The Daily Beast’s Eleanor Clift argued, “I thought Rand Paul definitely is the most sane voice on that stage, when it comes avoiding getting into the traps we’ve fallen into in recent years” and the Florida Senator and GOP presidential candidate Marco Rubio’s plan to spend more on the Department of Defense is “a road to a disaster as well” on Friday’s “McLaughlin Group.”
Clift said, “I thought Rand Paul definitely is the most sane voice on that stage, when it comes avoiding getting into the traps we’ve fallen into in recent years. But Trump on Syria, and he basically says, if Putin wants to go over and bomb them, have at it. And so, I do think there’s an interesting debate on foreign policy emerging among those candidates.”
Earlier, Pat Buchanan said, “Rand Paul, I think, did best. I think he came right out of his so-called shell. He moved into a position where he’s always, really most comfortable. But I do think, in the room, there’s no doubt about it, the hawks and the neocons, among the Republicans in that room, prevailed in terms of the applause for Marco Rubio, who was really the one that made some gains there. But I think Rand Paul did a great job, and I hope he continues raising these questions. And frankly, Donald Trump is closer to Rand Paul than he is to any of those other folks.”
Later Buchanan added, “we are the strongest military power in the world. There’s no doubt about it, and Rand agrees with that. The question is, should the United States go in, and big time, into Syria? And some of those other hawks have not indicated we really ought to do that.”
Clift then said, “Right. They imply we should, but they never get down to any specifics. And what Rubio wants to do is to spend all this more money on the Pentagon. But he doesn’t say how he’s going to pay for it. And that’s a road to a disaster as well.”
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