Topic: GOP - Rand Paul's Presidential Highlight Reel w/ his Libertarian Twist - page 66. (Read 205829 times)

Rand Paul announces campaign manager for likely 2016 campaign




More...http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/01/13/rand-paul-announces-campaign-manager-as-he-ramps-up-2016-campaign/

This dude, Chip, helped elect a republican Governor in Illinois recently (aka Obamaland) where the Chief won it by 25 points, in part, by outpacing democrats in some urban areas and among moderate voters. The cast is shaping up quite nicely and I'm really looking forward to what this operation can turn out.

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Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Wednesday began a two-day tour through New Hampshire, the first Republican primary state, where where he offered up a heap of red meat to supporters and local officials ahead of a likely run for president in 2016. Attending a breakfast with state legislative leaders in downtown Manchester, Paul engaged in a conversation about the viability of safety net programs. “The thing is, in all of these programs there’s always somebody who’s deserving. But everybody in this room knows somebody who is gaming the system,” the Kentucky Republican said in a video uploaded by American Bridge, a Democratic opposition-research firm.

In New Hampshire on Wednesday, Paul is scheduled to attend a number of events intended to consolidate conservative support ahead of what is shaping up to be a very competitive presidential primary. He will stop at a fish and game club for a “Second Amendment Supporter Event,” tour a public charter school, and hold a session on the Common Core education standards, in which he is likely to draw a contrast between potential rival and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R).

Sen. Rand Paul began the new year by lobbying for one of his favorite causes: criminal-justice reform. Last week, Paul issued a press release urging the Kentucky Legislature to act on a bill that would let state voters decide whether or not to create a path back to voting rights for nonviolent felons who have completed their sentences. "Restoring voting rights for those who have repaid their debt to society is simply the right thing to do," Paul said in the release.

In 2014, the Democratic-controlled Kentucky House approved a bill that would put a constitutional amendment on ballots in the fall—if voters approved the measure, it would have automatically restored the voting rights of nonviolent felons who have served their time. But the Republican-controlled Senate passed a substitute that proposed several tough restrictions, including a mandatory five-year waiting period after prison before felons could reapply to vote. The two chambers couldn't agree, and the issue has stalled. Paul, who favors the less-restrictive House bill, is trying to give the issue CPR. (His office declined to comment for this article.)

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is back in insurgent mode, lobbing bombs at his potential Republican presidential rivals and looking to take back a political spotlight that Bush and Romney have been hogging lately. Paul is also heading to New Hampshire and Nevada this week, hoping to strike a fire with voters who want a new voice to carry the GOP’s message to the White House.

“You need a candidate who reaches out to new constituencies and is able to bring new people into the party,” Paul said. “Because if we do the same old, same old candidates, we are going to get the same old result.”

While other Republican House and Senate members attend this week’s rare GOP joint congressional summit in Pennsylvania, Paul will be in New Hampshire to meet with mothers and activists railing against Common Core, the education program reviled by the tea party right. An added advantage: The issue gives him a chance to further needle Bush, a prominent Common Core supporter who would probably be a front-runner for the presidential nomination.

In an interview Tuesday, the Kentucky Republican did just that.
“He’s been a proponent of Common Core, a proponent probably of a much bigger government — a Big Government Republican who believes more things should be occurring in Washington rather than decentralization,” Paul said of the former Florida governor. He added that his rival’s brother and father, former Presidents George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush, also backed education policies aimed at “more Washington control.”

Jeb Bush spokeswoman Kristy Campbell responded: “Gov. Bush would put his successful conservative governing record up against anyone’s.”
Paul’s assessment of Romney is only slightly less critical.

“I think you are already hearing rumblings that he had his shot,” Paul said of the GOP’s 2012 presidential standard-bearer. “I think he could have been a good leader of the country. But I think many people are going to say, ‘He’s had his chance.’”

