Rand Paul gave his speech at the Republican National Convention. The Republican establishment would not let his father speak, unless he was willing to endorse Romney and have his speech pre-approved. Needless to say, Ron Paul is not endorsing Romney and he is not getting any pre-approvals for his speeches. The Republican establishment could count on Rand to be a little more diplomatic. Translation: the Republican establishment could count on Rand to speak less radically in favor of liberty.
Rand Paul is a pretty good speaker. There isn’t much he said in his speech that I (as a radical libertarian) would disagree with. In some ways, Rand’s speech reminded me of Ronald Reagan a little bit. I’m not sure if anyone will ever have the charm of Reagan, but Rand Paul certainly spoke well and spoke well in favor of liberty. My disagreements with Rand Paul and speech are not on the things he said (except his endorsement of Romney). It was the things that he didn’t say that I really disagree with.
Most of his speech was about attacking Obama and his presidency. It was like listening to a good episode of Rush Limbaugh. Most of the criticisms he threw at Obama were valid. My problem is that many of the same things could have been said about George W. Bush or Mitt Romney.
Obama passed Obamacare, but Bush passed his Medicare prescription drug plan and Romney passed Romneycare in Massachusetts. Bush racked up massive debt on his watch and supported massive bailouts. If Romney is elected, I have no doubt that the massive deficits will continue.
Rand did give a brief mention about how Republicans need to admit that not all military spending is necessary or well-spent. He had to throw a bone to his dad’s supporters. Of course, he didn’t mention the hundreds of thousands of innocent lives that have been lost due to the U.S. wars. He didn’t mention that the U.S. government has become the policeman and wanna-be dictator of the world.
The last time I posted something about Rand Paul, I was very critical and I said that he threw away his future political career. I made that statement because I think there is a good portion of Ron Paul supporters who simply don’t trust him anymore, and rightfully so. However, I may have to take back my statement about his political career being over. Rand gave a very uplifting speech and he may be able to imitate Reagan enough to pull the wool over the eyes of the Republican electorate. While I’m sure many Ron Paul supporters would support him in the future (and many wouldn’t), I think there are many non-Ron Paul supporters who would be happy with Rand.
While Rand Paul is certainly the best senator in Washington DC, that is not saying much. He may end up being the best speaker at the convention (from a libertarian standpoint), but again, that isn’t saying much. I don’t think I will be investing any time or money with Rand in his future political career. I simply cannot trust him to the same extent that I can trust his dad. Rand seems like a genuinely nice guy, but there is only one Ron Paul. I think our future in liberty does not lie in politics, but in education and technology.