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Rand Paul announces presidential run

Just 24 hours in and Paul has already erred mightily.

Such is the risk from one's general lack of experience. He's currently serving his first term in the Senate. At the same time, he's still evolving in terms of his ideas and philosophy, with one foot proverbially tied to his father's ideas and his other toward the broader mainstream. It's a difficult transition, as he risks losing his father's libertarian-oriented base. That base is small but energetic and passionate. In the larger mainstream, he faces formidable opposition from such candidates as Jeb Bush. One of the big challenges with that transition is that he could be perceived by both his father's base and the mainstream as a somewhat hollow candidate, which would be a sort of worst-case outcome for him.

Personally, I don't see him winding up a serious contender for the nomination. He'll do better than the even more inexperienced and less-disciplined Ben Carson. He'll probably gain a higher share of votes in the early contests than his father did, but Scott Walker and Ted Cruz will probably be the strongest competitors for the most conservative part of the GOP while Jeb Bush commands the establishment. Walker, by virtue of his having executive experience and attempting to position himself as a leader who has demonstrated an ability to make tough choices, even if they are controversial, might have the edge on Cruz. However, Cruz's Super PACs have raised a lot of money early on, so Cruz will have some staying power. Cruz, like Paul, can be undisciplined at times. He can also be polarizing. If Cruz takes on an anti-GOP approach, he'll fade and as he does so, Walker could snap up those voters.

It's very early, so a lot can still happen. However, at this point in time, I am fairly confident though that Ben Carson will be a non-entity on account of his lack of leadership experience and often inflammatory comments. Senator Paul probably won't wind up a strong contender either on account of a combination of his lack of experience and extremely difficult transition needed to gain broad-based appeal. Governor Christie already imploded and stands little chance of regaining his earlier position, especially with Jeb Bush seen as the Establishment candidate and New Jersey's again bumpy finances.
 
Rand Paul doesn't want to be in another party. that is where the force comes in, right?


He has no other party he can go to at this point in time......as to the force. There is all kinds of force. Which is why you will see him get knocked out in the primary. Due to force. A force he can't overcome.
 
Well I did just come back with I would still force them to.....Hopefully you would be leading the way as the obstruction.

Show me how Libertarians can win an election without Republicans voting for them?

They cant, but this is how could win with some of them

1. run as an independent, anti party candidate
2. the perfect candidate, intelligence, charisma, representative of the middle class, maybe a war hero
 
They cant, but this is how could win with some of them

1. run as an independent, anti party candidate
2. the perfect candidate, intelligence, charisma, representative of the middle class, maybe a war hero



I agree J5. :2wave: Moreover we know in some Elections.....libertarians and or Tea partiers were the cause of a loss. That shouldn't have taken place. Or one that prevented the Republicans from gaining control of a Senate.
 
He has no other party he can go to at this point in time......as to the force. There is all kinds of force. Which is why you will see him get knocked out in the primary. Due to force. A force he can't overcome.

he can go to any party he wants to go to.

voting is not force. your understanding of the political system is is in serious question at this point
 
he can go to any party he wants to go to.

voting is not force. your understanding of the political system is is in serious question at this point


In a Two party system.....he only has the 2 choices now. Yes voting is a force and so is money. For and against. Your understanding and comprehension is lacking, its due to a constraint placed upon your ownself, by yourself.
 
In a Two party system.....he only has the 2 choices now. Yes voting is a force and so is money. For and against. Your understanding and comprehension is lacking, its due to a constraint placed upon your ownself, by yourself.

when we say a two party system, we don't actually mean only two parties exist.

what we mean is the winner takes all, and that setup will ultimately dictate that third parties will not garner attention or votes.

he can freely run as a democrat, republican, libertarian, constitutionalist, green, vampire, etc, etc, etc,

and no, voting is not force.

got it?
 
when we say a two party system, we don't actually mean only two parties exist.

what we mean is the winner takes all, and that setup will ultimately dictate that third parties will not garner attention or votes.

he can freely run as a democrat, republican, libertarian, constitutionalist, green, vampire, etc, etc, etc,

and no, voting is not force.

got it?



Sure he can run as anything he wants now, but he can win only as a Republican or a Democrat. Hence 2 parties.

Yes, voting is a force too.
 
What's the chance his dad would be his running mate?


Running mates are an interesting discussion for me.
What do you think of a governor as VP with a GOP Senator, if one of them wins the nomination.

With Sen. Paul, I still see a lot of upside to Gov. Sandoval from your neighboring state.
I call him the Southwest gambit, containing AZ--and bringing along NV, CO, and NM--with Gov. Martinez helping him .
 
Sure he can run as anything he wants now, but he can win only as a Republican or a Democrat. Hence 2 parties.

Yes, voting is a force too.

Until 2020, when Sen. Paul will be a sitting Senator without that pressure.
If he ever gets a billionaire or two behind him, he'll develop a formidable 50-state slate up and down the ballot, state and federal.
Making the Libertarian party the real deal as a 3rd party.

Watching Tiger today--he made the tour what it is today as we know it ?
 
Oh I know. There can't be a primary season with every republican that there is running for president without some really good entertainment. I went on line and ordered a 100lb. bag of popcorn. I'm ready.

Using the sports analogy, this is preseason or exhibition for sure.
It all starts in earnest on that Ohio stage in August where I hope Ohio's Gov. Kasich steps up and brings normalcy to the GOP .
 
I think Rand needs more time in the oven, but he's got everything a fusionist conservative would want. Libertarian ideas meshed with aspects of so-called traditional conservatism. If you want a blueprint for a Reagan-like candidate on platform issues and with some amount of gravitas, Rand is about it.