For much of the past year, Paul had a major target on his back as his profile rose in the party and the media dubbed him a potential front-runner in the crowded field of likely presidential candidates. His libertarian-minded foreign policy views became a frequent source of criticism from the party’s defense hawks — especially in light of the U.S. war against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants — as did his lack of executive experience.
But as Jeb Bush has taken serious steps toward a presidential bid, and Romney is now floating a third run at the GOP nomination, Paul appears eager to return to his role as a conservative firebrand, unafraid to take shots at his foes while attempting to consolidate support from crucial Republican factions in the four early presidential primary states. In multiple interviews with POLITICO, Paul also sharply pushed back at Rubio’s criticism of his views on Cuba and even ridiculed the Democratic secretary of state in Kentucky, Alison Lundergan Grimes, who has said he cannot appear on the state’s ballots for both president and the Senate in 2016.

Voters, he said, would look past his lack of executive experience and less than one full term in the Senate and instead back a candidate with a “vision” for the direction of the country. But he also believes voters won’t back a candidate who fails to respond aggressively to attacks.

One example of his forceful response to criticism: After Paul expressed support for President Barack Obama’s decision to normalize relations with Cuba, Rubio responded to a question on the matter by dubbing the Kentucky Republican the “chief cheerleader of Obama’s foreign policy.” But Paul fired back at the Florida Republican and anti-Castro hard-liner in an interview last week.

“That’s sort of silly,” Paul said. “We could ask the same, ‘Is he the biggest cheerleader of Obama’s immigration policy?’ That’s childish.”

A Paul presidential run appears increasingly likely, and his advisers expect an announcement in the March or April time frame. He is building a political apparatus in the key primary states and has settled on a campaign manager, Chip Englander, who ran Republican Bruce Rauner’s successful 2014 gubernatorial bid in Illinois.

Wednesday’s trip to New Hampshire will be his third since the beginning of last year. He will meet with roughly 20 elected officials in Manchester, the start of an effort to win backing from influential state legislators who have pockets of support throughout the state. He’ll then stump alongside pro-gun enthusiasts in Litchfield, followed by swings through Manchester and Concord for meetings with anti-Common Core activists and with business leaders, respectively.

Later in the week, he will head to southern and northern Nevada, traveling for a Friday and Saturday swing to Las Vegas and Reno. Nevada is a state with another pivotal early primary.

With their libertarian streaks, New Hampshire and Nevada both present attractive opportunities for Paul, who may have a much more challenging time competing in Iowa, a state dominated by religious conservatives, as well as the first-in-the-South primary state of South Carolina. In 2012, Paul’s father, former Texas Rep. Ron Paul, took second place in New Hampshire, securing 22 percent of the vote compared with Romney’s 39 percent. The elder Paul came in third place in Nevada, winning 19 percent of the vote.

While Paul will certainly rely on the same passionate voters who fueled his father’s rise, the 52-year-old former ophthalmologist has taken steps to broaden his appeal beyond that segment of the GOP base. How he straddles the line between purity politics and political pragmatism without appearing to pander to voters will be a continuing challenge as he navigates the land mines of a presidential run.

Indeed, in the interview, Paul flatly said, “No,” when asked if his father would join him on the campaign trail should he run.

“It’s just I need to represent the ideas and present ideas, because if I were to run, obviously it’s me running,” he added.

But after comparing his own foreign policy views to those of Ronald Reagan and noting he “grew up as a Reagan Republican,” Paul punted when asked if he would consider himself now to be more of a Reagan Republican or Ron Paul Republican.

“I think the thing is I have to express my own ideas of who I am, and people can judge where they come from,” Paul said.

For some Republicans, Paul’s views appear straight from the isolationist wing of the party, something they argue GOP voters will greet skeptically.
“I like Rand a lot, but I’ve never been with him on foreign policy,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and leading defense hawk. “I think his worldview is out of sync with the times in which we live.”

Asked about the criticism, Paul argued that polls in early states like Iowa show a large number of primary voters would back his contention that the Iraq War was a “mistake” and support a less aggressive U.S. role in the world. “I don’t consider that to be an outlier position,” he said, adding that he would have voted against authorizing war in Iraq in 2002 and that the U.S. should resist attempts to oust secular dictators because of the likelihood it would spawn “chaos.”

