Shane Harris
04-12-2014, 09:46 AM
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303873604579493624083054770?mg=ren o64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB1000 1424052702303873604579493624083054770.html
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When tea-party activists rallied last weekend in Kentucky, their home-state hero, Sen. Rand Paul, wasn't invited. The event featured the tea-party candidate running for the Senate, while Mr. Paul is backing the incumbent, Sen. Mitch McConnell.
But leaders of FreedomWorks, the conservative group that organized the rally, still view Mr. Paul as an ally. In February, he joined their lawsuit over government phone surveillance. "That makes clear his willingness to shake up the political establishment," said FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe.
That is just one example of the balancing act Mr. Paul is attempting as he prepares for a likely White House bid in 2016. Trying to leap from tea-party firebrand to GOP standard-bearer, the freshman senator is courting the party leaders and fundraisers crucial to a national campaign, while mostly keeping faith with the libertarian base that made him a Republican Party phenom.
A test comes on April 25, when Spencer Zwick, the national finance chairman for Mitt Romney's presidential campaigns, is slated to introduce top donors in Boston to Mr. Paul. While some fundraisers say Mr. Paul's resistance to the use of military force abroad disqualifies him from leading the GOP, others are intrigued by his efforts to grow the party by reaching out to young and minority audiences.
Support from donors who backed Mr. Romney, a defense hawk, would provide more evidence that Republicans are coming to favor a more restrained U.S. military role. Wall Street Journal/NBC News polling this year shows that members of each party in nearly equal numbers would look less favorably, rather than more favorably, on a candidate who believes the U.S. should do more to resolve conflicts around the world.
"Rand will undoubtedly be a force in the early primaries by virtue of his ability to raise significant amounts of money and his appeal across tea-party folks, moderates and young voters," said Emil Henry, a former Treasury official under President George W. Bush who hasn't committed to Mr. Paul but arranged for fellow Wall Street executives to hear his pitch.
Nearly all of the potential GOP contenders for 2016 are trying to bridge the gap between a pragmatic Republican establishment and ideologically conservative grass roots. But Mr. Paul's aggressive outreach stands out, in part because of where he started. Back in 2010, he was the tea-party underdog, running against Mr. McConnell's favored choice in the Republican primary.
Mr. Paul's own endorsements this year show him trying to bridge the two wings of the Republican Party. In North Carolina, Mr. Paul is linking himself with the tea party by supporting one of its candidates, Greg Brannon, in the Republican Senate primary over state House Speaker Thom Tillis.
At the same time, Mr. Paul has earned goodwill with party officials by raising $500,000 for the party's national Senate campaign arm last fall at the Connecticut home of Romney donor and hedge-fund manager Cliff Asness. In endorsing Mr. McConnell, Mr. Paul is backing one of the most prominent symbols of the Republican establishment.
The strategy has a cost. "A lot of tea partiers were going against the grain when they supported Rand in 2010, and now he's turned his back on the movement in a lot of people's opinions," said Andrew Schachtner, president of the Louisville Tea Party, which is backing Mr. McConnell's challenger, Matt Bevin. "Tea partiers aren't much for balancing acts."
Mr. Paul has tried to mitigate the fallout by praising Mr. Bevin as a "good, honest Christian man" and championing issues dear to Kentucky libertarians, with Mr. McConnell's help. A provision to allow the economically strapped state to try hemp farming was inserted into the farm bill. The two senators have introduced right-to-work legislation that would forbid labor contracts that require employees to pay union dues. Mr. McConnell has also signed on to Mr. Paul's proposal to expand oversight of the Federal Reserve.
Mr. Paul's broad policy portfolio also reflects efforts to reach beyond typical Republican voting blocs. He is scheduled to visit inner-city charter schools this month in Chicago and Milwaukee to champion school choice. In other actions that could boost him among minorities, Mr. Paul is pushing to eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenses. And in a stance rare for a Republican, Mr. Paul testified before the Kentucky legislature to urge the restoration of voting rights for felons, an issue his staff says he will raise nationally.
The senator's advisers say his national platform, should he run for office, would also include proposals popular with the tea party: more oversight of the Federal Reserve and a constitutional amendment that would limit lawmakers to 12 years in office.
"We're building a winning coalition, and we want the Republican Party to see that," said Doug Stafford, one of Mr. Paul's top political advisers.
Mr. Paul's approach to foreign policy is his biggest liability among many influential Republicans. Mr. Paul initially advocated a hands-off approach to Russian aggression against Ukraine—a stance at odds with most Republican lawmakers and of Mr. Romney, who famously called Russia the "No. 1 geopolitical foe" of the U.S. Last week, Mr. Paul was on the losing end of a 98-2 Senate vote that signaled his opposition to International Monetary Fund support for Ukraine.
