Rand calls for libertarians to join GOP, run for office:

[Matt Collins]

http://reason.com/archives/2014/10/2...republican-for





The last paragraph of the piece:

The Republican Party is not perfect and there is some dissent within the ranks, but I need libertarian minded Republicans and libertarian independents to vote, get involved and run for office. The heart of the Republican Party embraces freedom and we need to vote and then massage the party to get the party to fight harder to implement a positive vision of economic freedom, low taxation and individual liberty.

[Christian Liberty]

But the GOP is taking a stand—we are saying enough is enough.

Rand, I know you are probably playing politics, but I'm still going to call you an idiot when you say stuff like this. Blech.

[Brian4Liberty]

Vote Republican for Limited Government
We've seen how abusive the IRS, DoJ, and NSA are under Democrats, says Sen. Rand Paul. Let's change course.
By Rand Paul - October 28, 2014

It is apparent now more than ever that our government has grown out of control—and under Democratic leadership, it will only continue to infringe upon our civil liberties. Currently, this Democratic leadership is telling you how to run your businesses, telling you which doctor to see, telling you what you can and cannot eat, and monitoring your phone calls and data without a warrant.

Our Founding Fathers wrote the Bill of Rights to protect us, and our current Democratic leadership is trampling all over these protections. President Obama and the Democrats who support him think that violating American citizen's right to privacy is essential for national security and that proves just how out-of-touch and out of control our government has become.

Under Democratic leadership, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has targeted political dissidents, the Department of Justice has seized reporters' phone records, and the NSA has seized an unlimited amount of cell phone data. This is an all-out assault on the Constitution.
...
Our Founder's would be ashamed at what our government has become. Micromanaging the daily lives of citizens is not the duty of government. But the GOP is taking a stand—we are saying enough is enough.

It is the Republican party that is trying to limit government power and this is an ideal that all libertarians firmly believe in and support. If we want to protect our civil liberties, we must come together. And it's no secret that the Republican party desperately need libertarian support.

For too long, our party's platform has solely focused on national security and tax reform. And while those are important issues, it's not enough. Our party needs a facelift. We need a different kind of GOP that will speak to these infringements to personal liberty.

The GOP does not want to tell you how to live. In fact, we want to get out of your lives. We will not choose your doctor for you. We will not trespass on your first amendment right and dictate how to run your business. We also will not outlaw doughnuts or Big Gulps.

We will stay out of your bedroom, your doctor's office, your classroom, your business, your pantry, and your cell phone.

There are millions of Americans, young and old, native and immigrant, black, white and brown, who simply seek to live free—free to practice their religion, free to choose where they send their kids to school, free to choose their own healthcare, free to keep the fruit of their own labor, free to live without government constantly being on their back.

I believe a Republican Party that is more tolerant and dedicated to keeping the government out of people's personal business would be more appealing to the rising generation and libertarians alike.
...
Young Americans—conservative, libertarian, independent—are as fed up with big government as their parents and grandparents. We are the party that is willing to address their unique concerns and in doing so, we will build a new majority that might finally turn this country around.

The Republican Party is not perfect and there is some dissent within the ranks, but I need libertarian minded Republicans and libertarian independents to vote, get involved and run for office. The heart of the Republican Party embraces freedom and we need to vote and then massage the party to get the party to fight harder to implement a positive vision of economic freedom, low taxation and individual liberty.
...
More: http://reason.com/archives/2014/10/2...republican-for

[Christian Liberty]

He cannot possibly think the GOP is the "limited government" party. That's just a joke. I know Rand is smarter than that, considering Ron Paul is his father.

Please tell us you're just trolling...

[TheTyke]

It is the only way libertarians have been elected to national office recently. Paul, Amash, Massie etc. He's irrefutably correct on strategy.

[Brian4Liberty]

He cannot possibly think the GOP is the "limited government" party.

That has been the stated GOP position for a long time. It will only become reality if enough people who truly believe in limited government join the party and get elected.

