The Brody File: The Mad Scramble April 2, 2015
Let the 2016 presidential race begin! The Brody File is one-on-one with Ted Cruz. Plus, inside Rand Paul #39;s breakfast with pastors, Donald Trump one-on-one and Hobby Lobby President Steve Green...
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The Brody File: The Mad Scramble April 2, 2015 - Video
YASP EP:13 Rand Paul #39;s Stupid Vaccine Views. (with bonus clips!)
Yelling At Stupid People, Episode #13! (with bonus clips!) You can also find me on: https://www.facebook.com/TheFoxholeAt... https://www.Twitter.com/Randy_Bevan ***Support SecularTv on Patreon*** ...
By: SecularTv
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YASP EP:13 Rand Paul's Stupid Vaccine Views. (with bonus clips!) - Video
Republicans from all across Kentucky will be in the audience next week when Sen. Rand Paul announces his presidential run in Louisville with one big exception.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has endorsed Pauls national bid. But there are official endorsements and then there are endorsements with all the accouterments fundraising help, stops on the campaign trail, leaning on fellow pols to get on board and McConnells imprimatur is decidedly in the former category.
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In the latest twist in a relationship between two politicians who in many respects are polar opposites, the Republican leader wont be on hand for his junior senators White House campaign kickoff. Sources familiar with his decision insisted its not meant as a slight: McConnell is simply following through on his pledge not to campaign for Paul, lest he play favorites among the three other members of his conference planning or eyeing bids of their own.
While McConnell has made his support for Rand known, he also has a job to do as majority leader, said one Republican official with knowledge of their relationship. With several members of his conference running for the same office, its just easier for him to do his day job that way.
The two Kentucky Republicans cut very different profiles one is the embodiment of the party establishment, the other a tea party libertarian yet theyve formed an alliance the past few years that has paid political dividends for both. Each has helped the others cause with the part of the GOP in which hes weakest Pauls endorsement of McConnells reelection last year helped the GOP leader court the conservative grass roots, and McConnell has lent Paul cred with more mainstream Republicans as he tries to broaden his appeal for 2016.
But McConnells move to skip Pauls presidential launch shows the limits of their alliance.
McConnell isnt the only lawmaker grappling with the presidential ambitions of colleagues from their states delegation. In states such as Florida, where Sen. Marco Rubio plans to formally announce his bid in mid-April, Republicans like Rep. John Mica are instead supporting their states former governor, Jeb Bush. In South Carolina, Sen. Tim Scott plans to stay neutral even as his senior colleague from South Carolina, Lindsey Graham, is openly toying with a run. And in Texas, conservative firebrand Ted Cruz has won few allies in his states delegation, with many eager to jump behind another candidate or stay out of the race altogether.
Asked about Cruz, Texas Rep. Pete Sessions said he believes his states delegation will instead rally behind a Republican candidate with wider appeal.
We need someone who can win the state of Florida, can win the state of Pennsylvania and can win the state of Ohio, Sessions said. We can have favorite sons. There is nothing wrong with that, but Republicans want to win before we want an ideological [candidate].
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Mitch McConnell-Rand Paul alliance has its limits - Manu ...
At an event in Cedar Falls, Iowa, on Thursday, the presidential candidate was asked by a voter why he voted in favor of extending the Patriot Act. The voter was referring to a piece of legislation that sought to curb the government's meta data phone collection effort.
Paul, though a stalwart critic of the NSA, indeed voted against the bill, saying it didn't go far enough. The legislation "did not fix the problem" and reauthorized expiring parts of the Patriot Act, Paul's top adviser said Thursday.
READ: Cruz rockets to third in a new poll
"Others are welcome to their decision to compromise on American's 4th Amendment rights, but not to cast it misleadingly as a vote for liberty," Doug Stafford said.
Cruz on Thursday, trying to defend his own record on civil liberties, said Paul "is a good friend" but argued that Kentucky Republican stalled NSA reform efforts.
"Unfortunately, Rand voted no," Cruz said. "He did say it didn't go far enough, but it failed by one vote."
The measure actually failed by two votes, but Cruz brushed off the second vote, saying it was simply a procedural move by then Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
"I'll tell you, (Utah Sen.) Mike Lee and I were both deeply dismayed that it was our single best chance to end the bulk collection of meta data," Cruz said.
The first-term senator from Texas made his comments on the second day of his first trip to Iowa since declaring his presidential run last week.
Paul, who's expected to announce his own campaign next week in Kentucky, wasted no time going after Cruz once Cruz became a candidate. Just hours after Cruz announced his presidential bid last week in Virginia, Paul argued on Fox News that he was more electable than Cruz in a general election against Hillary Clinton.
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Ted Cruz knocks Rand Paul on NSA vote
On the eve of his expected presidential announcement, Republican insiders in Iowa and New Hampshire say Rand Paul is a top contender in those early states next year and they agree that for better and for worse, his father, Ron Paul, looms large over his candidacy.
According to this weeks survey of the POLITICO Caucus, a bipartisan group of political operatives, activists and key players from Iowa and New Hampshire, about two-thirds of all respondents said Paul can win their state in the caucuses or primary. But to do so, many said, the Kentucky senator has to build on the base cultivated by his father, the libertarian icon and former presidential candidate.
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While former Rep. Ron Pauls network of supporters is proving to be an asset, the elder Pauls isolationist views which many associate with Rand Paul are also contributing to what is by far the senators biggest liability: his positions on foreign policy and national security. A majority of respondents, when asked an open-ended question about Pauls greatest weakness, pointed to one or the other.
Sixty-three percent of all respondents said they consider Rand Paul an isolationist, and only 16 percent think he could beat Hillary Clinton in a general election a number that ticks up to 24 percent among Republican insiders.
He needs to distance himself from some of his fathers positions, said one nonpartisan insider. In particular, that means foreign policy. It seems foreign policy/international relations issues may be more important than usual this cycle, so its even more important that he finds a position acceptable to a broader group of GOP voters. The problem with doing so is that moving away from his fathers positions carries the risk of alienating the libertarian voters who are his base.
Rand Paul, who is expected to announce his presidential candidacy next Tuesday in Louisville, has long bristled at attempts to link his views too closely with those of his father, a former GOP Texas congressman who continues to weigh in with his controversial views on foreign policy. The senator, while less interventionist in orientation than many of his likely competitors, has stressed that he believes in a strong national defense and has made a concerted effort to reassure activists and donors leery of his father that he is sufficiently supportive of Israel.
At the outset of the 2016 race, Ron Paul is viewed as providing an edge to his son. Fifty-seven percent of all respondents called the elder Paul a net positive, pointing to the built-in base of libertarian support in Iowa and New Hampshire, left over from his 2008 and 2012 presidential bids, that Rand Paul can tap into.
With a huge field of candidates, Rand Paul has one advantage most other candidates dont enjoy, he essentially owns one segment of the caucus electorate, said one unaffiliated Iowa Republican, who, like all POLITICO Caucus members, was granted anonymity to speak freely. If Paul can turn out the 26,000-plus people who voted for his father in 2012, I like his chances in this current field of candidates.
One New Hampshire Republican who is backing Jeb Bush added, Rand needs to hold the Ron Paul base, pick up some establishment support, and hope that the other candidates divide up the rest of the vote. Its a tough path, but not out of the question.
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Insiders view Paul as strong early state contender