His noninterventionist posture makes Mr. Paul too extreme for many GOP rainmakers. "His name doesn't even come up in my circles," said Florida real-estate developer Mel Sembler, a veteran fundraiser trying to draft former Gov. Jeb Bush for 2016. "Sen. Paul is pretty isolationist. We're a leader in the world, and we shouldn't abandon that philosophy."
Still, in a sign Mr. Paul can get in the door with many of his party's brokers, he has been invited back to Mr. Romney's annual retreat for fundraisers, policy makers and elected officials in Park City, Utah, in June.
Mr. Zwick said, "There is interest from a number of donors in hearing what he has to say and getting to know him."
Stepping outside his comfort zone comes with risks and rewards. The senator was criticized for making a handful of African-American history gaffes in a speech at historically black Howard University last April. But the speech also drew positive notice from the Republican founders of the largest black-owned lobbying firm in Washington, former Oklahoma Rep. J.C. Watts and Elroy Sailor.
Mr. Sailor subsequently signed on as an informal broker between Mr. Paul and the black community, and has arranged private gatherings with mostly Democratic residents in Detroit, Houston and Atlanta. Mr. Sailor is planning to set up similar gatherings when Mr. Paul goes to Chicago and Detroit.
"Mr. Paul is a Republican change agent," Mr. Sailor said. "When we reach out to folks to visit with the senator, they say they are not so sure. When they leave, I can honestly say that 100% of the folks think he's made some sense or see where he's coming from."
Democrats have already begun assailing the sincerity of some efforts by Mr. Paul, who presided over the opening of the Republican National Committee's African-American outreach office in Detroit last year. They note that he has questioned whether parts of the Civil Rights Act interfere with private-property rights.
Last week, Mr. Paul urged the Republican Party to "get beyond deportation,'' but last year he wrote in an online column that he opposed a bipartisan immigration bill because "the legislation does not secure the border first." Allen Gutierrez, executive director of The Latino Coalition, an advocacy group for Hispanic businesses that favored the immigration bill, said, "I think it's great that he's speaking to these audiences, but don't do a drive-through."
Mr. Stafford, who advises Mr. Paul, said growing pains are inevitable as he tries to build an unprecedented electoral coalition that includes civil libertarians, movement conservatives, political moderates and young voters.
"Any time a candidate tries to expand his appeal and who he's talking to, there's some danger that the people who have supported him before won't like you," Mr. Stafford said. "The goal is to make that group as small as possible."
:
When tea-party activists rallied last weekend in Kentucky, their home-state hero, Sen. Rand Paul, wasn't invited. The event featured the tea-party candidate running for the Senate, while Mr. Paul is backing the incumbent, Sen. Mitch McConnell.
But leaders of FreedomWorks, the conservative group that organized the rally, still view Mr. Paul as an ally. In February, he joined their lawsuit over government phone surveillance. "That makes clear his willingness to shake up the political establishment," said FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe.
That is just one example of the balancing act Mr. Paul is attempting as he prepares for a likely White House bid in 2016. Trying to leap from tea-party firebrand to GOP standard-bearer, the freshman senator is courting the party leaders and fundraisers crucial to a national campaign, while mostly keeping faith with the libertarian base that made him a Republican Party phenom.
A test comes on April 25, when Spencer Zwick, the national finance chairman for Mitt Romney's presidential campaigns, is slated to introduce top donors in Boston to Mr. Paul. While some fundraisers say Mr. Paul's resistance to the use of military force abroad disqualifies him from leading the GOP, others are intrigued by his efforts to grow the party by reaching out to young and minority audiences.
Support from donors who backed Mr. Romney, a defense hawk, would provide more evidence that Republicans are coming to favor a more restrained U.S. military role. Wall Street Journal/NBC News polling this year shows that members of each party in nearly equal numbers would look less favorably, rather than more favorably, on a candidate who believes the U.S. should do more to resolve conflicts around the world.
"Rand will undoubtedly be a force in the early primaries by virtue of his ability to raise significant amounts of money and his appeal across tea-party folks, moderates and young voters," said Emil Henry, a former Treasury official under President George W. Bush who hasn't committed to Mr. Paul but arranged for fellow Wall Street executives to hear his pitch.
Nearly all of the potential GOP contenders for 2016 are trying to bridge the gap between a pragmatic Republican establishment and ideologically conservative grass roots. But Mr. Paul's aggressive outreach stands out, in part because of where he started. Back in 2010, he was the tea-party underdog, running against Mr. McConnell's favored choice in the Republican primary.
Mr. Paul's own endorsements this year show him trying to bridge the two wings of the Republican Party. In North Carolina, Mr. Paul is linking himself with the tea party by supporting one of its candidates, Greg Brannon, in the Republican Senate primary over state House Speaker Thom Tillis.