Yet he chafes at the characterization that he’s an “isolationist,” saying: “I’m for less intervention, not no intervention. And for being wise when we intervene and for intervening when we actually must intervene.”

But as more conflicts emerge overseas, his opponents will have opportunities to bring some of his more contentious views to light — as Rubio did when asked about Paul’s stance on Cuba.
...

By Robert Costa January 13 at 8:00 PM

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Tuesday announced the hiring of a campaign manager for his likely 2016 presidential bid, part of an aggressive effort to build a national political team as the race for the White House heats up.

The hiring of strategist Chip Englander, who recently guided a gubernatorial candidate to victory in Illinois, marks a clear step forward for the Kentucky Republican as he prepares to transform his cadre of loyalists into a full-scale campaign.

Doug Stafford, Paul’s longtime confidant, will remain as his chief political adviser. In an interview Tuesday, Stafford said he will rely on Englander “for the day-to-day execution” of Paul’s operation.

Paul added in a statement: "His management of Governor Rauner's successful race last year highlights his strengths: precise and strategic management of massive, grassroots-driven operations."

Englander joins a group of advisers at Paul's political-action committee that will serve as Paul's brain trust, should he formally enter the 2016 race. Iowa-based Republican Steve Grubbs has already joined the PAC, as has Michigan-based operative John Yob, who serves as Paul's national political director. Chris LaCivita - who advised Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) in 2014 and Virginia gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli (R) in 2013 - is planning to direct Paul's South Carolina campaign. All are senior advisers in the freshman senator's political shop.

Michael Biundo, who was campaign manager for former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum's 2012 presidential campaign, which won 11 primaries and caucuses, is another senior adviser set to run Paul's New Hampshire campaign.

Digital strategist Vincent Harris - who previously worked for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) - is also onboard for Paul 2016 along with online fundraiser Mike Rothfeld and media director Rex Elsass.

It is still not a sure thing that Mitt Romney will run for president. No losing nominee has done so in decades. But it now seems more likely. The Washington Post reported on Monday that he was reassembling his campaign apparatus, and even told one Republican he “almost certainly will run.”
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But even if Mr. Romney couldn’t attract enough support to win the nomination, he would complicate Mr. Bush’s path to the nomination. He could even provide an unlikely assist to Rand Paul.
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Mr. Romney could win New Hampshire if he proves to be a strong candidate. If that happens, the effect on Mr. Bush’s chances is obvious. Without New Hampshire, Mr. Bush is likely to go 0 for 2 in the first two contests. Winning the nomination despite losing both Iowa and New Hampshire is not impossible, of course, but it would be hard.

Even if Mr. Romney doesn’t carry the state, he could win enough votes to deny Mr. Bush a victory there — perhaps handing the state to Rand Paul. Ron Paul, Mr. Paul’s father, won 23 percent of the vote in New Hampshire in 2012; even modest additional gains could allow the younger Mr. Paul to triumph over a divided field.
...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is calling potential primary rival Mitt Romney "yesterday's news," in a preview of what could be his line of argument in a presidential campaign.

"Look I like Governor Romney, I like him personally, I think he’s a good person, I think he was a great businessman, but you know that’s yesterday’s news, he’s tried twice," Paul told Fox News radio's John Gibson on Monday.

Romney, the 2012 nominee, has told donors that he is heading toward a third run for president. Paul's criticism of Romney comes as he tries to paint himself as growing the Republican Party and presenting new ideas.

"I don’t really think that there is a third time out there," Paul said of Romney. "I think he did a lot of things right, but in the end you’ve got to have a bigger constituency, you’ve got to attract new people to win and I think it’s just time that probably the party’s going to be looking for something fresh and new."

Responding to the idea that Romney will run to the right of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who is also moving toward a run, Paul said, "If he runs to the right of Jeb Bush, he’ll still be to the left of the rest of the party, so it may be a difficult spot to occupy."

