Ben Carson, who is vying with Trump for the lead, has faced intense scrutiny in recent days about a few elements of his inspirational life story of rising from poverty in Detroit to become one of the world’s leading neurosurgeons. We will do much better.
Advertisement
I thought Ohio Gov. John Kasich – the whiniest candidate since Al Gore – would interrupt and complain he hadn’t received a trigger warning before Paul’s comments.
Nevertheless, it was Sen.
Sen. Paul said the stop at the college is one of 350 college visits planned across the country. Paul’s situation is aggravated by the fact that only a year ago he was the darling of a press-driven “libertarian moment”.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is the new darling of the GOP establishment, now that Jeb Bush is an overripe banana. He also had a couple of nice zingers, pointing out to Donald Trump, for example, that China isn’t part of the new trade deal, so blustering on about our relations with China when discussing the deal is (this is my contribution) pointless, misleading, ignorant, or all three. We have a country that’s going to hell….
“The point that I will try to make tonight in the debates is that the biggest threat to our country is that we’re borrowing $1 million a minute”, he said. He then took a jab at Paul’s foreign policy stance. “And if you think walls don’t work, all you have to do is ask Israel”. I am not happy about them flying over there. I’m for being proactively involved with those who may come and attack us. That is naive to the point of being something you might hear in junior high.
Rand Paul on stage usually appears as the most mature and well versed on the issues.
For all his fervor, Paul’s approach is unlikely to make much of a dent in this election with an American public alarmed by the rise of the Islamic State and by the general chaos in the Middle East.
Gabe Lanz, a former U.S. Army soldier from Des Moines who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, and one of the veterans supporting Paul’s candidacy, said he supports Paul’s position of limited intervention.
If you had any doubt about the national security leanings of the GOP, the debate on Tuesday should have resolved them. Republicans seem to be satisfied with his response about how at least he isn’t a liar like Hillary Clinton – though, as The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza notes, Carson’s setup question from Cavuto “would give the term “softball” a bad name”. Rubio is a forceful debater, and he represents hawkish, mainstream Republican foreign policy thinking. That was uttered by Donald Trump which was a huge surprise despite his call on stronger military presence.
“It would be a very different matter if lawyers and bankers were crossing the Rio Grande, or people were coming in with journalism degrees and driving down wages in the press”, Cruz said.
It is a competition Rand Paul hopes he can stay in with support from Minnesotans.
“Most of them don’t think the government should be collecting their phone records”. The libertarian Cato Institute looks at that split and argues that “candidates leaning in a more libertarian direction will likely be benefited at the polls”.
Advertisement
“The government, it’s none of their damn business what you do with your credit card”, Paul told a group of about 200 people gathered for a “Stand with Rand” event on the University of Minnesota campus. “I think I’m the only Republican in the field who could actually compete in Minnesota”.
