Rand Paul Will Lead GOP ... Nowhere

Bill Kristol says the right's real savior hasn't stepped forward yet
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 9, 2013 12:11 PM CST
Rand Paul Will Lead GOP ... Nowhere
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., walks to a waiting vehicle as he leaves the Capitol after his filibuster.   (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Rand Paul's filibuster was smart politics for sure, but all it amounts to is 13 hours of hot air, writes Bill Kristol at the Weekly Standard. Paul in 2016? Please. "How much staying power is there in a political stance that requires waxing semihysterical about the imminent threat of Obama-ordered drone strikes against Americans sitting in cafes?" The president is indeed vulnerable for his disdain of the Constitution, he writes, but that argument must be crafted with substance and nuance, not "pseudo-constitutionalist paranoia."

Kristol trots out Shakespeare, calling Paul's speech "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing" and warning that "a Republican party that follows the path of Rand Paul will end up as thoroughly defeated at the ballot box as Macbeth was routed on the battlefield of Dunsinane." Obama's agenda is a mess and Democrats are vulnerable in the coming elections, he adds. Republicans need a serious player to take advantage, but Paul's not it. "You can't beat something with nothing." Click for Kristol's full column. (More Rand Paul stories.)

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