Paul pivoted to ideas he has been pushing on criminal justice reform and a less interventionist foreign policy.

"If we say the same old thing with the same old candidates, we’ll get the same old result, so I would say that some of the ideas that I have been talking about do attract new people to the party," he said.

"I’ve been talking about criminal justice, I’ve been talking about having a foreign policy that’s reasonable," he added. "I've been talking about trying to be more inclusive as a party, so I think a lot of those things are helping to grow the party."

Paul has shown a willingness to engage against other potential Republican candidates, and now adds Romney to the list.

Paul said that he would make a final decision on a run "sometime in the spring."

On Sunday’s broadcast of ABC’s This Week Democratic strategist and Clinton confidant James Carville predicted not only will Mitt Romney enter the presidential race, but that he will campaign as the “conservative alternative” to Jeb Bush. John Gibson asked Senator Rand Paul what he thought about it. The Senator laughs while responding “ if Mitt runs to the right of Jeb Bush he will still be to the left of the party, and that would a difficult spot to be in” Take a listen (about 4 minutes in)

Senator Paul also spoke about Keystone, telling Gibson he believes President Obama should get behind what he calls a real shovel ready project that has true bi-partisan support. Rand said a veto by President Obama will hurt the democrat party.

Plus: Paul talks about the rift between NYC Mayor de Blasio and the NYPD, the war on terror and the Paris Unity Rally.

As Mr. Paul seeks to bridge the gap between his tea party base and the party’s establishment wing, Mr. LaCivita can offer perspective from both sides.

Most recently, he was dispatched to Kansas to help Sen. Pat Roberts beat back a challenge from an independent candidate, Greg Orman. Mr. LaCivita worked as political director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee in 2002 and in 2010, during Sen. Paul’s Senate campaign.

He has also worked for several political outsiders, including former Florida Rep. Allen West and Connecticut Senate candidate Linda McMahon. In 2013, Mr. LaCivita helped lead Ken Cuccinelli’s failed gubernatorial campaign in Virginia.

Mr. LaCivita’s no-holds-barred reputation comes from his role helping to orchestrate the Swift Boat attacks against John Kerry’s military record in the 2004 presidential campaign.

At least one of the Senate’s 2016 contenders is bailing on the big House-Senate Republican conference gathering next week in Hershey, Pa.

An aide to Sen. Rand Paul confirmed the Kentucky Republican would not attend the retreat — the first joint gathering of the majorities on both sides of the Rotunda.


CQ Roll Call asked the Paul aide about a report the senator would be traveling to New Hampshire, Arizona and Nevada the second half of next week (including time that overlaps with the congressional retreat). The aide emphasized in an email the senator’s schedule would not require him to miss any business at the Capitol itself.

“Sen. Paul was elected to represent Kentucky in the Senate. He will not be missing any Senate votes or committee business next week,” the aide said.

Still, the scheduling conflicts highlight an emerging challenge for the new Senate majority, as several senators, including Paul, Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida, are considering presidential bids.

Cruz is scheduled to attend the retreat, an aide told CQ Roll Call. Rubio’s office did not immediate respond to a request about his plans.

Plans for the joint retreat between Republicans in the two chambers were publicly confirmed at the beginning of December.

We don’t pick our parents, and by most any measure, Rand Paul was exceedingly lucky with his. Former GOP Representative and presidential candidate Ron Paul bequeathed to his son a name and a network that propelled his ascent from unknown ophthalmologist to presidential contender in the span of a few short years.

But as Rand Paul prepares for a likely campaign launch this year, it’s clear that his famous father is no longer an asset. Ron Paul retired from Congress in January 2013, but he hasn’t strayed far from the political stage. In columns and interviews, he regularly espouses positions which are out of step with the Republican electorate and which opponents will harness in an attempt to strangle his son’s presidential aspirations.

