jct74
10-29-2013, 08:17 AM
Rand Paul Shakes Up Foreign Policy Debate With Libertarian Stances
By BRADLEY KLAPPER (AP)
10/29/13 03:06 AM ET EDT
http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1432167/thumbs/n-RAND-PAUL-large570.jpg?6
WASHINGTON (AP) — Henry Clay. Henry Cabot Lodge. Robert Taft. William Fulbright. Jesse Helms.
Is Rand Paul the next generation-defining senator on American foreign policy?
In just half a term, the Kentucky Republican has shaken up Congress and in some ways the country with his brand of libertarian populism, filibustering President Barack Obama's CIA director earlier this year and leading the fight against authorizing U.S. military action in Syria.
Even in some of his defeats, Paul has been vindicated. The Obama administration's decision this month to suspend much of its $1.5 billion annual assistance package to Egypt is a course Paul unsuccessfully championed only 10 weeks earlier.
"It's presumptuous to say you're driving the debate," Paul said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. Still, he suggested his proximity to voters gives him a better understanding of what Americans are looking for right now in their government's foreign policy.
"I think people are always ahead of their legislature, maybe 10 years or so," he said. "Let's say you're elected for the first time in 1978. That is still who is electing you every time, the people who elected you then, because you perceive that as that was your big hard race and you won. And you still perceive you're representing those people from 1978. ... But you're not really familiar with the wants and desires of 2013, because you still represent then."
For a freshman senator with presidential ambitions, Paul has racked up an impressive list of public relations coups despite few legislative victories.
...
read more:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/29/rand-paul-foreign-policy_n_4172978.html
By BRADLEY KLAPPER (AP)
10/29/13 03:06 AM ET EDT
http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1432167/thumbs/n-RAND-PAUL-large570.jpg?6
WASHINGTON (AP) — Henry Clay. Henry Cabot Lodge. Robert Taft. William Fulbright. Jesse Helms.
Is Rand Paul the next generation-defining senator on American foreign policy?
In just half a term, the Kentucky Republican has shaken up Congress and in some ways the country with his brand of libertarian populism, filibustering President Barack Obama's CIA director earlier this year and leading the fight against authorizing U.S. military action in Syria.
Even in some of his defeats, Paul has been vindicated. The Obama administration's decision this month to suspend much of its $1.5 billion annual assistance package to Egypt is a course Paul unsuccessfully championed only 10 weeks earlier.
"It's presumptuous to say you're driving the debate," Paul said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. Still, he suggested his proximity to voters gives him a better understanding of what Americans are looking for right now in their government's foreign policy.
"I think people are always ahead of their legislature, maybe 10 years or so," he said. "Let's say you're elected for the first time in 1978. That is still who is electing you every time, the people who elected you then, because you perceive that as that was your big hard race and you won. And you still perceive you're representing those people from 1978. ... But you're not really familiar with the wants and desires of 2013, because you still represent then."
For a freshman senator with presidential ambitions, Paul has racked up an impressive list of public relations coups despite few legislative victories.
...
read more:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/29/rand-paul-foreign-policy_n_4172978.html