By Sean Cockerham
McClatchy Washington Bureau (MCT)
Published: September 25, 2014
WASHINGTON Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is trading insults with a longtime adviser to fellow Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who maintains that Paul is either a liar or in the thrall of conspiracy theories.
I would give him the benefit of the doubt but Im not sure which characterization dissembler or crackpot would be more generous, Mark Salter, McCains former chief of staff and senior adviser for the senators 2008 presidential campaign, wrote in a column for the website RealClearPolitics.com.
Pauls office responded to the column with a statement slamming Salter, whos close with McCain and has co-authored several books with him.
Mark Salter advised the Republican Party down a losing electoral path that paved the way for two terms of President Obama, so people should read his angry screed in that context and disregard it, said Brian Darling, Pauls senior communications director.
Salters column was prompted by Pauls false claim that McCain had met with representatives of the Islamic State during a visit to Syria last year.
The feud is the latest sign of tensions over national security between Paul, a likely presidential candidate with a Libertarian side, and more hawkish Republican Party voices. Paul and McCain clashed over McCains support for funding Syrian rebels as part of the fight against the Islamic State.
Paul has also traded barbs with Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who suggested Paul was ignoring the crisis in Iraq, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who questioned Pauls opposition to the sweeping surveillance practices of the National Security Agency. Perry and Christie are also possible presidential candidates in 2016, and the debates likely will echo into the coming campaign for the Republican nomination.
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As feud escalates, McCain ally says Paul is a fool or despicable