Political skill of the first order
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) demonstrated in his filibuster of John Brennan exactly why he is a formidable force and why 2016 contenders and their supporters should be nervous. Paul, in carrying on a...
View ArticleWhat the media and the hawks missed
Sen. Rand Paul’s filibuster was a shock to the sclerotic Beltway system in which nothing is spontaneous and in which nuance is praised only in the abstract. Paul was clever to pick an issue, a specific...
View ArticleRand Paul wins: Changing of the guard?
Earlier today, I noted that Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) were on opposite sides of a generational divide in the GOP that goes beyond ideology. That flared into an open spat as...
View ArticleConservative turning point?
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) surely didn’t satisfy everyone in the GOP this week. There were nitpicks about his arguments voiced during nearly 13 hours (!) of filibustering, and those who have decided to...
View ArticleRand Paul angst
Some liberals who have cheered Sen. Rand Paul’s filibuster on civil libertarian grounds have gone out of the way to slam him as otherwise loony, a far-right outcast with whom they’ll not be...
View ArticleDistinguished pol of the week
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) ran away with the week, personifying in his filibuster tour de force the phrase “hitting above your weight.” And in rebuking Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) with class and...
View ArticleMarco Rubio vs. Rand Paul
The two hottest conservatives in the Senate came to CPAC on Thursday showing their respective strengths. Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) appeared back to back, maybe a preview of a...
View ArticleIt won’t be your father’s GOP
Thirty years after Ronald Reagan was president, Republicans are still running on a tripartite alliance of social, fiscal and foreign policy conservatives. Alas, such candidates run on a myth; that...
View ArticleRand Paul: They can be citizens if they get in line
In a news conference call this afternoon, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) clarified that his immigration idea would give work visas to those here illegally, but he would not bar such immigrants from obtaining...
View ArticleImmigration reform: Nothing ‘special’
As bad as the last week has been for those railing against gay marriage, anti-immigration advocates (and there is some overlap between the two) have really taken it on the chin. The two hottest GOP...
View ArticleIdle threats on gay marriage
Social conservative leaders these days have taken to complaining that fellow Republicans are “blaming” them for the 2012 loss and threatening that social conservatives will bolt the party if the GOP...
View ArticleDrug reform but not legalization?
Pete Wehner makes a compelling case against legalizing marijuana. As a parent I’m easily amenable to the argument that legalization sends the wrong message to children. That said, a criminal justice...
View ArticleRand Paul: Where the policy action is
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is hardly the first or only conservative to look at reforming our drug laws. But he might be the most important. This Wednesday, as part of his GOP outreach, he’s going to Howard...
View ArticleRand Paul at Howard University
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) delivered an important and intriguing speech at Howard University as part of his determined effort to expand the reach of the GOP and take his message everywhere. His remarks, as...
View ArticleRepublicans making mistakes
Reform is not a straight line; more often than not, it is two steps forward, one step back. As the Republican Party struggles to broaden its appeal and modernize its outlook, it will make mistakes. A...
View ArticleFull steam ahead on immigration reform
Immigration reform is unlikely to be slowed or halted because of the Boston bombing. Immigration exclusionists opposed the Gang of Eight’s bill before the bombing, and they’ll oppose it afterward....
View ArticleRand Paul moves toward a 2016 presidential run
Doug Stafford, who has no equal among Sen. Rand Paul’s advisers, announced that he is leaving his post as chief of staff to head up Rand’s political operation. In other words, he’s going to set up the...
View ArticleRand Paul goes West
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is in Silicon Valley this week talking to high-tech donors. In an interview, he tells Wired’s Spencer Ackerman: One of the reasons I come to California is that the Republican...
View ArticleRand Paul’s dilemma: Selling foreign policy to the left of Obama
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is plainly positioning to run for president in 2016. He has tried to bridge the gap between isolationists-libertarians and conservatives. His piece in the Wall Street Journal...
View ArticleRand Paul might not understand his own policies
Sen. Rand Paul’s long-time confidante and chief of staff Doug Stafford e-mailed me Tuesday evening regarding my post on his boss’s foreign policy incoherence. In particular, Stafford complained: “He...
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