The Republican Presidential Candidates, Part 3: Rand Paul

Of all the Republican candidates for president this time around, I admire and respect Kentucky Senator Rand Paul the most...although I often differ with him on the issues.  Paul is more or less following in the ideological footsteps of his father Ron Paul, who has run for president on a number of occasions with a strict libertarian message.  As far as the libertarian movement is concerned, I agree that we should have freedom of speech, religion, and association...but that big government is not the only danger facing us.  Businesses can also get big enough to where they are considered "too big to fail" and as such should be regulated...especially if their failures end up subsidized by us taxpayers as was the case in 2008.  Also, as Americans we need our "big" government to protect us from outside threats, be they major powers or terrorist movements.  And whether the Pauls like it or not, we do have embedded within our collective expectations a viable system of safety-net programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid...with that problematic "big government" administering them.  Also, I strongly believe that it is in our national interests (as well as my own personal) to have collective bargaining and labor unions as important elements of our society and economy.  Libertarians tend to hate unions...which explains why they tend to identify with the Republican Party...

That all having been said, Rand Paul is a very smart, reasonable guy who is a very eloquent and forceful speaker.  I saw him defend his views on many occasions on the Senate floor (watching on C-Span2) and he is not the kind of politician (as sadly are too many of his GOP rivals) who will just take a position on an issue to gain a political advantage.  So I think he has the integrity to stick to his principles...and he, unlike the previous Republican president, won't get us stupidly bogged down in an unwinnable foreign military adventure.  But alas, Rand Paul doesn't stand a chance, this election year...or any, for that matter.  If I were a Republican (and I was once, for about seven or eight years), he would now easily be my first choice far above the others.  But I'm not, and he isn't.  Still, I wish him the best in this campaign, his political career, and life...