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Last week, Michael Nystrom wrote a post at DailyPaul.com, a site he founded, that indicates its end is near. The site was for years a focal point of conversation and energy orbiting the stated and implied political philosophy of Ron Paul. Its animated logo unveils the site's mantra: P (eace) - AU (gold) - L (love).

No longer. "We'll watch the opening of the Rand Paul campaign. That should be interesting," Nystrom wrote in the post, nestled between a report on artificial chemicals from Infowars and critique of the State Department. "But then I'll have to go, because my alliance is not with any politician or any political party, but with Liberty herself."

Earlier this year, he offered more of a rationale. "The Ron Paul era is over. We're moving into the Rand Paul era. So out of respect to both men, but mainly to Ron, a chapter should officially be closed."

Since it became obvious that he would run for president -- something that is expected to become official on Tuesday -- two questions have surrounded Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) First, could he retain the energy of Ron Paul's vocal and generous base of support in his 2008 and 2012 campaigns? (Update: The Times reports that Ron Paul will attend the announcement.) And, second, could he distance himself from his father's more ... exotic beliefs? We've addressed the latter before; so far, he's emerged unscathed, even as Ron Paul keeps doing his own thing.

But what about the former? There's not much mention of Rand in the comments to Nystrom's farewell address. Over at Ron Paul Forums, though, the Paul family chapter seems to be continuing, rather than closing. "That was a great promo!," commented Bastiat's The Law on a post containing Rand's announcement video. "Reminds me of some of the passionate Ron Paul youtube videos."

There hasn't been polling showing how Ron Paul supporters from 2008 and 2012 are leaning in 2016. But we can compare Washington Post polling on the favorability of each as an indicator. We focused on age, because of the frequent assumption that Rand hopes to mobilize the young voters that powered his father's campaigns.

In March 2012, late into the campaign cycle, Ron Paul was seen less favorably than Rand is now, even though both were about equally well-known.

What's more, Ron hadweaker support and faced stronger opposition than Rand is seeing.

That suggests that Rand Paul's balancing act, which the Post reported on earlier Monday, might be working. Nick Gillespie of Reason magazine called Rand Paul "libertarian-ish," which probably isn't a huge negative for someone running in what will likely be a series of conservative Republican primaries.

The poll numbers above mightalso serve as a reminder that Rand Paul hasn't yet seen the sort of criticism that tends to wither a politician's base of support. That's where Ron Paul's base shined. It's been eight years since he first ran for the GOP nomination for president, and they've kept up active discussion groups dedicated to his principles. As the header at DailyPaul makes clear, Ron's fervent focus on less-trodden, outsider issueslike gold earned him that loyalty.

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The Fix: Will Rand Paul inherit the energy of Ron Pauls campaigns?

"Stand With Rand." That's Sen. Rand Paul's main slogan as he launches his campaign for the White House. He's holding a "Stand With Rand" rally in his home state of Kentucky on Tuesday and is holding another "Stand With Rand" rally in New Hampshire, the traditional first primary state, on Wednesday. It's an unfortunate choice of words, because it underscores the chief problem with his candidacy. For the life of me, I can't figure out what he really believes where he really stands, especially when it comes to foreign policy.

At a January forum with fellow Republican Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, Paul challenged his colleagues' hawkish showboating on Iran: "Are you ready to send ground troops into Iran? Are you ready to bomb them? Are you ready to send in 100,000 troops? I'm a big fan of trying the diplomatic option as long as we can. If it fails, I will vote to resume sanctions and I would vote to have new sanctions. But if you do it in the middle of negotiations, you're ruining it.'"

Two months later, he was "ruining it" by putting his signature on an open letter to the Iranian leadership. Authored by arch-neoconservative Sen. Tom Cotton, the letter basically told Tehran that a Republican in the White House would nullify any deal negotiated by the Obama administration.

His explanation for this complete reversal was baffling. He told Glenn Beck that it is "kind of crazy" for anyone to question his decision to sign: "Do I have any regrets about informing another country of how our Constitution works?"

He told a different story at the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas. Claiming to support the diplomatic talks, he said: "I want the president to negotiate from a position of strength, which means that he needs to be telling them in Iran, 'I've got Congress to deal with.'"

