WASHINGTON – Whither Rand Paul.
The Republican senator from Bowling Green has attracted considerable attention recently for his objections to the economically catastrophic tariffs President-cum-Dictator Donald J. Trump has sought to impose, going so far as to join with Sen. Tim Kaine, D-VA, in sponsoring a resolution overturning the Mar-a-Lago Madman’s emergency declaration that slapped 25 percent levies on Canadian imports.
The tariffs, Paul said, are “not only bad economically, they are bad politically.”
Paul’s initiative is noteworthy for two reasons – he is diverging from the MAGA cult, which is a treacherous path for any Republican these days, and he’s doing so by linking up with a Democrat at a moment in history when bipartisanship is a quaint notion.
That’s not to say our boy Rand is turning over a new leaf, walking arm-in-arm with fellow upper chamber member Bernie Sanders, I-VT, or anything like that. He remains that unlovable curmudgeon libertarian we’ve all grown to recognize.
But something is up.
Well, maybe.
Paul was in Lewisburg, PA, last week delivering an address before a packed house at Bucknell University that centered on topics ranging from foreign policy to the au courant issue of tariffs and beyond. While continuing to pledge allegiance to the nation’s omnipotent authoritarian he nonetheless told the crowd that an “assault on the Constitution’’ is underway and that the presidency has become too potent a force.
The Daily Item in Sunbury, PA, quoted him as saying, “I do think it’s important in any day and age for people to stand up and be honest about what they think is happening, and not submit to one person, even if they’re the leader of your party. We’ll see what happens. It may not be good for me, but I am what I am.”
The next day found our hero in New Haven, CT, delivering an address before another full boat at the Yale Political Union, hitting tariffs yet again and supporting the debate proposition, “Resolved: Cut It to the Bone,” thus advocating for the federal government to be reduced to the size of a postage stamp, as the old saying goes.
That proposition, by the way, lost by a sizeable margin among those in attendance.
Now, you may have easily determined the number of Paul’s Kentucky constituents in Lewisburg PA and New Haven CT can easily be stuffed into a phone booth, if you are old enough to remember one of those things. And Semafor, a worthwhile internet news site, recently revealed that Paul intends to escape the confines of the District of Columbia in the near future and greet folks elsewhere in what some insist on calling the Real America.
Hmmmmm…
Now, it could just be that Rand Paul has this insatiable desire to spread his joy around, introducing malleable minds to the pleasures of libertarianism.
Or maybe he’s thinking about running for president.
Again.
Consider the pieces in the puzzle.
A high elected official scouring the confines outside his or her zone of familiarity usually is doing so for a reason. And that reason, generally speaking, since they are politicians, is politics. Lewisburg is a pleasant place but Paul is unlikely to scrounge up any votes there for his next Senate run. So why go or make it clear that additional such stops are in the offing?
Trump, who will be 82 at the time of the next presidential election in 2028, is barred under the Constitution from seeking a third term, although the Mussolini wannabe is already hinting at the existence of a work-around that would enable him to do so.
Trump has been on the Republican ballot in each of the last three presidential elections, effectively squeezing out any GOP aspirant dreaming of putting his or her feet up on the Resolute Desk at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
That includes Paul, who, at age 53, after six years in the Senate, decided to enter the Republican presidential primary in 2016. His reasoning proved erratic, at least on that occasion. Like several others he became caught in the Trump tidal wave and was forced to abandon ship well before the Republican convention. The rest is history.
Now, at age 62, 65 when the next presidential primary rolls around, the next election may prove to be his lone remaining shot. Right now, in the way-too-early-to-speculate betting odds, Vice President JD Vance, who resides over in bordering Cincinnati, by the way, is probably the favorite to succeed everybody’s favorite sexual assaulter.
But Vance isn’t particularly popular with the voting public although he might have the edge if he proves to be Trump’s chosen successor. An endorsement, however, might not prove to be as valuable three years hence than what it seems to be now. Trump’s approval is down to about 41 percent and his intentions for the future don’t look promising. Vance will be in no position to cross the Lord High Muckety-Muck and will float – or sink – with him.
So, who else is there? It won’t be an African-American or a woman — c’mon folks, let’s get real, we’re talking Republican here. The Senate is filled with faceless GOP bozos who shudder in fear every time they hear the word Trump. Some governor might pop up – can you say President Greg Abbott? Didn’t think so. Any quick process of elimination would establish that Paul, who is extremely popular with a certain segment of the Republican diehards, has a reasonable shot.
One complication is the same complication that created hand-wringing when he ran in 2016 – the election coincides with Paul’s re-election campaign for the Senate. State law prohibits a candidate from appearing on the ballot twice in the same election. Paul sought legislation nine years ago to dismiss that little detail but failed to do so. Fortunately, the state Republican Party decided that year to hold a presidential caucus instead of a primary, thus allowing voters to support Paul for president in March and then vote for him again, this time in the primary for his Senate re-election, in May.
Coincidence?
Regardless, the manipulations mattered not. By the time the whole rigmarole rolled into town Rand was long gone. This time, with a legislature more Republican than it was in 2016, Paul will likely find himself on Easy Street.
Money will likely be no problem. Rand is palsy-walsy with a dude named Jeff Yass, who, as of April 27, was reputed to be worth $59.02 billion.
That’s billion with a ‘B.’
Yass has tossed millions in Paul’s direction. As of last April, according to the incomparable Tom Loftus at the Kentucky Lantern, he had contributed about $30 million to Protect Freedom, a super PAC connected to Paul. And there’s plenty more dough where that came from.
Rand Paul ain’t the perfect candidate. His voice pattern sounds like he’s imitating a drone flying overhead, a real cure for insomnia. He’s not a hail fellow well met, and we’ll just leave it there. An analysis of his libertarian policies would require a full autopsy so let’s just say he tends to leave empathy at the door.
And there’s a potential Trump problem. They went during the 2016 presidential campaign from despising and ridiculing each other to playing golf and appearing like BFFs. But the two occasionally disagree – tariffs being the most significant example – and Donald doesn’t take real well to people who contradict him. Some schmoozing might be required to keep afloat.
It would be hard to argue against the proposition that, in his heart of hearts, Rand Paul still desires to be president. An April 25, 2015 piece in Politico reported that the real groundwork for Paul’s entry into the 2016 presidential campaign “started in a Capitol Hill townhouse just days after the November 2012 election,” after having served less than two years in the Senate.
In fact, the article maintains, the only reason Paul didn’t run for president in 2012 just two years into his first term — was because his father, Ron Paul, the erstwhile libertarian congressman, was considering his third presidential bid, creating a potentially uncomfortable family conflict. But Ron’s retired now and the libertarian path is cleared for his offspring.
Granted, this is all pure speculation. But there are numerous hints emerging. Should he enter, he could be the second contemporary Kentuckian to look into a mirror and see the next United States president – Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear is certainly viewing a similar returning gaze.
A quick clarification, or correction if you prefer. Last week I noted that Lexington businessman Nate Morris, who may run for Senate, endorsed Nikki Haley for president in 2024. I’ve been advised that’s inaccurate, that he contributed to her political action committee only after she vowed that she would not run against Trump in the GOP primary. She changed her mind and he subsequently did not endorse her presidential aspirations.