Just announced on website. 1130am press conference in Louisville, Ky.
Transcript:
http://time.com/3773964/rand-paul-presidential-campaign-launch-speech-transcript/
Congress will never balance the budget unless you force them to do so.
Our only recourse is to force Congress to balance the budget with a Constitutional Amendment!
I ran for office because we have too many career politicians.
We limit the President to two terms. It’s about time we limit the terms of Congress!
In my vision for America, freedom and prosperity at home can only be achieved if we defend against enemies who are dead-set on attacking America.
The enemy is radical Islam and not only will I name the enemy, I will do what ever it takes to defend America from these haters of mankind
I listened the whole thing and liked what I heard.
Good on him. At the very least, he throws some fire on the issues. Will he pander to the religious right as the prior GOP candidates did by picking train wrecks for running mates in an attempt to capture the “evangelical vote” or will he be his own man? I suspect the former, but very much hope I’m wrong. Many don’t agree with me that the running mate picked by the last GOP candidates was a large factor to their losses, but that’s how I viewed it. Maybe they would have lost by a fewer number of votes, I don’t know, but I do know for myself and many others, it mattered. It was business as usual and it made me lose even the minimal interest I had an prior GOP candidates.
If Rand can keep a similar message his father had, but do it as a GOP candidate, that of a person with strong Libertarian focus (what I’d call an "old school Republican that’s fiscally “conservative” and socially “liberal”) and he does not pick a running mate obviously intended to simply pander to one group, he’ll have my vote and I suspect many others.
You can count me as one that agrees.
Pragmatic, politically viable libertarian I call it. As much as I’d like to see us return to a minimalist state, I’m smart enough to know that’s just not politically viable at the moment…
Rand Paul has made some very disappointing moves (IMO) but I am more enthusiastic about his candidacy than any other candidates in my shortish voting lifetime. I think he is intelligent, inclusive, and focused on true conservative solutions to our modern problems. Looking forward to his efforts towards the nomination.
At least he did not announce at Jerry Falwell’s church/school.
I like what I heard and I wish that some day we can thwart the RNC establishment and our twisted primary cycle and actually nominate someone like him.
No more dynasties…no more endless nation building projects…no more spying on people.
That’s pretty much where I am.
The RNC will not allow him to win the nomination, and will cut the mic like they did for his father in '08.
When they do, I hope he has the balls to run independently, split the ticket, and tear the GOP in half.
Then I hope he improves his foreign policy stance and comes back strong in 2020.
He’s waffled on illegal immigration, and his “inclusiveness” has meant pandering to demographics that aren’t going to vote Republican en masse (i.e. Hispanics and blacks). That is not being pragmatic. He also has a bit of his looney tunes old man in him and it gives me pause as I would have NEVER voted for Ron Paul. Rand is more libertarian than conservative IMHO.
All that said I’d vote for him but he certainly isn’t my first choice (Cruz is, all baggage included). Just don’t give me Christie, Bush, or Rubio and we can reluctantly agree on a candidate.
A Paul/Cruz ticket could be very interesting. Unless they really fu%eed it up, they’d have my vote.
That would be pretty funny…
They could rule like Ahmadinejad and Khamenei.
I’d vote Paul/Cruz over any other ticket I can see possible on the horizon. I’d like it even better if they weren’t both politicians.
He’s my dream candidate. As a result he doesn’t have a chance.
Unlike everyone else, he actually states his opinion on the issues and says what he intends to do to try and fix it. That allows everyone else to torpedo his ideas and criticize without taking a position or offering a solution of their own. All you will get out of the rest is “Clearly it’s a problem that must be addressed and we will explore the possible solutions…etc.”
I doubt I’ll vote but if I do, Paul is the only one I’ll consider.
Pretty much what I was about to write. Thanks 
You seem to have issues with the most popular GOP conservatives. Exactly who would you like to see?
Paul most closely aligns with my beliefs, but he needs to improve some of his positions… and I don’t like the way he presents himself… plus signing the Iran letter made him look stupid.
Maybe with a good VP they could make a strong ticket together… I don’t know who that is. No one on the current GOP roster is credible on the national level.
I guess I’m just really disappointed that they haven’t developed anyone who can run and win the presidency… but look at who they’ve been running. It’s like the Harlem Globetrotters vs. the Washington Generals.
My hunch, and I want to know more about him, is it’s gonna be Walker. From what I’ve read so far he might be a good “compromise” candidate without compromising too much, i.e. reverting back to a RINO for the third straight election. He might draw enough support from all around the party to make 2016 a helluva battle for Cuntlery.
that.