After the terrorist attack in Paris this week, Ron Paul said that French foreign policy had helped drive the attack. “It’s an overall policy that invites retaliation,” Paul told Newsmax TV. “It doesn’t justify [the attack], but it explains it.” The argument echoed his claim that American military adventurism precipitated the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, a belief that doesn’t wash well with a party predicated on national pride.

And if Ron’s foreign policy clashes with the party’s prevailing views, so too do some of his domestic prescriptions. In a column published Thursday, Paul wrote the U.S. “is a police state” marred by a “police culture that accepts the principle of initiating unjustified violence against citizens.” Such convictions are anathema for much of the Republican Party, which considers law enforcement sacrosanct and rejects criticism of cops, particularly in the wake of the killing of two New York City police officers last month.

Interesting supposition from a good Rolling Stone article from Tim Dickinson surveying all the victorious fronts of the recent past and likely future in the rolling back of our evil war on drugs:

Among likely 2016 contenders, of either party, the Kentucky senator [Rand Paul] is the most progressive on marijuana. He's sponsored legislation to make medical marijuana fully legal in states that have adopted it. In the last election, Paul championed the right of D.C. voters to decide on legalization for themselves. Paul has also been a vocal advocate for decriminalization, decrying the practice of booking kids for cannabis. "I don't want to encourage people to do it," he has said. "I think even marijuana is a bad thing to do. But I also don't want to put people in jail who make a mistake."

If Paul were to face off in a contest with Hillary Clinton, pot could emerge as an unlikely wedge issue for the Republican – particularly in libertarian-leaning swing states like Arizona and Nevada, where legalization initiatives are expected. That's because Clinton has continued to talk like a 1990s drug warrior, recently fretting over the dangers of marijuana edibles to children in Colorado, and even declaring that "the feds should be attuned to the way that marijuana is still used as a gateway drug."

The political logic here is not mysterious. White male independents – those most open to a Paul candidacy – are firmly in the legalization camp. (In Oregon, this slice of the electorate voted 65 percent to tax and regulate.)...

Sen. Rand Paul is a near-certain presidential contender, but he stressed on Thursday that he won’t run a “quixotic” campaign.

Paul, the libertarian-leaning Kentucky Republican, outlined his thinking on a presidential bid during an appearance on conservative media personality Sean Hannity’s radio show.

He reiterated that a final decision will come in the spring. Paul is still weighing family considerations, he said, but in the coming months will also continue to test whether his message appears to be “resonating.”

“If it looks like we’re at 1 percent, not in the top tier, [that it would be a] quixotic sort of run. I’m not going to do it just for educational purposes,” he said, adding that he would “want to be in to win.”

Earlier Thursday, Paul suggested to Breitbart News that likely GOP rival Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida and an establishment favorite, is a moderate, according to that conservative publication’s write-up.

Asked about that statement by Hannity, Paul said the 2016 Republican primary contest will be a battle between conservatives and moderates, and that “we have room for moderates in the party, but their road to victory is more difficult.”

Paul was elected in 2010 as a conservative tea party candidate. He said that he will travel next week to the early-voting states of New Hampshire and Nevada.

Should Rand Paul join the crowded 2016 Republican field later this spring, as widely expected, Kelley Paul will join the ranks of prospective first ladies who help define their husband's political brands. It's a high-profile role that is challenging at best, yet those who know the family suggest that she would adapt well to the next step in her husband's career.

Reserved but politically savvy, Kelley Paul worked for a Republican consulting firm whose clients included another potential presidential candidate, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, before resigning more than a year ago. She is the mother of three sons, ages 15, 18 and 21, already joins team meetings and conference calls, edits speeches and helps prepare her husband for tough media interviews.

"She's a tremendous asset," said John McCarthy, a former Kentucky GOP chairman who has closely followed Rand Paul's rise. "She a very confident person, very comfortable, and she complements him well."

Having sporadically appeared publicly on her own in recent years, Kelley Paul's public profile has begun to grow.

On Tuesday she kicked off a six-stop speaking tour to Republican women's clubs in her home town of Russellville, where she fondly recalled riding in the annual tobacco festival parade and cheering at high school football games. Her 20-minute speech focusing on her Irish immigrant grandmother moved her audiences throughout Kentucky to tears.

