jct74
06-11-2015, 10:23 AM
Countering the GOP’s nation-building mindset
Rand Paul’s disdain for international adventurism was once mainstream conservatism
By David Keene
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
The junior senator from Kentucky drives his colleagues nuts. They don’t like Rand Paul or his positions on domestic spying and international adventurism. Arizona’s John McCain warns that Mr. Paul would be “the worst possible [Republican presidential] candidate of the 20 or so [who] are running” because of his positions on these issues and he admitted that choosing between his GOP colleague and Hillary Rodham Clinton would be “tough.” Mr. McCain’s hostility is nothing new; last year his daughter Meghan told a television interviewer that Mr. McCain “hates” Mr. Paul and assumed that the feeling is mutual.
But Mr. McCain’s views on the Kentuckian are shared by many of his colleagues. It’s no surprise that South Carolina’s Sen. Lindsey Graham, who strives to be more McCain than Mr. McCain agrees with his colleague from Arizona, but as the debate over extension of controversial USA Patriot Act provisions were up for renewal or reform, other Republican senators joined the fray, denouncing Mr. Paul, his arguments and his motives. Some believed Mr. Paul was grandstanding and, shockingly, tried to shout him down as he spoke on the Senate floor. Sen. Dan Coats of Indiana attacked him by name and questioned not just his positions and judgment, but his motives.
The vehemence of these attacks could lead one to conclude that Mr. Paul is at least as unpopular among his fellow senators as Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Mr. Cruz is roundly disliked for his manner and refusal to “play by the rules,” his perceived arrogance, and his willingness to draw stark contrasts with those within the GOP he sees as too wimpish to stand with him in his battles for conservatism. His tactics and perhaps his personality upset them. This was deeper, however, and more serious. Mr. Cruz challenges the will and tactics of his colleagues, while Mr. Paul challenges the merits of the policies to which they are so firmly wedded.
...
read more:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jun/9/david-keene-rand-paul-counters-gops-nation-buildin/
Rand Paul’s disdain for international adventurism was once mainstream conservatism
By David Keene
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
The junior senator from Kentucky drives his colleagues nuts. They don’t like Rand Paul or his positions on domestic spying and international adventurism. Arizona’s John McCain warns that Mr. Paul would be “the worst possible [Republican presidential] candidate of the 20 or so [who] are running” because of his positions on these issues and he admitted that choosing between his GOP colleague and Hillary Rodham Clinton would be “tough.” Mr. McCain’s hostility is nothing new; last year his daughter Meghan told a television interviewer that Mr. McCain “hates” Mr. Paul and assumed that the feeling is mutual.
But Mr. McCain’s views on the Kentuckian are shared by many of his colleagues. It’s no surprise that South Carolina’s Sen. Lindsey Graham, who strives to be more McCain than Mr. McCain agrees with his colleague from Arizona, but as the debate over extension of controversial USA Patriot Act provisions were up for renewal or reform, other Republican senators joined the fray, denouncing Mr. Paul, his arguments and his motives. Some believed Mr. Paul was grandstanding and, shockingly, tried to shout him down as he spoke on the Senate floor. Sen. Dan Coats of Indiana attacked him by name and questioned not just his positions and judgment, but his motives.
The vehemence of these attacks could lead one to conclude that Mr. Paul is at least as unpopular among his fellow senators as Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Mr. Cruz is roundly disliked for his manner and refusal to “play by the rules,” his perceived arrogance, and his willingness to draw stark contrasts with those within the GOP he sees as too wimpish to stand with him in his battles for conservatism. His tactics and perhaps his personality upset them. This was deeper, however, and more serious. Mr. Cruz challenges the will and tactics of his colleagues, while Mr. Paul challenges the merits of the policies to which they are so firmly wedded.
...
read more:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jun/9/david-keene-rand-paul-counters-gops-nation-buildin/