Rand Paul makes NSA centerpiece of campaign

Two years ago, the Kentucky Republican commanded his party’s attention with a 13-hour filibuster of President Obama’s pick to lead the CIA, and he was looking to recapture that magic and harness voters suspicions about government surveillance to boost his White House bid.

The freshman senator has been a consistent opponent of the Patriot Act, a counter-terrorism law that expires at month’s end absent congressional action — and even more so the component of the program that authorizes the National Security Agency to blindly collect Americans’ telephone records.

“Sen. Paul is a staunch supporter of the Bill of Rights,” Eleanor May, his campaign spokeswoman, told the Washington Examiner on Thursday. “He has been one of the most outspoken critics of the NSA spying program and will continue to do all he can to end it. His principled filibuster is just the beginning.”

Republican voters are hungry for a GOP presidential nominee who will break with Obama’s dovish foreign policy and reassert U.S. leadership in global affairs. Most contenders have taken that approach, and it has paid off with accolades or support. Paul, 52, has been on the defensive, as the terrorist threat from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and fears of an expansionist Russia have diminished the appeal of his hands-off, libertarian-style foreign policy.

But on the NSA’s bulk data sweep and domestic government spying, GOP voters are with Paul and he moved to capitalize. The senator canceled campaign appearances to make sure he could be on Capitol Hill this week to deliver his filibuster-style speech, with his campaign operation going into overdrive to use the event to raise money and generate voter support for Paul’s candidacy.

The Paul campaign sent out a flurry of promotional emails during and after the senator’s 10.5 hour talk-a-thon, including one offering surrogates available for comment, and others —among them: “Why Rand Paul’s Filibuster Matters;” “Republican Leaders Stand With Rand” and “Yes, Sen. Rand Paul’s Filibuster is a Filibuster.”

On Thursday, Paul’s campaign website was asking visitors to provide their contact information and “join my filibuster against the so-called Patriot Act today.”

Paul’s message, emblazoned on the homepage, read: “With so-called Patriot Act provisions set to expire May 31, surveillance state apologists are fuming. They know if they keep this rogue spying program going to be in for an all-out floor fight for these NSA provisions. I won’t back down from this fight. Ever.”

Technically, Paul wasn’t engaged in a “filibuster,” but for political and practical purposes, his extended speech had the desired impact.

Dave Carney, a Republican operative based in New Hampshire, host of the second nominating contest of the 2016 primary, said that the GOP Republican presidential contenders who support the NSA data collection program in its current form aren’t likely to lose any votes over it. But nor will that position help them win any votes.

“Unfettered collection of calls and cell phone records in and of itself is not going to win anybody any votes,” Carney said. “It won’t be a detriment, but on balance won’t be helpful.”

At 9.2 percent in the RealClearPolitics polling average, Paul is running a respectable fourth in the GOP primary at this early stage, behind former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 15.4 percent, and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, both at 13.2 percent. The three leading contenders support the Patriot Act and the NSA call-data program, and don’t appear to be paying any price for that position with the voters.

It’s unclear if Paul can influence his competitors to join him on this issue.

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, running just behind Paul in the field, tends to part company with the Kentuckian on national security issues but is simpatico with him on this issue. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, another GOP presidential candidate and grassroots favorite, also stands with Paul in opposing the NSA data mining. However, Paul remains on a virtual island when it comes to his opposition to the necessity of the Patriot Act or legislation similar.

Cruz said his opposition to the NSA’s bulk data collection is a constitutional matter, and emphasized that he still wants the federal government to have access to the information required to thwart terrorist attacks. That’s why, Cruz said, he supports the House-passed USA Freedom Act, which would require the telecom companies to warehouse call data for the government, to be accessed, as under the current program, if a search warrant is granted by a judge.

The bill, Cruz said, “ensures that we retain the tools that law enforcement and national security needs to target terrorist[s] and prevent them from carrying out terrorist acts.”

Paul’s filibuster-style speech, while a political success, showed how much the dynamics have changed inside the Republican Party when it comes to foreign policy and national security.

When Paul filibustered the confirmation vote of John Brennan to serve as CIA director in March of 2013, Senate Republicans flocked to the floor to “#StandWithRand” and support their colleague, including members of leadership, even if they weren’t completely motivated by the reason behind his seizing of the chamber. At the time, Paul was demanding that the Obama administration assure him that it wouldn’t use military drones on U.S. soil.

The “stand with Rand” hashtag took off on social media, and Republicans of all ideological stripes were excited by the senator’s strong challenge to Obama. A little over two years later, and Paul’s filibuster-style speech to argue against the NSA’s domestic spying attracted as more Democrats to the Senate floor to join him in delivering their own supportive speeches, than Republicans, and no GOP leaders.

Since 2013, Republicans have rediscovered the modern hawkish roots, pushed back to the Right on national security by concern about Iran acquiring nuclear weapons, Vladimir Putin and an increasingly belligerent China. Most Senate Republicans simply don’t agree with Paul on the NSA, let alone the Patriot Act. Still, his ability to take control of the Senate has not gone unnoticed.

“Any time you can hold the floor for 12 or 13 hours, that’s a pretty impressive feat,” said John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 3 ranking Senate Republican.

Disclosure: The author’s wife works as an adviser to Scott Walker.