Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 06:44 pm
With no money, and little enthusiasm for his campaign, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has dropped out of the race for the 2016 Republican nomination.
In a statement, Paul said, “It’s been an incredible honor to run a principled campaign for the White House. Today, I will end where I began, ready and willing to fight for the cause of Liberty.”
The writing has been on the wall for Paul for months. He has not been able to keep staff, draw crowds, or raise money. In a Republican primary that has been dominated by super PACs and billionaires, Paul didn’t have a billionaire backer.
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Rand Paul tried to take his father’s ideological following into the mainstream of the Republican Party. Paul formed an obviously uncomfortable alliance with Mitch McConnell, where he helped McConnell win reelection last year in return for the Senate Majority opening up doors to the Republican establishment.
Early on, Paul’s campaign was characterized by a constant identity crisis. Paul supported immigration reform, but after being hammered by the right-wing of his party, he walked it back.
Sen. Paul’s biggest problem was that he was supposed to be the outsider revolutionary of the Republican field, but in a race that includes Donald Trump, he looked too establishment for the GOP. Paul was doomed by guessing wrong and courting the Republican establishment in a year when the Republican love of outsiders with zero experience was taken to a new level.
Rand Paul is not his father, and the Republican Party is not the same cage that Ron Paul rattled in 2008 and 2012. Sen. Paul’s campaign never worked, which is why a candidate who the mainstream political press thought looked so strong on paper, never had a chance in 2016.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
