Before his speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, DC, today, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., rejected any suggestion that he was the natural heir to his father’s supporters. “Yeah I don’t know if you can inherit a movement,” Sen.Paul said in an exclusive interview with The Washington Examiner.
“I know people write that but you know, my dad and I are different people,” Paul said of Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas. “We do have very similar beliefs. We both believe in very limited constitutional government. But I don’t know if I can excite the young people the way he does.”
Rep. Paul is the reigning CPAC straw poll winner, having dominated both the 2011 and 2010 contests. But Rep. Paul is not even on the program this year. “It’s top secret,” Sen. Paul jokes when asked where his dad is. “No, he thinks real delegates trumps straw delegates right now which is why he needs to be in Maine trying to get real delegates,” Sen. Paul explains. “We’re hoping for a breakthrough and that would be a victory and Maine is a good chance for us.”
Asked about his use of “we” to describe his father’s presidential campaign, Sen. Paul says, “Well I’ve always been a part of any thing he’s done over the years. I knocked on doors for him when I was 11. I’ve been involved ever since I was a kid.”
Sen. Paul definitely shares his father’s commitment to smaller government. He points out that one of the first things he did after being sworn in as the junior senator from Kentucky was to introduce a bill that cut $500 billion in spending in a single year. “It always disappointed me as a person watching politics on TV, that Republicans would not have a balanced budget, Sen. Paul said. “Our alternative would always be something slightly less bad than what the Democrats had. And I think we’re still kinda that way. We’re fearful of putting anything up. So I did a five year balanced budget that I thought was a big compromise, to wait five years, which my dad thought was way too long because he does his in three.”
Sen. Paul is genuinely amazed at his father’s success on the campaign trail. “He’s got something that gets the young people out of the woodwork. I went to Iowa and also to New Hampshire and at the headquarters there would be over 200 people. And really amazing young people. Every race, and color, and creed and its really just a polyglot nation when you walk in and see the Ron Paul people.”
Minutes later Sen. Paul is introduced to the main ballroom at the Marriott Wardman Park hotel. The mere mention of his name brings some of the loudest applause of the day. Sen. Paul might not believe he can inherit a movement. But there are many Rep. Paul voters who hope he will try.
