Fresh off his filibuster that captured the hearts of libertarian conservatives, Sen. Rand Paul told attendees Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference that the Republican Party has become “stale” and must return to basic constitutional principles if it wants to ignite a political revolution.Real Clear Politics has a Rand Paul video as well as additional commentary.
Mr. Paul was the star of the conservative “Facebook generation” youth movement that paraded across CPAC’s stage Thursday, joining others such as Sens. Marco Rubio, Mike Lee and Tim Scott — all of whom were elected after President George W. Bush left office.
“The GOP of old has grown stale and moss-covered,” Mr. Paul said. “The new GOP, the GOP that will win again, will need to embrace liberty in both the economic and personal sphere. If we are going to have a Republican Party that can win, liberty needs to be the backbone of the GOP.”
Mr. DeMint was scheduled to be a featured speaker at the “presidential dinner” — the final event of the evening.
But Mr. Paul, who impressed senators on both sides of the aisle with his recent information-seeking filibuster over the Obama administration’s policy on drone strikes, appeared to have the most enthusiastic support in attendance.
“I came with a message — a message for the president,” he said. “A message that is loud and clear. A message that doesn’t mince words.”
“Don’t drone me, bro!” shouted one audience member.
“Well,” Mr. Paul said with a laugh, “that’s not exactly what I was thinking. However, I think he might have distilled my 13-hour speech into three words.”
The GOP of old has grown stale and moss-covered. I don't think we need to name any names, do we? Our party is encumbered by an inconsistent approach to freedom. The new GOP will need to embrace liberty in both the economic and the personal sphere. If we're going to have a Republican party that can win, liberty needs to be the backbone of the GOP. We must have a message that is broad, our vision must be broad, and that vision must be based on freedom.I stand with Rand. We need a fresh face and a breath of fresh air. Rand Paul offers both.
There are millions of Americans, young and old, native and immigrant, black, white and brown, who simply seek to live free, to practice a religion, free to choose where their kids go to school, free to choose their own health care, free to keep the fruits of their labor, free to live without government constantly being on their back. I will stand for them. I will stand for you. I will stand for our prosperity and our freedom, and I ask everyone who values liberty to stand with me. Thank you. God bless America.
Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