At the same time, Mr. Paul has earned goodwill with party officials by raising $500,000 for the party's national Senate campaign arm last fall at the Connecticut home of Romney donor and hedge-fund manager Cliff Asness. In endorsing Mr. McConnell, Mr. Paul is backing one of the most prominent symbols of the Republican establishment.
The strategy has a cost. "A lot of tea partiers were going against the grain when they supported Rand in 2010, and now he's turned his back on the movement in a lot of people's opinions," said Andrew Schachtner, president of the Louisville Tea Party, which is backing Mr. McConnell's challenger, Matt Bevin. "Tea partiers aren't much for balancing acts."
Mr. Paul has tried to mitigate the fallout by praising Mr. Bevin as a "good, honest Christian man" and championing issues dear to Kentucky libertarians, with Mr. McConnell's help. A provision to allow the economically strapped state to try hemp farming was inserted into the farm bill. The two senators have introduced right-to-work legislation that would forbid labor contracts that require employees to pay union dues. Mr. McConnell has also signed on to Mr. Paul's proposal to expand oversight of the Federal Reserve.
Mr. Paul's broad policy portfolio also reflects efforts to reach beyond typical Republican voting blocs. He is scheduled to visit inner-city charter schools this month in Chicago and Milwaukee to champion school choice. In other actions that could boost him among minorities, Mr. Paul is pushing to eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenses. And in a stance rare for a Republican, Mr. Paul testified before the Kentucky legislature to urge the restoration of voting rights for felons, an issue his staff says he will raise nationally.
The senator's advisers say his national platform, should he run for office, would also include proposals popular with the tea party: more oversight of the Federal Reserve and a constitutional amendment that would limit lawmakers to 12 years in office.
"We're building a winning coalition, and we want the Republican Party to see that," said Doug Stafford, one of Mr. Paul's top political advisers.
Mr. Paul's approach to foreign policy is his biggest liability among many influential Republicans. Mr. Paul initially advocated a hands-off approach to Russian aggression against Ukraine—a stance at odds with most Republican lawmakers and of Mr. Romney, who famously called Russia the "No. 1 geopolitical foe" of the U.S. Last week, Mr. Paul was on the losing end of a 98-2 Senate vote that signaled his opposition to International Monetary Fund support for Ukraine.
His noninterventionist posture makes Mr. Paul too extreme for many GOP rainmakers. "His name doesn't even come up in my circles," said Florida real-estate developer Mel Sembler, a veteran fundraiser trying to draft former Gov. Jeb Bush for 2016. "Sen. Paul is pretty isolationist. We're a leader in the world, and we shouldn't abandon that philosophy."
Still, in a sign Mr. Paul can get in the door with many of his party's brokers, he has been invited back to Mr. Romney's annual retreat for fundraisers, policy makers and elected officials in Park City, Utah, in June.
Mr. Zwick said, "There is interest from a number of donors in hearing what he has to say and getting to know him."
Stepping outside his comfort zone comes with risks and rewards. The senator was criticized for making a handful of African-American history gaffes in a speech at historically black Howard University last April. But the speech also drew positive notice from the Republican founders of the largest black-owned lobbying firm in Washington, former Oklahoma Rep. J.C. Watts and Elroy Sailor.
Mr. Sailor subsequently signed on as an informal broker between Mr. Paul and the black community, and has arranged private gatherings with mostly Democratic residents in Detroit, Houston and Atlanta. Mr. Sailor is planning to set up similar gatherings when Mr. Paul goes to Chicago and Detroit.
"Mr. Paul is a Republican change agent," Mr. Sailor said. "When we reach out to folks to visit with the senator, they say they are not so sure. When they leave, I can honestly say that 100% of the folks think he's made some sense or see where he's coming from."
Democrats have already begun assailing the sincerity of some efforts by Mr. Paul, who presided over the opening of the Republican National Committee's African-American outreach office in Detroit last year. They note that he has questioned whether parts of the Civil Rights Act interfere with private-property rights.
Last week, Mr. Paul urged the Republican Party to "get beyond deportation,'' but last year he wrote in an online column that he opposed a bipartisan immigration bill because "the legislation does not secure the border first." Allen Gutierrez, executive director of The Latino Coalition, an advocacy group for Hispanic businesses that favored the immigration bill, said, "I think it's great that he's speaking to these audiences, but don't do a drive-through."
Mr. Stafford, who advises Mr. Paul, said growing pains are inevitable as he tries to build an unprecedented electoral coalition that includes civil libertarians, movement conservatives, political moderates and young voters.
"Any time a candidate tries to expand his appeal and who he's talking to, there's some danger that the people who have supported him before won't like you," Mr. Stafford said. "The goal is to make that group as small as possible."