Three things are certain in modern American life: death, taxes, and tedious theatrics from Sen. Rand Paul.
By now, we are all used to the Kentucky Republican’s defenses of his (allegedly) deeply held principles. According to Rand, his career in the Senate is that of a man who has fought doggedly for civil liberties, reduced spending, and conservative values.
Except he has not done those things. Curiously, Paul’s stunts at the expense of his GOP colleagues only occur when the cameras are rolling.
The most recent example of Paul’s antics is his supposed indecision about Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to fill Justice Anthony Kennedy’s seat on the Supreme Court. After voicing concerns about Kavanaugh’s views on privacy for a week, Paul announced his support for the nominee Monday morning. (Supporting Kavanaugh, to be certain, is a good thing.) In April’s episode of “Rand Paul: Serious Senator,” Rand loudly threatened to filibuster Mike Pompeo’s nomination for secretary of state, before eventually voting with the rest of his colleagues to confirm Pompeo.
None of Paul’s actions would be problematic on their own, if he were remotely consistent in applying his principles — but he doesn’t even come close. Instead, Rand virtue signals to his fans when the lights are brightest, frequently sabotaging meaningful (if imperfect) gains in the process before reverting to the same behavior he just finished denouncing.
Paul made repealing Obamacare the centerpiece of his appeal to grass-roots conservatives, but when he had the chance to cast the deciding vote to dismantle much of it, he voted to keep the law in place on the grounds that “partial repeal” was not good enough. (“I don’t think this really fixes the problem, nor does it honor our pledge to repeal Obamacare.”) Paul framed his opposition as a principled “all or nothing” stand, but he was more than happy to vote for nearly identical “partial repeal” bills when he knew former President Barack Obama would veto them.
His real motivation for opposing repeal was naked self-interest: The bill slashed Medicaid spending, and 22 percent of Kentucky’s population is on Medicaid. Paul claims to want a smaller government, but above all, he wants a government that includes Sen. Rand Paul.
Paul’s defense of the Constitution is central to his image. (He famously declared that he would “not sit quietly and watch [Obama] shred the Constitution.”) But Paul’s devotion to the original public meaning of the Constitution somehow did not prevent him from endorsing constitutionally illiterate Roy Moore — a man who vocally supported religious tests for office, in defiance of Article VI of the Constitution. Furthermore, Paul cited Moore’s “defen[se] [of] the Constitution” as the reason for his endorsement. And when constitutionally illiterate bigot Roy Moore became credibly accused child molester and constitutionally illiterate bigot Roy Moore, Paul was the only senator who did not rescind his endorsement.
His behavior is no different in the foreign policy arena. In 2011, Paul introduced a bill to end foreign aid to Israel, saying, “I think they’re an important ally, but I also think that their per capita income is greater than probably three-fourths of the rest of the world.” When the presidential primaries rolled around, however, Paul claimed that he had never “really proposed that in the past.”
In sum, Paul wants to be viewed as the principled voice of conservatism on Capitol Hill; in reality, he is corrosive. By selling a fake version of his tenure in Washington to his base while simultaneously undermining his colleagues, Paul causes far more damage than lawmakers who openly acknowledge their pragmatism. The sooner Republicans recognize Paul’s antics for what they truly are, instead of describing them as the acts of a quirky but principled conservative, the better off we will be as a party.
James Hasson (@JamesHasson20) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner‘s Beltway Confidential blog. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law. He’s also a former Army captain and Afghanistan veteran.
