With Rand Paul weighing a White House bid, a report about the Kentucky senator’s planning provided a reminder that his support among Republicans is broadening wing-to-wing.
Bloomberg Politics recapped a day-long meeting among Paul’s inner circle Wednesday that convened to discuss next steps for his career. A spokesperson said that Paul is 100 percent in on a Senate reelection run — depending on his other plans, that could prove hairy — and will make a determination about a presidential race in the spring. One of Paul’s chief backers is a fellow member of the GOP’s libertarian guild, Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), who is perhaps the purest of the bunch in Congress.
“He’s got the best organization and the best message,” Amash said, according to the story. “And that second part is what’s really crucial.”
Amash stated his liking for a Paul 2016 bid in a summer New York Times Magazine piece, saying his ideological kin could shake up a “political establishment” that has resorted to caricaturing him out of fear.
“He destroys their system,” Amash said.
Which brings us to Paul’s fellow Kentuckian, the new Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell. McConnell has never had a friendly relationship with his party’s rightest elements — he faced a high-profile if fruitless tea party challenge in his reelection bid this year, and said in March that he and fellow establishment types would ultimately “crush” such insurgencies in races across the country. (If “crush” was too strong a word, the ends of his prediction proved true.)
In McConnell’s more difficult general election race, he took advantage of the support of Paul, who was vocal about his support of the then-Senate Minority Leader throughout campaign season.
“In 2010 when I ran a contentious primary we pulled together quickly (and) Sen. McConnell was helpful in bringing the party together. I hope to play that role this time,” Paul said in May as McConnell geared up for his battle against Alison Lundergan Grimes.
After McConnell won last Tuesday — comfortably — he reciprocated the support.
“Whatever he decides to do (in 2016), I don’t think he’s made a final decision on that. But he’ll be able to count on me,” McConnell said last week.
So perhaps Amash’s support of Paul comes from shared philosophy and McConnell’s comes from political strategy, convenience, a favor repaid, state pride, a combination thereof, or something else more political than ideological. Does it ultimately matter? The fact is that Rand Paul 2016 has early advocates in multiple camps of the Republican Party, a compliment of his political beliefs as much as his political skills.
