The 2016 primary season is still little more than a twinkle in a pundit’s eye, but presumed candidate Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has added some establishment support for a libertarian-leaning bid at the White House. Mitch McConnell (R), Kentucky’s senior senator, endorsed Paul in an interview with the Lexington Herald-Leader.
“Obviously, I’m a big supporter of Rand Paul. We’ve developed a very tight relationship, and I’m for him,” McConnell told the Herald-Leader. “Whatever he decides to do, I don’t think he’s made a final decision on that. But he’ll be able to count on me.”
McConnell’s endorsement lends the younger Paul the sort of establishment support that his father, who ran in 2008 and 2012, never received.
While McConnell initially backed Paul’s opponent in the 2010 primary, he seems to have warmed to him over time. National Journal reports that this year, McConnell hired Jessee Benton, a top Paul adviser, to manage his campaign, and that he leaned heavily on Paul for support throughout the campaign season. At one such campaign stop this summer, McConnell praised Paul as “the most credible candidate for president of the United States since Henry Clay.”
National Journal notes that the beauty of McConnell’s endorsement is that, as a polarizing member of Washington’s inner circle, he is unlikely to be asked to “be a public surrogate” and to rigorously campaign for Paul. Instead, the publication surmises that McConnell’s support will lend Paul credibility with a GOP establishment wary of his ideas, particularly in foreign policy.
Even if McConnell never barnstorms for Paul, his endorsement sends a clear message that the Republican establishment is willing to welcome libertarians into the fold.