This spring, she has media events and speeches planned for Washington, New York and Memphis, Tennessee, before publisher Hachette releases her book, "True and Constant Friends," in April.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. Rand Paul today introduced S.34, the Defend Israel by Defunding Palestinian Foreign Aid Act of 2015. This legislation will call for the immediate halt of U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority until it withdraws its request to join the International Criminal Court (ICC). Under the current U.S. law, America is prohibited from assisting the Palestinian Authority if it seeks ICC claims against Israel. Thus far, the Obama administration has not committed to taking any actions and appears disinclined to cut off aid. The bill text can be found below.

“It is up to the new Republican-led Congress to move on its own so that the President does not once again circumvent clear funding restrictions. We are currently sending roughly $400 million of U.S. taxpayer dollars to the Palestinian Authority,” Sen. Paul said. "Certainly groups that threaten Israel cannot be allies of the U.S. I will continue to do everything in my power to make sure this President and this Congress stop treating Israel's enemies as American allies."


LEGISLATION TEXT:

To prohibit assistance to the Palestinian Authority until it withdraws its request to join the International Criminal Court.
114TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.


This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Defend Israel by Defunding Palestinian Foreign Aid Act of 2015’’. SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) On December 31, 2014, Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, signed several international conventions in an attempt to join the International Criminal Court.
(2) The Palestinian Authority has indicated that it will seek to use the International Criminal Court as a means to pursue charges against Israel.
(3) The Palestinian Authority remains engaged in a unity government with Hamas, a terrorist organization responsible for countless deaths and whose charter declares that ‘‘there is no solution to the Palestinian question except by Jihad’’.
(4) The United States provides more than $400,000,000 in assistance to the Palestinian Authority each year.
(5) Section 7041(i)(2) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2015 (division J of Public Law 133–235) includes limitations on assistance to the Palestinian Authority if it seeks to join the International Criminal Court.
(6) The United States Government must make immediately clear to the Palestinian Authority that its attempts to join the International Criminal Court will carry serious consequences.
DAV15028 S.L.C. 3

. 1 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON FUNDING.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no amounts may be obligated or expended to provide any assistance, loan guarantee, or debt relief to the Palestinian Authority, or any affiliated governing entity, until the Palestinian Authority withdraws its request to join the International Criminal Court.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) says former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a fellow likely 2016 GOP presidential candidate, is a “moderate.”

“I think the party is big enough to have moderates in the party,” Paul in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News. Paul was discussing the appearance of inevitability created by the establishment media around Bush’s announcement he is actively exploring a potential presidential candidacy.

“When we have a primary, voters will have to pick whether they want a moderate leading the party or a conservative,” Paul says. “That’s what the primary will be about, people presenting their ideas and they’ll have to decide whether they want Common Core, whether they want more spending, more taxes, whether they want a candidate who will not pledge to not raise taxes. There’s a lot of things that will go on, we have plenty of time for that, but I would say that time will tell.”

Calling a Republican who’s seeking the GOP nomination a “moderate” is a clear insult in Republican presidential primary politics. During that selection process, each of the candidates is likely to focus on highlighting conservative credentials to please GOP base voters. Paul further hinted Bush would be open to tax increases and more government spending, positions no candidate is likely to take while trying to win the nomination.

It’s not the first time Paul has zeroed in on Common Core as being a killer issue for Republican presidential candidates.

It's hard to deny that 2014 was a very good year for the Republican Party. Two years after its 2012 train wreck, the GOP returns to Washington this week with an eight-seat majority in the Senate and a deep bench of contenders who want to take on Hillary Clinton in the next election. And while the party hasn't quite managed to shake its reputation as a political nursing home for jowly white dudes, Republicans managed to creep out of the tech Stone Age this fall, and finally started making dents in the Democrats' digital campaign juggernaut.