[Crashland]

Don't see anything wrong with this at all. Taking over the GOP from the inside is a much better idea than trying to overthrow it from the outside, IMO. Make the enemies of liberty leave the party on their own.

[Uriah]

Don't see anything wrong with this at all. Taking over the GOP from the inside is a much better idea than trying to overthrow it from the outside, IMO. Make the enemies of liberty leave the party on their own.

I concur. To overthrow a party from the outside requires a great deal of public support to disavow one for another. Working on the inside has seen much more positive gain in two election cycles than working from the outside has seen in forty years through the Libertarian party.

[Tywysog Cymru]

[invisible]

Vote Republican for Limited Government
We've seen how abusive the IRS, DoJ, and NSA are under Democrats, says Sen. Rand Paul. Let's change course.
By Rand Paul - October 28, 2014

TY for actually posting the article itself, instead of nothing but a link

[familydog]

Rand should spend some time here in Pennsylvania if he believes the Republican Party stands for limited government.

[RonPaulFanInGA]

It is the only way libertarians have been elected to national office recently. Paul, Amash, Massie etc. He's irrefutably correct on strategy.

Exactly right; none of them would have been elected to Congress as Libertarian Party candidates.

[jurgs01]

Vote for the best candidate. Rand is just saying this because he has to because he thinks it is the best way to get support for his presidential run. If the Republicans run a RINO, vote third party. A RINO is more dangerous than a democrat honestly. Vote too many RINOs in and we get Hillary for president and you can expect to go to war again.

[Mr.NoSmile]

The GOP does not want to tell you how to live. In fact, we want to get out of your lives. We will not choose your doctor for you. We will not trespass on your first amendment right and dictate how to run your business. We also will not outlaw doughnuts or Big Gulps.

We will stay out of your bedroom, your doctor's office, your classroom, your business, your pantry, and your cell phone.

...I dunno what kind of party Rand Paul is talking about. It can't be the GOP that's all for national security, being increasingly against the tide of folks who have no issue with gay marriage, gets its tongue tied on abortion and other women's issues, and is ideologically dead. The same party where, at its National Convention, Clint Eastwood talked to a chair? This GOP doesn't want to tell you how to live? I don't think so. That's an extreme coating of sugar he's putting on.

[cajuncocoa]

[Christian Liberty]

Don't see anything wrong with this at all. Taking over the GOP from the inside is a much better idea than trying to overthrow it from the outside, IMO. Make the enemies of liberty leave the party on their own.

I don't have a problem with trying to infiltrate the GOP, but that isn't the same as saying they actually stand for small government.

lol! +rep.

[NoOneButPaul]

If the Libertarians would at least change to the GOP to vote for him in the primary we would easily win the nomination.

The GOP is dying and Libertarians could easily fill the void if they'd get off their high horse and appreciate the bigger picture.

[Crashland]

...I dunno what kind of party Rand Paul is talking about. It can't be the GOP that's all for national security, being increasingly against the tide of folks who have no issue with gay marriage, gets its tongue tied on abortion and other women's issues, and is ideologically dead. The same party where, at its National Convention, Clint Eastwood talked to a chair? This GOP doesn't want to tell you how to live? I don't think so. That's an extreme coating of sugar he's putting on.

It's definitely sugar coating the current situation, but if people follow his lead then it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The Tea Party was largely an insurgence within the GOP. Obviously it did not take over the GOP, but it ended up getting a hell of a lot more influence over national politics than it would have if it had insisted on splitting to another irrelevant third party. With enough of a groundswell, it is possible to run the bad folks out of the GOP and replace them with liberty friendly people. This is exactly what Rand is trying to do. It doesn't happen overnight, although it could happen a lot faster if we managed to get term limits.

[Brett85]

...I dunno what kind of party Rand Paul is talking about. It can't be the GOP that's all for national security, being increasingly against the tide of folks who have no issue with gay marriage, gets its tongue tied on abortion and other women's issues, and is ideologically dead. The same party where, at its National Convention, Clint Eastwood talked to a chair? This GOP doesn't want to tell you how to live? I don't think so. That's an extreme coating of sugar he's putting on.