But Reagan did not have GOP swift boaters after him on the day before he announced--two different hit ads worth a million dollars.
But RWR did have "voodoo economics" to deal with, so he made him his VP .
 
It's petty, but Huntsman's big problem in 2011/12, in my opinion, was his linkage to Obama as the Ambassador to China. Christie has a similar taint, related to the Hurricane Sandy photo ops. Politics can be funny that way and little things can kill a national campaign. Huntsman was and is a rational, well spoken, reasoned individual, but I don't see him getting back in this time around. He wouldn't be a bad VP pick, however - Romney would have done better with him than Ryan.

If Romney takes Sen. Portman, the election was his.
At this moment in time, any POTUS candidate that is a governor will need to balance with a Senator/Representative--or vice-versa, IMHO.
Like Nixon (Gov. Agnew), Reagan, Clinton and Bush-43 did .
 
Wow I've never done much research on Huntsman but just spent about 30 minutes researching him.
He's a guy we need in the Whitehouse! Was he too middle of the road to previously get the nomination?

Gov. Huntsman was the only debater on stage who raised his hand that he would agree to a 10-for-one swap in cuts to new revenues.
Similar to a Back-in-Black plan written by Sen. Coburn in 2011, promptly trashed by both extremes.

As for the middle of the road with the GOP, that would be with the Elites/AAN who are currently attacking the TEAs/Freedom Caucus in their own CDs.
Similar to what the GOP swift boaters started right away on Sen. Paul .
 
I'm pretty pleased at how much enthusiasm for Rand has evaporated over the past few years.
I'm honestly hoping he does poorly if only to put another bullet into the anti-interventionist/isolationist wing of our party*.

Which is why the dark-money GOP Elite swift-boaters are going for Sen. Paul's throat from day one.

So far the only candidates that seem possibly appealing to me are Rubio, Bush, Graham, and maybe Chris Christie.

Who are all war-mongering NeoCons--part of the Adelson/Elite crowd with which the Nation is sick.

*Though I am pretty impressed at how open he was about his hypothetical plans for criminal justice reform on his campaign website
and I'd like to see that issue raised forcefully in debates

Which is why he will appeal to the Black community and the Young,
especially in OPEN primaries like New Hampshire, Texas, and South Carolina--to name three.

Election 2016 - Presidential Primaries, Caucuses, and Conventions
 
Which is why the dark-money GOP Elite swift-boaters are going for Sen. Paul's throat from day one.



Who are all war-mongering NeoCons--part of the Adelson/Elite crowd with which the Nation is sick.



Which is why he will appeal to the Black community and the Young,
especially in OPEN primaries like New Hampshire, Texas, and South Carolina--to name three.

Election 2016 - Presidential Primaries, Caucuses, and Conventions

I'm a unashamed neoconservative who supports the establishment wing of the party. I'm pleased that people are deluded enough to actually think that Rand will sweep up minorities and win himself the primary. This sort of mentality will make the fall that much harsher when he comes up short. I can only hope it will finally disabuse people of the notion that you can hold such heterodox views and have such a checkered past and still be a serious candidate.
 
Until 2020, when Sen. Paul will be a sitting Senator without that pressure.
If he ever gets a billionaire or two behind him, he'll develop a formidable 50-state slate up and down the ballot, state and federal.
Making the Libertarian party the real deal as a 3rd party.

Watching Tiger today--he made the tour what it is today as we know it ?



We will see how long he sticks around in DC.....or if he will remember when he said it can't be changed from the inside.
 
I'm a unashamed neoconservative who supports the establishment wing of the party. I'm pleased that people are deluded enough to actually think that Rand will sweep up minorities and win himself the primary. This sort of mentality will make the fall that much harsher when he comes up short. I can only hope it will finally disabuse people of the notion that you can hold such heterodox views and have such a checkered past and still be a serious candidate.

your ideas are old and dead. Rand Paul might not win the primary, but your ideology is dead in the GOP in a national election. you might win off year election cycles, for the next 6-8 years, but with each passing year, you become more of a footnote in a historical dustbin.
 
your ideas are old and dead. Rand Paul might not win the primary, but your ideology is dead in the GOP in a national election. you might win off year election cycles, for the next 6-8 years, but with each passing year, you become more of a footnote in a historical dustbin.

For being 'old and dead' we continue to dominate the party, consistently nominate our candidates to the top of the ticket, and routinely crush incipient intraparty electoral rebellions. Railing against the establishment and claiming that it's 'dead' is the classic refrain of those on the fringes of politics desperate to believe that final victory is actually in sight.
 
I'm a unashamed neoconservative who supports the establishment wing of the party. I'm pleased that people are deluded enough to actually think that Rand will sweep up minorities and win himself the primary. This sort of mentality will make the fall that much harsher when he comes up short. I can only hope it will finally disabuse people of the notion that you can hold such heterodox views and have such a checkered past and still be a serious candidate.

It's also more evidence of how much more polarised Americans are than ever. As well as desperate for change that they really can believe in.
 
It's also more evidence of how much more polarised Americans are than ever. As well as desperate for change that they really can believe in.

Change they can believe in? We've heard populist rabble rousing like that before.
 
For being 'old and dead' we continue to dominate the party, consistently nominate our candidates to the top of the ticket, and routinely crush incipient intraparty electoral rebellions. Railing against the establishment and claiming that it's 'dead' is the classic refrain of those on the fringes of politics desperate to believe that final victory is actually in sight.

Rubio, Paul, and Cruz are all republicans that the neocons fought tooth and nail to not get elected. they are all possible presidential candidates. I have seen how this movie ends, and it does not end well for you.

but hey, you can always go back to the democratic wing from where you came.
 
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