Vincent Harris isn't impressed. The 26-year-old Republican strategist, best known for putting Ted Cruz on the internet, has relentlessly criticized his party for their technological backwardness, telling any reporter who calls that the GOP's digital operations are second-rate and that the party's claims of progress are "a lot of talk." Begrudgingly, other Republicans have started to listen, bringing Harris on to translate the 21st century for high-profile conservative campaigns.

(CNSNews.com) - Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) says the new Republican-led Congress will vote to repeal all of Obamacare. And when President Obama vetoes that, they'll vote to repeal parts of Obamacare.

And what happens if Republicans are successful in repealing Obamacare? Fox New's Greta Van Susteren asked the senator Monday night.

"We could try freedom for a while," Paul responded. "We had it for a long time. That's where you sell something and I agree to buy it because I like it. That is how we operate in most of rest of the marketplace other than health care. Now the president has said you can only buy certain types of health care that I approve of, and anything I don't approve of, you are not allowed to purchase. We could try freedom. I think it might work. It works everywhere else."

Paul rejected Van Susteren's suggestion that poor people would "end up back at the hospitals, and the hospitals would be providing free care again, and now we've got the financial burden back on the hospitals."

The burden is still on hospitals, Paul said: "Even under Obamacare, there are people that get subsidized insurance. But that has a $6,000 deductible. What do you think they do with that $6,000 deductible? They are still a non-payer" (when they go to the hospital).

Paul noted that even before Obamacare, the government took care of the bottom 5-10 percent of the public who were on Medicaid.

"And then there is also charity. There are different ways that we take care and help the poor. Nobody is saying we would not still do those things if we didn't have Obamacare.

"What Obamacare did was take some of the things we did for the poor and expanded the government to basically the whole marketplace. That I think will ultimately bankrupt the country and then nobody will have good health care."

When former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush announced in mid-December that he would “actively explore” running for the Republican presidential nomination, curious parties took to Google to learn more about him. While they were there, many of them were greeted by another politician’s name at the bottom of the page—one they hadn’t searched for.

“Join a movement working to shrink government. Not grow it,” read one of the ads, placed by RandPAC, the political action committee supporting Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who is himself expected to run for the nomination. Another read: “We need leaders who will stand against Common Core.”

A few weeks later, when former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee announced that he would leave his talk show at Fox News to ponder a presidential bid, the phenomenon occurred again: “Less Taxes Not More… We Need Leaders Who Will Cut Taxes Not Raise Them. Join Us!”

For Team Paul, this passive-aggressive trolling campaign is the equivalent of lurking in the back of the room during your opponent’s debate prep and pelting them with spitballs.

The ads have a dual purpose. First, they allow Paul to siphon off attention from whichever potential candidate is making news. Second, they allow his campaign to underscore the weaknesses of other candidates by highlighting Paul’s strengths.

With a verbal wink, Paul’s senior adviser Doug Stafford said they had chosen this method of pre-campaign campaigning “mostly because we like to amuse ourselves.”

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Rand Paul may only yet be a candidate for re-election to the Senate in 2016, but the first-term Kentucky Republican already is sprinting toward the race for president.

The libertarian-minded lawmaker is set to visit several Western states this month before reintroducing himself to voters in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, and his team is working to strengthen his political network in nearly every state.


At the same time, he is readying for a leading role in the GOP's new Senate majority while pushing to improve a Republican brand he says is "tattered."

Aides insist that Paul has not finalized his decision about the White House, but his aggressive steps leave little doubt about his ambitions.

"Everything's being prepared as if it's happening, with the knowledge that the final trigger hasn't been pulled yet," said Paul senior aide Doug Stafford.

Some see the son of former Texas Rep. Ron Paul, a two-time presidential candidate, as a transformational figure capable of expanding the GOP's appeal beyond its traditional base of older, white men.

While calling for a dramatic reduction in the size and scope of the federal government, the 51-year-old Paul plays down social issues such as gay marriage, criticizes a criminal justice system that overwhelmingly incarcerates blacks, and favors a smaller U.S. footprint in the world.

Rand Paul should expect challenges every step of the way.