Rand Paul speech at Howard University 4/10/13 (tube added)

I'd like to see him go back in a year or two. Maybe after sentencing reform gets done or something. Tapper's piece seemed to conclude that Rand at least got people thinking about him and his ideas, which is good because many of the left wing publications said he made zero inroads.
 
you have zero people read ability.. there were a number of audience as well as some who remained later for Q&A, who later asked him some questions who were clearly closet libertarian leaning voters. there will always be monetarily incentivized voters who work for the DNC but that's not the issue, because it's not the majority, and the majority of this conference's audience will be internet audience, not howard U audience either.

the haha also makes you sound like some stupid college freshman

I will have to watch it again as I only had it on in the background while doing something else but I was rolling my eyes during the q&a.
 
Kudos to Rand for going there and speaking to them. Sounds like he may have made some inroads. But if not, then how can you blame them? Who can resist Obama's Hope and Change thing? It is working so well.

It's hard to argue against Hope and Change when the alternative was John McCain and Mitt Romney.
 
This was a victory for Rand. He showed he could speak to an audience that isn't the norm for a Republican, plus he was spreading the message of Liberty.

I would love to see Marco Rubio try this.
 
Rand did a good job breaking the ice and explaining his positions, but does Rand not believe in a laissez faire capitalist society? He did talk about using property rights to curtail pollution like Ron always said, but it was interesting to hear he was okay with some environmental regulations. I've heard him say this more than once too.
 
This was a victory for Rand. He showed he could speak to an audience that isn't the norm for a Republican, plus he was spreading the message of Liberty.

I would love to see Marco Rubio try this.

Completely agree. Other GOP'ers would've been boo'd out of the room. I smell brushfire smoke.
 
Rand did a good job breaking the ice and explaining his positions, but does Rand not believe in a laissez faire capitalist society? He did talk about using property rights to curtail pollution like Ron always said, but it was interesting to hear he was okay with some environmental regulations. I've heard him say this more than once too.

Not sure where you got that from the speech.
 
Completely agree. Other GOP'ers would've been boo'd out of the room. I smell brushfire smoke.

Other GOP'ers wouldn't have even dared enter the room. And I agree, he lit some brush fires today. Maybe not as many as some on this forum would like but he did it. Just need some time to fan that fire. BURN BABY BURN!
 
Queer people!

Nice inclusive language there.

That guy would be a perfect guest on Al Sharpton's race baiting show. Come to think of it, keep an eye on Weird Al. He said he would be covering it. Should be hilarious.
 
Please... they were pretty radically leftist and organized Democrats..

One guy who asked a question was the head of an Obama PAC! Haha! You think you'll convince him?

The only way you'll have any chance at all to convince people like that is at least showing up and treating them with respect. There's nothing to lose by simply showing up and engaging in conversation and debate.
 
Rand did a good job breaking the ice and explaining his positions, but does Rand not believe in a laissez faire capitalist society? He did talk about using property rights to curtail pollution like Ron always said, but it was interesting to hear he was okay with some environmental regulations. I've heard him say this more than once too.

Unfortunately, we just have to put up with Rand watering down the message a bit in order to make it more popular and mainstream. The American people aren't ready for hardcore libertarianism, and Rand understands that. He's an incrementalist, which means that he's not going to advocate completely abolishing the EPA and having no regulations at all. The thing about it is that even if he supported abolishing the EPA and having no environmental regulations, he would never be able to accomplish that as President anyway.
 
Unfortunately, we just have to put up with Rand watering down the message a bit in order to make it more popular and mainstream. The American people aren't ready for hardcore libertarianism, and Rand understands that. He's an incrementalist, which means that he's not going to advocate completely abolishing the EPA and having no regulations at all. The thing about it is that even if he supported abolishing the EPA and having no environmental regulations, he would never be able to accomplish that as President anyway.

Well, yeah as long as he takes steps to forward the Ron Paul message, which may not mean advocating to completely abolish the EPA, but he can advocate to reduce the size of it and he can use that same approach for other areas that hes not already trying to completely abolish.

I really don't think propagating a free-market approach to environmental issues will hurt him all that much. There are some issues he could easily use the same exact approach Ron did, because it would help him more than hurt him.
 
Rand did a good job breaking the ice and explaining his positions, but does Rand not believe in a laissez faire capitalist society? He did talk about using property rights to curtail pollution like Ron always said, but it was interesting to hear he was okay with some environmental regulations. I've heard him say this more than once too.

Most libertarians support some environmental regulation. No one owns the air. If you are going to use the property rights argument that is going to mean a carbon tax.

Rand isn't giving speeches as a libertarian philosopher. He's giving speeches to show people that he isn't a bad guy and his ideas will make their lives better, so they can vote for him.
 
"but he can advocate to reduce the size of it and he can use that same approach for other areas that hes not already trying to completely abolish."

I thought that's what he did today when he was addressing the issue. He said that many of the EPA regulations go too far and hurt property owners and should be repealed.
 
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slavery isn't the issue of 2013 and certainly won't be in 2016, when country at worst would have moved on to "women's issues" or feminism. don't bring attention to what you don't intent to address or have others focus on to become a distraction. not every moment has to be a 'wow' factor just to constantly 'woo' the libertarian audience because they're like 3 year old kids with attention deficit, STILL trying to make up their mind whether rand is past that 90% to 91% threshold

if he wanted to "address" his "concerns" there are astronomical amount of other more commonsensical, no-brainer issues he could use to channel his concerns. drones, ring any bell? that is the rand way. that's how he operates, he picks his battles, makes sense in a stable footing then push forward from that issue. if he simply wanted to address fed's limit on what they can do to tell restaurant owners what to do or what not to do, there are countless ways without mentioning sensitive subjects that remind some of race. ron always spoke as if he was reciting from a book he recently read--great for educational purposes, but he often speaks as if there's no one in front of him, that there isn't a real person he is communicating with.

rand is much smarter than many in the movement and that shouldn't be news at this juncture

Rand may be, but you aren't. :rolleyes: Seriously, the Rand worship is sickeningly stupid. I have nothing against Rand. I have plenty against sycophants who can't stomach someone simply saying "He could have said that better." And the truth is....he could have. The Civil Rights Act has nothing to do with smoking or calorie counts on menus. That was a "Sarah Palin" moment, as in an unnecessary soundbite that might bite him in the butt later. I sincerely hope it doesn't. But I'm not going to turn my brain off just to avoid any slight criticism of Rand or to avoid offending those who can't seem to take any slight criticism of Rand.

Edit: And for the record, who said anything about "slavery?" :rolleyes: The question was about the Civil Rights Act and the role of the federal government. And that will be an important issue going forward. You think the country will have "moved on" to "women's issues?" Do you not understand the Civil Rights Act also covers women? Do you not understand that Rand's vote against the latest version of the "violence against women" act is based on the same issues as his earlier criticism of the Civil Rights Act? This isn't about whether or not Rand should pick his battles. Clearly he should. It's about how well he does in those battles when they are brought to his doorstep! Rand knew the Civil Rights Act would come up. Hell he brought it up in his speech! And it will come up again....and again....and again. Hopefully his answers will improve each time he deals with the subject.
 
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The Civil Rights Act has nothing to do with smoking or calorie counts on menus.

Yes it does. If the federal government has the authority to tell a business owner that he has to allow certain people into his restaurant, then the federal government has the authority to tell a business owner that he can't allow smoking in his restaurant. Rand was saying that it's a slippery slope, which is true. Rand gave a good answer to that question.
 
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