Rand Paul: Time for GOP to soften war stance

[DrHendricks]

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20130126/NEWS/301260081

“Even bigger to me than the social issues is the idea of war,” Paul said.

Republicans, he said, might attract voters put off by the party’s hawkish image “if we had a less bellicose approach, if we were for a strong defense but a little bit less aggressive defense around the world.”

“If we didn’t have to be everywhere all the time, if maybe we tried to reserve it for when our national interests were impacted or a vital interest of ours was – and if Republicans didn’t seem so eager to go to war – I think we’d attract more young people.”

 

[FSP-Rebel]

Not strong enough libertarian lingo, burn him at the stake!

 

[klamath]

Absolutely true Rand. Romney was leading until the debate where he out war talked Obama. Wrong answer.

 

[Michigan11]

uh oh so Rand really is for aggressive wars all around the world is what he is really saying

 

[Brett85]

He also sounded like he was in favor of gay marriage in this article.

 

[Dystopian]

And yet he wants to go to war anytime Israel says so.

 

[LibertyEagle]

And yet he wants to go to war anytime Israel says so.

He never ever said that.

 

[DrHendricks]

And yet he wants to go to war anytime Israel says so.

Shirley you can't be serious.

 

[KrokHead]

Hopefully the mainstream public is tired of this war garbage, though the second Obama gets us in a new one I'm the role reversal will come into play again.

 

[FSP-Rebel]

And yet he wants to go to war anytime Israel says so.

Mischaracterization at minimum, vicious lie more than likely. Admit your real name is Justin Raimondo.

 

[Uriah]

And yet he wants to go to war anytime Israel says so.

He never said that. I don't think you can infer that from his statement about standing with Israel. He was talking about coming to their aid in defense.

 

[kcchiefs6465]

And yet he wants to go to war anytime Israel says so.

He never ever said that.

Yeah. He never said he wanted to. Our hand would be forced.

 

[Sola_Fide]

Frankly, I'm failing to understand the message Rand is trying to convey.

 

[Brett85]

Frankly, I'm failing to understand the message Rand is trying to convey.

Me too. He thinks that the GOP can win over young people by supporting gay marriage? I highly doubt it. The polls show that most young people support big government on economic issues as well.

 

[eleganz]

And yet he wants to go to war anytime Israel says so.

Are you serious? Lmao come on

 

[Dystopian]

Are you serious? Lmao come on

We just had a 36 page thread about this. Now we're going to bury our head and pretend it never happened? Go read his words. Rand Paul places Israeli interests over American interests. He will treat any attack on Israel as an attack on the United States. He said that, that's about as bellicose as it gets.

I'm sorry Rand, you can't be an Isreal-first neocon and a non-interventionist Ron Paul type. Pick a side and stop talking out of both sides of your mouth.

 

[musicmax]

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20130126/NEWS/301260081

“Even bigger to me than the social issues is the idea of war,” Paul said.

Republicans, he said, might attract voters put off by the party’s hawkish image “if we had a less bellicose approach, if we were for a strong defense but a little bit less aggressive defense around the world.”

“If we didn’t have to be everywhere all the time, if maybe we tried to reserve it for when our national interests were impacted or a vital interest of ours was – and if Republicans didn’t seem so eager to go to war – I think we’d attract more young people.”

You mean like maybe saying that an attack on Israel is not an attack on the US?

 

[July]

Me too. He thinks that the GOP can win over young people by supporting gay marriage? I highly doubt it. The polls show that most young people support big government on economic issues as well.

Maybe in New England. Anyway it sounded to me like he was just saying, the GOP could be more welcoming to people who may not all agree on single issues like that. Which is a valid point, IMO, it's not necessarily the best issue to lead messaging on. The GOP should stand for something more than just being against gay marriage.

 

[Brett85]

I don't think that Rand saying that the Republican Party should "soften its edge on social issues" his going to win him much support in the GOP primary in 2016. If he's bending over backwards to please the rank and file Republican voters on foreign policy issues, it doesn't make any sense to alienate them on social issues. He should make the states' rights argument on social issues, but not make it sound like the Republican Party should become liberal on social issues.

 

[musicmax]

He never said that. I don't think you can infer that from his statement about standing with Israel. He was talking about coming to their aid in defense.

"We defend ourselves". - Benjamin Netanyahu to a joint session of Congress