What Rand SHOULD have done: let loose on Trump- a belligerent, racist, anti-liberty, dictator

[Murray N Rothbard]

What would Rand have had to lose?

Is he vying for a cabinet appointment? Does he not see how inevitably disastrous a Trump presidency would be?

I say stop tip toeing around this $#@! and just unleash every direct and hyperbolic attack on Trump possible. Call him a dictator. Call him Anti-American. Call him evil. Point out that by playing into the hands of ISIS, and being in charge of the world's largest nuclear arsenal, he is worse than ISIS. Say that you are ashamed to stand on stage with him, say that the Republican party should be ashamed. Say that America should be ashamed. This would have been the #1 story for the entire week. It would have forced republican candidates to choose: Trump vs Paul. It would have taken supporters away from every candidate other than Trump. If it doesn't work then worst case the campaign ends. At least he would be on record as the one voice of reason people will look back on after Trump destroys the GOP and the country.

But no..

[RonPaulMall]

Or maybe he could say all those things about Hillary and the Establishment candidates and actually gain voters rather than piss off the very people he needs to vote for him?

[Mr.NoSmile]

I see. And what was the campaign's response when you shared this strategy with them?

[Murray N Rothbard]

Or maybe he could say all those things about Hillary and the Establishment candidates and actually gain voters rather than piss off the very people he needs to vote for him?

Everyone does that.

In this race it has never been about what is said, it is how much media coverage it gets.

The media would have had an absolute field day with this.

[bronc_fan23]

None of them, except for Rubio once, really took the bait on his attacks. None of them called him out personally when he attacked them, which would have allowed him more talking time. It was definitely calculated.

[erowe1]

Or maybe he could say all those things about Hillary and the Establishment candidates and actually gain voters rather than piss off the very people he needs to vote for him?

He needs to do both.

[Jan2017]

Well, if you watched the debate he made Trump look bad -
Trump was incoherent, and flustered when Rand (surprise) brought him up in Rand's quick answer then -
well, Trump "wave off" of Rand mention of constitution (Trump could have just said he was running for KIng) Trump booed - and a heckler on a Trump question later (something about "billionaire" or idiot - and I was on earpods waiting to hear the "Don't taze me bro") lol
so that later, Tromped gets to whine about he's being picked on (which he was in the kiddie debate) and being treated unfair by the media.

Rand got some love from Dana Bush in that she went back to him to get back on the question.
It all worked out fine, though once the college kids yelled super loud but they were there starting the applause on every of Rand's solid comments. After opening comments, I thought the others were gonna have a tough act to follow. Rubio's canned opening was bad but got a competing amount of applause, so the stage was set from the git-go.

Trump was lost on what all three Senators were talking about - but don't worry Carly "I know generals"

[CPUd]

[Jan2017]

It all worked out fine, though once the college kids yelled super loud but they were there starting the applause on every of Rand's solid comments. After opening comments, I thought the others were gonna have a tough act to follow.

In the pre-game show (before Lindsi and Huck ranting to bring back the draft for WW3)
in the background of the five pundits ( Anderson Cooper -a Cruz shill lady etc.)
the audience was "practicing applause" - mentioned to viewers a few times.

One of the applause practice runs after David Axelrod, former Obama campaign strategist and WH staffer, was talking
Andersen joked "Oh they must have liked what you said"

[Peace&Freedom]

What would Rand have had to lose?

Is he vying for a cabinet appointment? Does he not see how inevitably disastrous a Trump presidency would be?

I say stop tip toeing around this $#@! and just unleash every direct and hyperbolic attack on Trump possible.

Cruz triangulated Trump, thus he is now in first place in Iowa and second place nationally, with strong inroads made with engaging Trump supporters.

Rand attacked Trump, thus he is struggling in Iowa and nationally, with no inroads made with engaging Trump supporters.

That's what Rand had to lose, and why he is still losing. Cruz has too many wrong positions, but he has played Trump perfectly.

[erowe1]

Cruz triangulated Trump, thus he is now in first place in Iowa and second place nationally, with strong inroads made with engaging Trump supporters.

Rand attacked Trump, thus he is struggling in Iowa and nationally, with no inroads made with engaging Trump supporters.

That's what Rand had to lose, and why he is still losing. Cruz has too many wrong positions, but he has played Trump perfectly.

The problem wasn't that Rand attacked Trump. It was how he did it. He came across as a defender of the Republican establishment. There were and are plenty of ways to attack Trump without doing that. I'm amazed that his support of single-payer healthcare is not attacked more.

[Jan2017]

Rand is still losing, with the delegate score 0-0-0

But agree with OP, no pandering for Trump supporters from here - let Cruz bow to kiss his ring.

We learned from Trump that the ideas he has been professing are idiocacy -
Duhnald was lost in international affairs behind Rand, Cruz and the other Senator on stage.

All that Tromped is really selling is that he'll find someone in everything - over the wide spectrum of matters he knows little -
from cyberspace to the US constitution.

Trump did let us know he talked with Ted "Canada" Cruz three days before the debate -
wait, I see another SNL skit in this . . .



.

[alucard13mm]

Yeah... by doing so you call the 25% to 40% gop voters that are trump supporters racist too. People are tired of this racism accusation and political correctness. That is the main reason why people support trump.

Dont like gays? Homophobic and shamed. Dont like muslims? Islamaphobic and shamed. Dont like affirmative action? Racist and shamed. Dont like chinese food? Racist and shamed.

I want rand to succeed and rand probably has best chance to win against hitlery... but how can he if we has a very low chance of getting nomination in the first place? Beating hillary is moot if you dont represent the majority of republicans, who are "racist" and securing gop nomination.

