But what exactly is the point of having a federal law if it's not going to be enforced? If it's not going to be enforced why not just get rid of the law?
Sen. Rand Paul aggressively courting evangelicals to win over GOP establishment
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But what exactly is the point of having a federal law if it's not going to be enforced? If it's not going to be enforced why not just get rid of the law?
Yes I agree but you're getting down to politics and thinking what Rand SHOULD be doing. This whole argument has been what Rand believes in, not what he SHOULD be doing.
What Rand SHOULD be doing is talking more like Ron.
What Rand BELIEVES in is that states should be allowed to legalize marijuana, which will put it in conflict with federal law. This can be resolved through the Supreme Court and if that fails, then Rand would have to eventually support changing federal laws.
You said that Rand might lose Colorado because of his position. How so? He was specifically asked about Colorado and said Colorado should be allowed to legalize marijuana.
Yeah, he said that back in November. I hope that's still his position. He hasn't made a states' rights argument on the issue since that time. He's just been saying that he's opposed to legalizing marijuana since then.
There's no doubt that the Supreme Court would side with the federal government and overturn Colorado's law. There was a case called Gonzalez v. Raich which already decided that.
Yea I hope he brings that up more too but its not incoherent for him to say he's opposed to legalizing marijuana but believes it's a states issue. It would be disingenuous to not tell people the whole story but it doesn't change his beliefs.
Christian Liberty
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I've talked to some Republican-leaning people in my church about marijuana and have had mixed responses. I think most of these sorts of people would be OK with making this a state level issue, even if they personally oppose legalization. I haven't had too much argument when I've said that marijuana is probably more like a cigarette than it is a harder drug.
Then again, while most of those people do stupidly continue to vote establishment Republican and don't bay an eye at the "Troops defending our freedoms" prayer, they are more cultural/social/family values type conservatives, not raving neocons. I'm sure a raving lunatic neocon would insist that the Feds should regulate this just like everything else.
Then again, while most of those people do stupidly continue to vote establishment Republican and don't bay an eye at the "Troops defending our freedoms" prayer, they are more cultural/social/family values type conservatives, not raving neocons. I'm sure a raving lunatic neocon would insist that the Feds should regulate this just like everything else.
LibertyEagle
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Because he is in the FEDERAL government and no, he doesn't want the federal government to legalize marijuana. He wants it to be a state issue.
Then why not just say that when he's asked about it by social conservative leaders in Iowa? It seems like kind of a disengenuous response if he gives them the impression that he'll enforce federal laws against marijuana. He should give them his full position if he thinks that the states should have the right to legalize marijuana.
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ClydeCoulter
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FSP-Rebel
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I know this will do no good but anyways for the viewers at home.. It's just like when I'm networking with fellow republicans at meetings or county/district/state conventions, I don't go out into the weeds about legalizing crack, meth and heroine. I take a very similar position that Rand does, perhaps a little more so but I'm not running for prez and can get away with it. The point is, the second he comes out for any legalization aside from what he has, it'll immediately make the rounds in the right wing media and create a tsunami on his brand of libertarian-conservatism and he'll be demagogued to the hilt. If it isn't already obvious enough, he's running a libertarian-conservative campaign that is supposed to present him as something different than the stated positions of his dad in key things like drug policy and foreign policy which allow him to hustle a libertarian-leaning message to conservatives and bring them in our direction on these crucial issues. You won't get them moving along the spectrum too many red pills at once. Many of these prospective converts have been brainwashed all their lives about certain things be it from the media, their church and god knows what else.
It is disingenuous and I think he just hasn't thought through what the best way to articulate his position is. What he's doing is giving different answers to different groups (while I think not changing his position) but what that does is cause many journalists to misreport his position.
With marriage, a lot of the possible GOP contenders also believe its a state issue like Christie, Rubio, Portman, etc. With drugs, Rand's on his own and I think he's afraid to be the only one to defend the position since that will make him a target. Even though he may be afraid, he has said in multiple interviews that he thinks its a states right to legalize marijuana. He just doesn't want to emphasize that position.
I never once said that Rand should advocate legalizing crack or heroine, just that he should advocate a states' rights position on these issues, which he rarely if ever does.
Here's another interview from December 2012 where he talks about medical marijuana and says to let states change the laws on this issue:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH_WFKuZxEQ&t=4m34s
Yeah, it seems as though he'll give a different answer each time depending on who his audience is.
This is really starting to blow up now. I wonder how long it will take to get yet another "clarification" from Rand's office.
http://www.theamericanconservative....ampaign=rand-paul-learns-to-love-the-drug-war
http://www.theamericanconservative....ampaign=rand-paul-learns-to-love-the-drug-war
erowe1
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That article looks pretty fair.
Yeah, the article on Reason was very critical though.
erowe1
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I think the Reason crowd is probably just as disappointed with the fact of Rand reaching out to Christians at all as they are with anything he said about the drug war or anything else. Reason was generally unhelpful during Ron's campaigns too. They're not worth Rand fretting over.
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