Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)
Ted Cruz may have gotten into the Republican presidential primary first, but his Senate colleague Rand Paul—expected to announce in two weeks—is out making the case that
he is
the more electable tea-party type.
“Ted Cruz is a conservative. But it also goes to winnability,” Paul said on Fox News’ “The Kelly File.” [...]
“We kind of come from the same wing of the party. And if you look at our voting records, you’ll find we’re very, very similar,” Paul said. “I guess what makes us different is probably our approach as to how we would make the party bigger. And I’m a big believer that you should stand on principle and be true to your principles, but I also think that we should take those principles and try to bring in new people with them.”
Rand believes he can attract young and minority voters in droves, expanding the demographic appeal of the Republican Party. Cruz, by contrast, thinks that with him on the ballot, some hitherto silent mass of conservatives will
rise up and flock to the polls:
“The only way to win is to bring back to the polls the millions of conservatives who have been staying home, the millions of Christians, the millions of Reagan Democrats who have been staying home,” Cruz said.
Luckily for Cruz, most of those people haven't met him, since people who've met him tend to think
he's an arrogant asshole. That includes a surprising number of elected Republicans willing to abandon clubby congressional comity, with Rep. Peter King (R-NY)
saying "I'll jump off that bridge" if Cruz is nominated.