Rand Pauluses and Minuses: Rand Passes 100 Pauluses!...But Struggles to Stay Relevant
With the 2nd GOP debate looming, Rand is struggling to stay relevant. His poll numbers sit between 2-3%, barely qualifying to get stage time. His actions in the past week have reflected that, so let's break a couple down.Rand doubles down on fight against Planned ParenthoodRand took part in a rally against the firebrand "nonprofit" organization this past weekend, going all-in to defund Planned Parenthood. From The Atlantic:
On Thursday, Paul sought to reclaim his standing in the campaign by turning to this year’s most-popular method of attention-grabbing: yelling just a little bit louder and challenging his party's leadership. Paul headlined a rally on the National Mall to demand that Republicans defund Planned Parenthood in the coming budget fight. Standing alongside Sarah Palin and a group of conservative women, Paul said Republicans “must hold our ground,” even if it results in a government shutdown that his party leader, Mitch McConnell, is trying to avoid. The event came a day after two of Paul’s rivals, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, joined forces for a Capitol rally against the Iran deal (which also featured an appearance by the former Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential nominee). Cruz, in fact, has been doing double-denouncing duty as he seeks to marshal support to defund Planned Parenthood and derail the nuclear agreement.
I know that Rand is struggling mightily to keep the attention of the GOP base, but I feel throwing in on Planned Parenthood is a secondary issue and his time could be better spent on other topics, where his voice is singular and strong.As I mentioned in a quick take on yesterday's podcast about what Rand's strategy should be in the upcoming GOP debate Wednesday, he spent months campaigning for justice reform and putting himself forth as the sole GOP candidate willing to completely dismantle antiquated and unjust drug laws that have taken the liberties of millions and cost untold billions to taxpayers.He needs to return to his points of differentiation, not stand with Sarah Palin to denounce Planned Parenthood. This is just wasted breath and wasted time on an issue that, at the end of the day, is a minor one.- MINUS Rand re-ignites war of words with Trump in light of Perry candidacy withdrawalReturning to a tactic that seems to be the best way to stay in the news, Rand once again engaged Donald Trump in a war of words, taking to Twitter to express his frustration over the GOP's obsession with the blustering reality TV star.
What does it say about GOP when a 3 & half term Gov w/ a successful record of creating jobs bows out as a reality star leads in the polls?
— Dr. Rand Paul (@RandPaul) September 11, 2015
This resulted in a predicable outburst from Trumps' followers on the social media platform, and of course prompted the Donald to brand Rand as irrelevant, pointing to his poll numbers.Whether this is helping, I can't say. The polling data suggests Rand's warring with Trump isn't helping, however I still support his attacking Trump at every turn. If nothing else, it points out the many, many flaws in Trump's thinking and sets the stage for a showdown at the debate - a showdown that Rand has promised and Trump has accepted.That stage time is valuable, especially for Rand, who got the least speaking time of any candidate in the first debate.- PAULUSRand Paul speaks the truth about minorities and the Bill of Rights, eminent domainIt's very refreshing to be able to wholly endorse a Rand comment, as most of what he's been involved with lately has been bogged down by questionable logic rather than libertarian principle. Fortunately, during his latest campaign stop at Iowa State, Paul returned to the speaking points that can resonate with much of America, and resound with libertarian zeal.Multiple outlets reported on his speech there, in which he called out the Donald on his false conservatism and love of eminent domain. He also made a point to emphasize how important the Bill of Rights is in protecting "minorities", not simply of a certain color or religion, but also of thought - a concept that ties into the Big Brother spying mentality of the NSA and other government entities.He was received with a rousing ovation, which is encouraging, as Iowa is home to the first electoral votes to be decided, and Paul had famously skipped some large campaigning events there to instead honor a commitment to performing free eye surgeries in Haiti.- PAULUS15,000 votes in, Fox News poll has Rand Paul winning GOP nom with 52%Frankly, I'm shocked that Fox News hasn't pulled this poll yet, as they did for virtually every poll Ron Paul won.But as you can see, it still stands, and Rand is the predicted winner by a landslide, with 52% of the roughly 15,000 votes.We all know the power of the internet and while Rand doesn't have anywhere near the obsessively dedicated followers of his father - of which I was one - clearly he has fervent support among a good amount of people. This brings up the question of viable polling once more, and whether Rand's voter base is accurately represented nationally among those polled. I still think it's quite definitely not, but that falls into the realm of theory and conspiracy.Just to stick it up Fox News' keister, I'll give him a...- PAULUSA hearty congratulations to #Randypants this week for finally surpassing 100 Pauluses even with the black mark of the Planned Parenthood engagement.The Current “Paulus-Minus” Tally:102 Pauluses / 34 Minuses / 6 PushBe sure to check out our latest companion podcast edition of Rand Pauluses and Minuses, Be sure to never miss an episode and subscribe to the Lions of Liberty Podcast - released every Monday and Thursday - for free via iTunes - don't forget to leave us a rating and review ;) - or the Stitcher Radio App,. The show also airs on our affiliates at LibertyTalk.FM at 6pm EST every Saturday and Sunday, and throughout the week at LRN.FM, the Liberty Radio Network! Check out our full catalog of interviews in the podcast archive!Check out the full “Rand Pauluses and Minuses” Archive!The Lions of Liberty are on Twitter, Facebook & Google+Check out our YouTube Channel!Receive access to ALL of our EXCLUSIVE bonus audio content – including “Conspiracy Corner”, “Degenerate Gamblers” and the “League of Liberty Podcast” by joining the Lions of Liberty Pride and supporting us on Patreon!Join our Facebook Group: The Lions of Liberty Forum
