I'll wait and see what they all have to say, making up my mind eventually. They all deserve the chance to be heard.
Rand made some good points, was too general overall. But he just got started and will have to shine during the debates. I doubt very much that the establishment lets him off the leash though.
The establishment seems to think he is already off the leash. As previously posted, Lindsay Graham recently said Hillary would do a better job than Barack Obama as would ALL the GOP candidates or potential candidates EXCEPT for Rand Paul.
But here's the rundown on what we know of Rand Paul's positions so far:
Rand Paul "On the Issues"
Abortion:
•Thousands of exceptions follow from maternal health. (May 2013)
•Coarsening of our culture led to 50 million unborn deaths. (Sep 2012)
•My opponents call me libertarian but I'm pro-life. (Feb 2011)
•Life begins at conception. (Jul 2010)
•Opposes federal abortion funding. (Aug 2010)
•Prohibit federal funding for abortion. (May 2011)
Budget and Economy:
•The sequester is the law of the land: can't compromise on it. (Oct 2013)
•We cannot continue to borrow $50,000 per second. (Mar 2013)
•Sequester doesn't cut spending; it just slows rate of growth. (Mar 2013)
•FactCheck: US borrowing $30,000 per second, not $50,000. (Feb 2013)
•Borrowing $50,000 per second is not sustainable. (Feb 2013)
•America needs Adam Smith, not Robin Hood. (Feb 2013)
•Penny Plan: Each $1 by one penny & balance budget by 2019. (Feb 2013)
•Keep the sequester, and increase it to $4T. (Feb 2013)
•Not every military dollar is necessary,nor every entitlement. (Aug 2012)
•Roll back federal spending to 2008 levels. (Jan 2012)
•We are borrowing $40,000 per second. (Jan 2012)
•Government not serious about controlling spending. (Feb 2011)
•Larger government is not a solution for economy. (Feb 2011)
•Bank bailout represented everything wrong with Washington. (Feb 2011)
•Debt crisis is approaching a point of no return. (Feb 2011)
•Bank bailout was bad policy & helped no banks in KY. (Oct 2010)
•No federal bailouts of private industry. (Jul 2010)
•Demand a Balanced Budget amendment. (Jul 2010)
•Limit federal spending growth to per-capita inflation rate. (Jul 2010)
•Sponsored bill increasing debt limit to $16.7 trillion. (Jul 2011)
•Supports the Cut-Cap-and-Balance Pledge. (Jan 2012)
•Disapprove of increasing the debt limit. (Jan 2012)
•Sponsored auditing the Fed & its actions on mortgage loans. (Feb 2013)
•Endorsed Liberty Candidate: End the Federal Reserve. (Sep 2010)
On Corporations:
•Most small businesses fail, & government often picks wrong. (Jan 2014)
•Cut corporate tax in half to create millions of jobs. (Feb 2013)
•Kelo decision was dangerous landmark in US law. (Sep 2012)
•Punishing the rich means the poor lose their jobs. (Aug 2012)
•Obama's "You didn't build that" insults American workers. (Aug 2012)
•Expand lending caps for credit unions to small business. (Mar 2012)
•Rated 14% by UFCW, indicating a pro-management voting record. (May 2012)
On Education:
•Allow school choice for everyone, white, brown, or black. (Feb 2013)
•Support homeschooling and parental responsibility. (Jul 2010)
Rand Paul on the Issues