Rand Paul is the second Republican to officially announce his run for the White House. Ted Cruz announced and immediately jumped in the polls.
Paul is an interesting contender because he represents the "Libertarian" wing of the GOP.
Some of the journalists I have talked with wonder if Paul is "really" a Republican. The answer is that in 2012 the Iowa supporters of Paul were active in the GOP. Spiker was Chair of the Iowa Republican Party so how much more Republican can you get!
It's true that there is conflict and tension between several of the "wings" of the GOP.
The most dramatic was revealed recently when Indiana and Arkansas passed "Religious Freedom restoration" laws which allowed businesses to refuse service to people who offended the religious sensibilities and beliefs of business owners. The socially conservative and faith-based Republicans strongly support those laws. The "business" or "establishment" Republicans do not and we saw the business community put pressure on the governors of both states to amend the laws to prohibit discrimination against LGBT customers. The governors jumped to the challenge and asked the legislatures to revise the laws.
In the same way the Rand Paul "brand" of Republicanism is quite different from the Tea Party and Business wings. Paul believes that the US should not use military force and intervention so quickly as a tool for US foreign policy. As a libertarian Republican Paul is also more accepting of young persons social behavior. Moreover, he has gone directly to young voters, liberal college students, and minority venues in an effort to make the GOP relevant among these communities which are a "deficit" in the Republican voter support.
So, we certainly look forward to the injection of Paul's discussion into the 2016 Iowa caucuses.
Please reserve your place in my FREE, online Iowa caucuses course which launches Sept. 1.
https://www.iowacaucusesmooc.org/
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