Rand Paul Went On The Offensive, Reshaped The Debate And Had His Strongest Performance Yet

Rand Paul Went On The Offensive, Reshaped The Debate And Had His Strongest Performance Yet


Love him or hate him, few people until recently would deny that Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has a unique brand as an independent, libertarian-leaning Republican, which he has successfully leveraged to national fame.

For a variety of reasons, Paul has failed to gain traction as a Republican presidential candidate. And his peevish and lackluster performances in the first three GOP debates did him no favors.

At the Republican debate in Milwaukee on Tuesday night, though, the old Paul was back: the guy who is steadfast and combative in his libertarianism, but in a likable way. The crowd ate it up.

On foreign policy, Paul stood by his insistence that the United States should engage Russian President Vladimir Putin to seek a resolution to the war in Syria. He dismissed a no-fly zone in Syria as a reckless move that could lead to war with Russia. And playing to anti-interventionists in both parties, he noted that the proposal has the support of Hillary Clinton, as well as his Republican rivals.

“If you’re ready for [a no-fly zone], be ready to send your sons and daughters to another war in Iraq,” Paul warned.

“I don’t want to see that happen. I think the first war in Iraq was a mistake,” Paul added, before being cut off by applause.

On fiscal policy, Paul was unapologetic about his plans shrink the government by starving it of revenue — and unforgiving in his attacks on his rivals for deviating from conservative fiscal orthodoxy.

He called Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) proposed child care tax credit a “welfare transfer payment.