How is it helpful to tell the Iranians that any agreement they sign may expire in two years? Cotton is nothing if not forthright: He has said he wants to "blow up" the negotiations, and certainly his letter aimed at doing just that. For Paul to join in this sabotage attempt was intellectually indefensible and entirely in character.

As a U.S.-backed movement seized power in Kiev, Paul called for "respectful relations" with the Kremlin: "Some on our side are so stuck in the Cold War era that they want to tweak Russia all the time, and I don't think that is a good idea."

A few months later he was demanding that President Vladimir Putin be "punished," invoking "our role as a global leader to be the strongest nation in opposing Russia's latest aggression." Putin, said Paul, was guilty of "violating the Budapest Memorandum, and Russia must learn that the U.S. will isolate it if it insists on acting like a rogue nation." Here's the thing: The Budapest Memorandum was never ratified by Congress. It was signed by President Clinton, who didn't bother to consult the Senate. It's kind of crazy, as Paul would say, that it's necessary to inform the senator how our Constitution works.

Paul's record of contradictions is extensive. In 2011, freshly elected to the Senate, Paul proposed an alternative budget that zeroed out all foreign aid including to Israel. The budget included a section explicitly eliminating aid to Israel on the grounds that it undermined "Israel's ability to conduct foreign policy, regain economic dominance, and support itself without the heavy hand of U.S. interests and policies."

After the neoconservative wing of his party lashed out at him for being "anti-Israel," Paul started singing a different tune. His revised budget froze foreign aid at present levels. Yet even that modest attempt at fiscal discipline was thrown overboard when he voted to increase aid to Israel and boasted about it in a statement issued by his office.

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'Stand with Rand' Paul? But where, exactly?

When the presidential buzz began building around Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) a couple of years ago, the expectation was that his libertarian ideas could make him the most unusual and intriguing voice among the major contenders in the 2016 field.

But now, as he prepares to make his formal announcement Tuesday, Paul is a candidate who has turned fuzzy, having trimmed his positions and rhetoric so much that its unclear what kind of Republican he will present himself as when he takes the stage.

Hes going to get his moment in the sun, said David Adams, who served as campaign chairman for Pauls insurgent 2010 Senate campaign. What he does with it from there will have bearing on the Republican Party.

There are at least two areas where Paul has moved more in line with the conservative Republican base, somewhat to the consternation of the purists in the libertarian movement: adopting a more muscular posture on defense and foreign policy, and courting the religious right.

Where he once pledged to sharply cut the Pentagons budget, for instance, Paul late last month proposed a $190billion increase over the next two years albeit one that would be paid for by cutting foreign aid and other government programs. His tour following the announcement of his candidacy will include an event at Patriots Point in South Carolinas Charleston Harbor, with the World War II-era aircraft carrier USS Yorktown as a backdrop.

[What Rand Pauls defense spending proposal tells us about his 2016 strategy]

The haziness over Pauls positions increased last week with his conspicuous silence on controversies in the realms of both national security and the cultural fronts.

Nearly all of his potential rivals for the 2016 GOP nomination have been vocal in their support for Indianas new religious liberties law, which critics say would allow discrimination against gays. And the Republican response to President Obamas nuclear negotiations with Iran has been widespread skepticism.

In both instances, Pauls office said he was vacationing with his family and would not comment.

What Paul says Tuesday and in several stops in the following days will be closely watched by a handful of disparate constituencies into which he has tried to make inroads over the past year, including Silicon Valley executives drawn to his libertarian ways and more traditional Republican business leaders who are wary of them. Attracted to his promise of expanding the GOP electorate, they have met with Paul, but many remain unsure of his electability, as well as his views.

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Rand Paul seems to stray from libertarian roots as he ...

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) briefly appears in a new documentary that argues gay rights are a threat to Christianity.

The film, "Light Wins: How To Overcome The Criminalization Of Christianity," is a project by socially conservative activist Janet Porter. It features a who's who of anti-gay activists, including pastor Scott Lively and Eagle Forum founder Phyllis Schlafly. The documentary warns that the religious right is getting pushed aside by the "homosexual lobby."

Paul's appearance in the film comes as he prepares to announce a 2016 presidential run and as the Republican Party finds itself divided over how to move forward on the issue of gay rights and concerns over religious freedom.

Promotional materials first posted by Right Wing Watch in February revealed that Paul was slated to appear in the documentary. But Paul told The Huffington Post at the time that he wasn't aware of it.