No thanks to the Gary Johnson style libertarians.

[TheTyke]

If the Libertarians would at least change to the GOP to vote for him in the primary we would easily win the nomination.

The GOP is dying and Libertarians could easily fill the void if they'd get off their high horse and appreciate the bigger picture.

Exactly. Rand lays out a compelling vision of what would be, if we got serious and seized the day.

[cajuncocoa]

I'm not looking for a Gary Johnson style libertarian. I want a Ron Paul style libertarian who doesn't pander to Boobus, but rather takes the time to show Boobus where he went wrong. We can't expect to have small government at the same time we're expanding the military budget and catering to Israel's every demand. We can't expect to have small government and a drug war. We can't expect to have small government while micromanaging who can marry whom. I want a Ron Paul libertarian who tells it like it is, whether he can get elected or not.

[Brett85]

I want a Ron Paul style libertarian who doesn't pander to Boobus, but rather takes the time to show Boobus where he went wrong. We can't expect to have small government at the same time we're expanding the military budget and catering to Israel's every demand.

According to Adam Kinzinger, Rand wants to cut the military in half.

[Tywysog Cymru]

No thanks to the Gary Johnson style libertarians.

There's nothing I hate more than when someone says "I'm a Libertarian, which is basically someone who wants less taxes while supporting abortion, gay marriage, and weed!"

[Christian Liberty]

There's nothing I hate more than when someone says "I'm a Libertarian, which is basically someone who wants less taxes while supporting abortion, gay marriage, and weed!"

Well, I agree that its annoying, although "Christian" neoconservatives annoy me far more. I'm not a big Gary Johnson fan, but I wouldn't say this is quite what he is (although he definitely is attractive to that crowd.) I definitely think he's less libertarian than Rand though, and Rand isn't even really a libertarian.

[Voluntarist]

xxxxx

[fr33]

Neocon-lite can't even come close to winning a primary against the neocons that "represent" me. What a joke.

[Rudeman]

Parties don't matter, if anyone here plans on running for public office pick whichever party gives you the best chance to win.

[Ronin Truth]

Hmm? That would seem to suggest and imply that Rand doesn't really GET that whole "libertarian" thing nor it's principles.

Well, what's really to be expected from a "GOP conservative realist" (oxymoron)?

[Peace&Freedom]

It's definitely sugar coating the current situation, but if people follow his lead then it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The Tea Party was largely an insurgence within the GOP. Obviously it did not take over the GOP, but it ended up getting a hell of a lot more influence over national politics than it would have if it had insisted on splitting to another irrelevant third party. With enough of a groundswell, it is possible to run the bad folks out of the GOP and replace them with liberty friendly people. This is exactly what Rand is trying to do. It doesn't happen overnight, although it could happen a lot faster if we managed to get term limits.

Okay, okay, more people get elected under the "reform/save the GOP" approach than via the LP/CP, same as it ever was. Then the policy never changes, same as it ever was. What part of the welfare state has gotten repealed, what part of the warfare state has been reduced under this approach? "It doesn't happen overnight," you say? It hasn't happened in decades, and a recent blip of some election victories hasn't changed that basic dynamic.

I would say the independent liberty movement in general is more responsible for getting the political environment back to being oriented around real reform, precisely by NOT being dependent on the major parties or MSM to establish its legitimacy. We (and to a lesser extent, Tea Party supporters) have done an end run around them, and don't buckle when they attempt to whip us into "mainstream," or go with the establishment flow conformity.

How exactly are the Republican reformers supposed "to run the bad folks out of the GOP" in the form of the big banks, big business, big lobbies, and big military contractors that control both parties from the top? Do the reformers have more resources than those factions? The reform can't happen from the inside, because the main bad folks are the puppet masters who run the show from without it. If you get rid of the current "bad folks" leadership, the elite controllers will simply replace them with another set of puppets. So yes, use the main party label as leverage to get into office where possible, but don't expect either of the elite owned majors to ever be reformed, as the concept is fatally flawed.

[green73]

Love it!