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Sen. Rand Paul is reportedly set to announce his presidential campaign in April. And(timing!) his supporters are happily pointingto newQuinnipiac polls of three key swing states, which show for a change that a Republican is running neck-and-neck with Hillary Clinton.

That Republican, of course,is Paul.

Of particular interest are the results inColorado and Virginia, where Clinton narrowly leads Paul 43-41 percent and 44-42 percent, respectively within the margin of error. No other Republican is so close in the three states polled the third being Iowa. And that includes Jeb Bush, who is tied in Virginia but lags in the two other states.

A sampling of the Twitter analysis:

All the usual caveats of early polling, of course, apply here. This poll predicts nothing, but it does give a sense of *very early* views of the candidates.

And thoughit's a good picture for Paul, it's also not that surprising. Colorado and Virginia, after all,should be some of his better states.

The former is known as the birthplace of the American libertarian movement. And a 2009 study from George Mason University ranked it as the second most-libertarian state in the country when it cameto "personal and economic freedom."

And Virginia, while not renowned for its libertarian streak, per se, gave Ron Paul 40 percent of the vote in his 2012 primary match-up with Mitt Romney his best showing in any state. It's worth qualifying that they were the only two candidatesonVirginia's ballot (in contrast to other contests around that time) making Ron Paul the only so-called non-Romney option and likely inflating his total at least somewhat. But 40 percent for a Paul is still 40 percent for a Paul.

And there's plenty of evidence of Virginia moving more toward libertarianism, up to and including Robert Sarvis, who had the third-best showing ever for a libertarian gubernatorial candidate in Virginia's 2013 governor's race.

None of this, we would emphasize, is to diminish Paul's case for electability. In fact, it's part and parcel of it. That's because both of these states and other more libertarian stateslike Nevada and New Hampshire arguably the most libertarian state in the country just happen to beswing states in 2016. And Republicans would love to have a candidate who runs well in these states. Paul could be that guy, at least in theory.

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The Fix: Is Rand Paul the GOPs Great Libertarian Hope against Clinton? Yes and no.

Sen. Rand Paul is reportedly set to announce his presidential campaign in April. And(timing!) his supporters are happily pointingto newQuinnipiac polls of three key swing states, which show for a change that a Republican is running neck-and-neck with Hillary Clinton.

That Republican, of course,is Paul.

Of particular interest are the results inColorado and Virginia, where Clinton narrowly leads Paul 43-41 percent and 44-42 percent, respectively within the margin of error. No other Republican is so close in the three states polled the third being Iowa. And that includes Jeb Bush, who is tied in Virginia but lags in the two other states.

A sampling of the Twitter analysis:

All the usual caveats of early polling, of course, apply here. This poll predicts nothing, but it does give a sense of *very early* views of the candidates.

And thoughit's a good picture for Paul, it's also not that surprising. Colorado and Virginia, after all,should be some of his better states.

The former is known as the birthplace of the American libertarian movement. And a 2009 study from George Mason University ranked it as the second most-libertarian state in the country when it cameto "personal and economic freedom."

And Virginia, while not renowned for its libertarian streak, per se, gave Ron Paul 40 percent of the vote in his 2012 primary match-up with Mitt Romney his best showing in any state. It's worth qualifying that they were the only two candidatesonVirginia's ballot (in contrast to other contests around that time) making Ron Paul the only so-called non-Romney option and likely inflating his total at least somewhat. But 40 percent for a Paul is still 40 percent for a Paul.

And there's plenty of evidence of Virginia moving more toward libertarianism, up to and including Robert Sarvis, who had the third-best showing ever for a libertarian gubernatorial candidate in Virginia's 2013 governor's race.

None of this, we would emphasize, is to diminish Paul's case for electability. In fact, it's part and parcel of it. That's because both of these states and other more libertarian stateslike Nevada and New Hampshire arguably the most libertarian state in the country just happen to beswing states in 2016. And Republicans would love to have a candidate who runs well in these states. Paul could be that guy, at least in theory.

Read more:
Is Rand Paul the GOPs Great Libertarian Hope against Clinton? Yes and no.

David Boaz: The Libertarian Mind
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David Boaz: The Libertarian Mind - Video

Vaccines Disease and the Non Aggression Principle of Libertarian Voluntaryism
I go over the core ethical issues with forcible vaccines and Voluntaryism. I also produce a comic at http://volcomic.com.

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Vaccines Disease and the Non Aggression Principle of Libertarian Voluntaryism - Video

On Saturday night, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul will give a video address to the International Students For Liberty Conference in downtown Washington, D.C. One night earlier, self-exiled whistleblower Edward Snowdenwho has a little less mobility inside the United States than Paulwill address ISFL "via videoconference," according to organizers. Paulhasconsistently spoken out on behalf ofSnowden, calling his actions "civil disobedience," and saying that if Snowden faced justice he should "share a jail cell" with Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. Not every potential 2016er could appear on the same virtual dais as Snowden. Paul will be right at home.

"There seems to be a generational divide in opinion on Snowden, with young people more broadly supportive of his conduct," says Alexander McCobin, the president of Students For Liberty. "I think it's largely a result of young people having a different worldview these days, one that emphasizes individual empowerment and skepticism of the efforts of long-established institutions reforming themselves." (Disclosure: McCobin interned at Reason magazine when I was a reporter there.)

Paul's appearance is as good a reason as any to explain the difference between the sort of libertarian youth groups that are giving him hope for a broader, larger GOP. Students for Liberty was founded in February 2008 by McCobin, from an idea germinated in the Charles-Koch funded Institute for Humane Studies summer program. Young Americans for Liberty was founded roughly six months later, when Texas Representative Ron Paul ended his campaign for president, and "Young Americans for Ron Paul" wasre-branded. Both are 501(c)3 organizations; both are still run by the former students who founded them. (Jeff Frazee, a veteran of the 2008 and 2012 Ron Paul campaigns, is executive director of YAL.)

There seems to be a generational divide in opinion on Snowden, with young people more broadly supportive of his conduct.

Alexander McCobin

To outsiders, the groups sound nearly identical. They are not; they were born out of a schism between the Paul wing of libertarianism and the Koch wing. By and large, the libertarian donor class that seeded IHS, the Cato Institute, the Reason Foundation and similar institutions saw them as the way to popularize the philosophy. The Ron Paul movement, which is now basically called the "liberty movement," found that young people who were anti-war (be it on drugs or Iraq) were also natural readers of Mises and Hayek.

Divisions between the old generations of libertarians had been stark. The divisions between YAL and SFL are not. The groups are basically collaborative, with the difference that YAL is understood to be a permanent ally of Ron Paul's campaign, and SFL (with international partners) is not as political. YAL is co-sponsoring SFL's conference. Ron Paul fans sometimes share a meme of the congressman waving his arms amid neon lights and the tag "It's Happening!" SFL's promo material for the weekend, advertising an event with Paul and Judge Andrew Napolitano, winks at the meme.

Students for Liberty

Is there still some static? Of course there is. In 2014, after Russia invaded Ukraine, Ron Paul defended Crimea's sovereign right to secede and join the occupying Russians. McCobin issued a statement, informing the media that while Paul's "views are interpreted by many as wholly representative of the libertarian movement," the Students for Liberty disagreed.

That was then. Everyone in either wing of the young libertarian movement can agree on Snowden.

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