I dont think rand will gain traction because odds are an illegal or muslim will do something from now until the caucuses which will make more people support trump. Even though trump only appears to be against illegal immigrants. Haha.

[Jan2017]

. . .odds are an illegal or muslim will do something from now until the caucuses which will make more people support trump.

So ? It won't matter -

Duhnald will need to win it before the summer with all those masses of people who will primary for him - yet don't care enough to watch the debate -
i.e he needs to win on the very first ballot at the convention for which delegates are bound.

Those GOP delegates that got bound to Tromped because of all his primary voters for that first ballot in Cleveland,
will be the weakest delegate support and the very first delegates to flee to a concensus candidate on all subsequent ballots.

[nobody's_hero]

I still say Rand would be best served by working his way up into 2nd place. The GOP anti-establishment loves Trump at the moment (which we know the joke is on them, but point is: they love him). Attacking Trump means pissing off the anti-establishment voter base, and Rand Paul needs to ride that wind. That way it comes down to Trump or Paul in a convention, and the GOP establishment voters will have to choose either to go with Rand or Trump. I really wish 2nd place wasn't currently held by Cruz though. Rand and Cruz see eye to eye on some critical issues (even if Cruz is watching where Rand's eyes go first and copying him), so it'll be tough to bump Cruz down without splitting hairs on issues.

And if they choose Trump over Paul in a two-way race, then at least we will know, once and for all, that even under dire circumstances, the GOP will never accept a Paul presidency.

If you're the first car in a race, everyone wants to try to over-take you. It can be a bad spot to be in. But you can ride comfortably in second place and wait for your moment to over-take. Cruz is enjoying this right now. He's quietly sitting second in the running and everyone is focused on Trump. Good spot to be in.

[Dianne]

What would Rand have had to lose?

Is he vying for a cabinet appointment? Does he not see how inevitably disastrous a Trump presidency would be?

I say stop tip toeing around this $#@! and just unleash every direct and hyperbolic attack on Trump possible. Call him a dictator. Call him Anti-American. Call him evil. Point out that by playing into the hands of ISIS, and being in charge of the world's largest nuclear arsenal, he is worse than ISIS. Say that you are ashamed to stand on stage with him, say that the Republican party should be ashamed. Say that America should be ashamed. This would have been the #1 story for the entire week. It would have forced republican candidates to choose: Trump vs Paul. It would have taken supporters away from every candidate other than Trump. If it doesn't work then worst case the campaign ends. At least he would be on record as the one voice of reason people will look back on after Trump destroys the GOP and the country.

But no..

I'm all for that, but Rand should knock others out of the way first. Jeb Bush should be his first target.

[jkob]

Or maybe he could say all those things about Hillary and the Establishment candidates and actually gain voters rather than piss off the very people he needs to vote for him?

Pretty much, if Rand played ball with Trump like Cruz and Carson had then maybe he'd be sitting in 1st in Iowa instead of piddling away in the low single digits like he is now. Rand tried to be the politically correct "new kind of Republican" that could appeal millennials, minorities, and Silicon Valley across the aisle while easing fears from more mainstream republicans with hawkish language. I can confidently say at this point that strategy has been an unmitigated disaster. None of those groups support him and he's lost most of his dad's base.

The GOP has no chance without Trump's voters, when you call Trump essentially a Nazi over and over again then what you are saying to these voters is that they are Nazis and predictably they will shut you out. Attacking Trump is carrying the water of the establishment, it shouldn't be our fight. Rand should of been pounding Bush, Rubio, Hillary, Boehner, McConnell, instead he was crying about Trump saying mean stuff. Everyone that worked strategy on this campaign should be fired and should never work again on any campaign.

[nobody's_hero]

Everyone that worked strategy on this campaign should be fired and should never work again on any campaign.

Probably a bit harsh but they need to tone it down in the next debate.

The establishment has tried attacking Trump at every opportunity and all it does is make Trump invincible. Rand attacking him leads to similar results, and the last thing we need is for Rand to be lumped in with the likes of Rubio, Christie, or Jeb (establishment-certified picks).

I say all of this with the standard disclaimer that Trump is not as anti-establishment as he pretends to be. It appears right now that he is more ego-driven in his drive for 'winning'. Bush, Rubio, and Christie don't seem like they really want the presidency as badly as Trump. It's almost as if the establishment is telling them just to stand there and look pretty and the-powers-that-be will do all the rest.

[01000110]

Rand hit Trump over shutting down the internet in the debate... A fox Facebook post on that topic is full of Trump Humpers blasting Rand.

Attacking Trump won't work I don't think. Trump is going to have to sink himself somehow.

[Jan2017]

Rand wasn't asked a question on this - but brought it up and took the issue to the plate.
Trump wiffed and was booed - maybe the western states are gonna be home field advantage I guess.

Rand Paul on Trump's proposals:

If you are going to close the Internet, realize, America what that entails. That entails getting rid of the First Amendment.

[Jan2017]

Rand hit Trump over shutting down the internet in the debate... A fox Facebook post on that topic is full of Trump Humpers blasting Rand.

Attacking Trump won't work I don't think. Trump is going to have to sink himself somehow.

Trump on why he would be great as President:

I think we need someone we can trust who is totally responsible, who knows what he or she is doing that is so powerful and so important.

Trump dazed as the Senators talking above his level of understanding
And, he did sink - like a rock ! Couldn't describe himself coherently. Then, he cried about unfair treatment

social media adding more publicity of Trump fail in the debate - it's all good.