UK: Vice President Rand Paul?

The Spectator

Rand Paul as Romney's Vice President?
By Freddy Gray

American hacks have been mystified by what seems to be a ‘non-aggression pact’ between Republican presidential candidates Ron Paul and Mitt Romney. The two men are in many ways opposites. Paul is the favourite of anti-establishment conservatives — principled, dismissed by the media as too radical, critical of the Grand Old Party machine and US foreign policy. Romney, on the other hand, is a typical American politician — rich, lacking clear convictions, happy to talk about bombing the enemies of freedom. And yet — as Jonathan noted a few weeks ago — Paul, though he has repeatedly attacked Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, has been strangely mute when it comes to Mitt.

Has a deal been struck? Time's Alex Altman suggests the answer is yes:

‘Paul is understandably concerned about the future of his movement. Aides say if Paul can’t win the nomination, four legislative priorities would top the Texas Representative’s wish list: deep spending cuts that lead to a balanced budget; the restoration of civil liberties; a commitment to reclaim the legislative branch’s right to declare war, which it abdicated to the executive branch in recent decades; and reforms that shore up the U.S. monetary system, such an audit of the Federal Reserve or competing-currency legislation. The Texas Representative might also be enticed, says campaign chairman Jesse Benton, by the prospect of serving as a presidential adviser, a Cabinet position for someone in his orbit or “perhaps a vice presidency.”

Not for himself, but rather his son. Rand Paul, the junior senator from Kentucky and a Tea Party icon, is expected to launch his own White House bid in 2016. Being on the ticket now — or even being mentioned for it — would be a helpful step. Says one Paul adviser: “If you’re talking about putting Rand on the ticket, of course that would be worth delivering our people to Romney.”’

Rand Paul as Romney's Vice President? It seems incredible, but it's possible to see why the Romney campaign might be drawn to Paul junior. The Ron Paul movement's appeal to disgruntled young conservatives might help detoxify Romney's brand. Senator Rand Paul, moreover, is a slightly more malleable figure than his uncompromising father.

That said, Ron Paul's popularity has been built on his refusal to play politics. It is almost impossible to imagine his delegates entering into what they would regard as a Faustian pact with Team Romney. Talk of a Romney-Paul coalition is therefore highly speculative. Interesting, nonetheless.

http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/7715973/rand-paul-as-romneys-vice-president.thtml