Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said a stale and moderate establishment Republican preferred by the Chamber of Commerce cannot win the White House in 2016.
Chamber of Commerce is fine, I was a member of the Chamber of Commerce, but a Chamber of Commerce Republican is not going to win a national election,” Paul said on Saturday, according to Politico. “I’m not saying we give up on what we believe in, but we have to expand what we believe in.”
Paul, a potential 2016 presidential contender who has indicated even Kentucky law may not prevent him from simultaneously running for the White House and re-election to the Senate, told the Republican Liberty Caucus of Texas that it was time for a “liberty moment” because “no longer something that scares people. It’s what [makes] people say, we can’t run the same-old same-old, we’re not going to win with the same-old, same-old.”
The Chamber of Commerce has vowed to spend millions against conservative candidates in GOP primaries and to push comprehensive amnesty legislation. They have been criticized for favoring timid candidates like Mitt Romney who favor “pastel” policies over “bold” Reaganesque solutions.
The late Jack Kemp said that Republicans should get out of the country clubs and boardrooms and go into the ghettos and barrios, and Paul has been doing exactly that, trying to broaden his appeal among African American voters by speaking to Historically Black Colleges and Universities and, on Saturday, opening up a “GOP engagement” office in a black section in Louisville.
Paul has said that his opposition to excessive government spying can persuade young voters, especially minorities, to vote for conservatives.