Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul’s newest fundraising pitch contrasts himself with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who Paul casts as a presidential candidate who will say anything to get elected.
“With the threats our nation faces today, I think we’ve seen enough of Republicans who talk out of both sides of their mouths,” Paul’s fundraising email begins. “Sadly, with Senator Ted Cruz, I’m afraid you and I are seeing a candidate who’s trying to be all things to all people, instead of standing strong for conservative principles.”
Paul’s criticism focuses on Cruz’s support for the USA Freedom Act, which attempted to roll back the NSA’s bulk collection of phone metadata.
“Senator Cruz is flat-out wrong on this critical issue. As I’m afraid many Americans are learning, his finger-in-the-wind conservatism is no substitute for the real thing,” Paul wrote. “This issue is too important for the political games Senator Cruz is playing. If you agree, I hope you’ll make your most generous contribution of $50, $25 or even $10 right away.”
The libertarian senator’s decision to attack the upstart Texan suggests Cruz is increasingly viewed as the newest man to beat with under a month to go until the Iowa caucuses. Paul, however, has failed to meet high expectations on the campaign trail thus far, as he hovers below the three percentage points in RealClearPolitics’ average of national polls.
Cruz ranks first in the Washington Examiner‘s newest GOP presidential power rankings released on Tuesday.