"I saw [the news about the documentary] this morning," he said on Feb. 12. "I dont know anything about it. Ive never heard of it until today."

The Huffington Post received a DVD of the film this week from the Human Rights Campaign. Paul appears during a section talking about ministers who don't want to perform same-sex weddings.

"Or are they [the federal government] going to ultimately say to a minister who has a tax deduction, 'Oh, that's not really your money and you're getting a tax deduction and we're going to make you do this?'" Paul asks.

(Watch Paul's appearance above, 5:25 into the clip.)

In a trailer for the film, Paul talks about being relieved that the Supreme Court hasn't found that there is a constitutional right to marriage equality. In 2013, the court said it was unconstitutional for the federal government to refuse to recognize gay couples who were married but it did not go so far as to say that same-sex marriage should be legal nationwide.

"The silver lining, I would say, that came out of the ruling though was they did go on for seven pages saying that this has been a state issue. They didn't overturn the right of states to determine what marriage is," Paul said.

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Rand Paul Appears In New Anti-Gay Documentary

Rand Paul bills himself as a different kind of Republican, a digital-savvy conservative who can expand the GOP electorate beyond its traditional boundaries.

So when he formally announces his presidential campaign Tuesday, one of the first tests will be behind the scenes as he attempts to amplify his message beyond the Louisville, Ky., launch event and reach many voters where they now live online.

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The framework is already in place, according to his team. Different domains will funnel traffic to the same official campaign website. Google staffers plan to be with Pauls top aides in Louisville., as well as a satellite campaign office in Austin, Texas, to help decipher the optimal moments to blast out digital ads and measure their real-time web performance. And Paul isnt just using social media like Facebook, Snapchat and Twitter to spread word about his political ambitions. Hes also pushing out all-important links to his own website, where he can solicit donations, email addresses and other vital information that will lead to more asks for money, more invitations to attend rallies and more ways for people to engage with his expected upstart presidential bid.

It may all seem like 21st-century White House campaigning 101. But these are essentials that budget-strapped outfits can miss just ask Ted Cruz, who as the first presidential candidate out of the gate failed to secure key website domains with his name and also sent out links directing potential boosters away from his official campaign page not deadly campaign errors, but rather missed opportunities. For Paul, there wont be a bigger test this year for his much-hyped tech team as it takes its turn among a field of crowded Republican contenders in feeding off the free media spotlight and that small segment of the American public that willingly tunes in for these kinds of events.

Pauls moment wont last long. Marco Rubio has a big announcement planned for April 13 in Miami, and Hillary Clinton is expected to follow soon after. Both likely campaign roll-outs will be closely scrutinized to see if they are using the latest and greatest tech tools right from the start to rally boosters for fundraising, volunteering and, ultimately, voting.

There will be thousands of events between now and Iowa that just dont produce a lot of rain, said Scott Tranter, co-founder of Washington-based 0ptimus, a data and technology firm working for Rubio. [Launch days] are automatic rainmakers and youve got to catch what you can.

When it comes to his campaigns tech game, Paul tends to be one step ahead of his 2016 competitors. Hes been courting Silicon Valleys libertarian-minded leaders since his first Senate campaign in 2010. Last November, Paul hired Cruzs top digital strategist. On the web, Paul regularly trolls his 2016 rivals with snarky tweets and gimmicky hashtags (#StandwithRand #thingstorunfrom #hillaryslosers). His digital team created a fake phone conversations between Clinton and Jeb Bush widely shared on social media, and Paul has even paid for ads running atop the leading search engine results for his opponents.

Sen. Paul is clearly running a very different type of organization, said Vincent Harris, the former Cruz tech adviser now working as chief digital strategist for RANDPAC, Pauls political arm. Id expect Tuesday to be another continuous reflection of a tech-foward operation, of a crowd-sourced campaign that will use digital thats never been used before on the Republican side.

Democratic and Republican digital strategists question whether Pauls online trolling will backfire as he tries reaching beyond his traditional base of libertarians and conservative-minded techies. But Paul is counting on being rewarded for bringing to the GOP presidential field some of the same creative digital elements and outreach that Obama used to great effect in 2008 in challenging the Democratic establishment and thwarting Clintons first White House bid. At the very least, Pauls online presence should pay off dividends in his bank account.

Originally posted here:
Rand's first tech test