At one point, Rand Paul was well positioned to be the “candidate of a new generation.” His foreign policy and civil rights positions, for example, could unite constituencies otherwise driven apart by opportunistic partisan political operations. Instead, he appears to be hedging his positions to gain approval from Republican base voters and pandering to ideological purists.Read his full essay here.
What politicos have misunderstood—and apparently Paul has, too—is that the young voters who were attracted to the policies of his father, Ron Paul, had their support rooted in a confidence that Ron Paul said what he truly believed.
Ron Paul was himself. Authentic. And what he had to say was guided by his own perception of importance—not what the polls or the media told him was important.
Did this authenticity win Ron Paul a presidential election? No.
But it did lead directly to Rand Paul’s election to the United States Senate.
Rand Paul, however, has lost the mantle of authenticity so critical to his father’s appeal....
Rand Paul was on the crest of a wave he either did not understand or did not have the courage to ride.
As a result, the increasingly disenchanted are likely to look elsewhere.
-RW
Certainly Rand would be nothing without spring-boarding off the Paul brand name painstakingly built up over the years by Ron. In the farce that is politics, family matters. Just imagine where GW and now Jeb would be without the last name Bush. Rand has now diminished the Paul brand and squandered the Ron Paul Revolution momentum he was handed the torch to.
ReplyDeleteI know what Chad is trying to say, but authenticity is the wrong concept to invoke. Rand is not inauthentic. He holds no principles to be inauthentic to. He's shown he’s the same as every other ordinary schmoe in life who just tries to get himself ahead by latching onto whatever position seems to convey short-term personal advantage.
This is the reason why Rand leaves everyone cold. People don't know where they stand with Rand. They can’t predict where he might lead them. He is like a box of chocolates. He fails to maintain any guiding principles much less behaviors and positions consistent with those principles. Just ever-shifting, incoherent positions based on political expediency. People can get that from any old candidate, including professional politicians who are better at surfing public sentiments than Rand is.
Trump and Sanders have larger showings simply because they are more principled and more consistent. Trump especially goes to backbreaking lengths to remain faultlessly consistent in his behavior and positions, even in adherence to absurd principles people don’t even care for. Nevertheless, people love him. With Trump, at least people know exactly what the heck they are getting. They figure, the devil you know. What a shame Rand didn’t follow suit.