener in Silicon Valley and beyond; and Doug Wead, who has been helping with outreach to evangelicals. His media consultant is Rex Elsass, CEO of the Ohio-based The Strategy Group for Media.
In the states with early presidential primaries and caucuses, the team includes: John Yob, a Michigan consultant and former John McCain operative who is RAND PAC’s national political director; in New Hampshire, Mike Biundo, who managed Rick Santorum’s 2012 presidential campaign; and in Iowa, Steve Grubbs and A.J. Spiker, both former chairs of the state Republican Party.
His top outside foreign-policy advisers are Lorne Craner, a former assistant secretary of state for President George W. Bush; and Elise Jordan, a former speechwriter for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice."
Definitely not many of the people his father surrounded himself with.