Rand Paul officially declares for 2016

[Adam]

Rand Paul Makes 2016 White House Bid Official: 'I Am Running For President'

Sen. Rand Paul has made his 2016 White House bid official, revealing the news on his newly launched presidential campaign website ahead of his scheduled announcement speech in Louisville, Kentucky.

"I am running for president to return our country to the principles of liberty and limited government," the Kentucky Republican is quoted as saying on his newly-launched campaign website, RandPaul.com.

The website is complete with a testimonial video from his wife, Kelley, in which she lays out why she believes her husband would make for a good president.

"Rand has the energy, the ideas, the honesty, to really help restore the prosperity and hope in the country," Kelley Paul says in the web video. "He loves making a difference as a doctor, and he believes he can make a difference as the president."

"Being a physician gives Rand a unique perspective in Washington, simply because he’s trained to diagnose a problem and find a solution," she says of her husband, who is an ophthalmologist by training.

In the video, Kelley tells the story of meeting her husband for the first time over 20 years ago at a party. At first, she says she blew him off, thinking he was only 18 years old.

The attack machine has already been cranked up to eleven.

[Celeste Chalfonte]

The attack machine has already been cranked up to eleven.

Why? To draw attacks, wouldn't he need to be a credible threat to somebody?

[Billy Jingo]

Why? To draw attacks, wouldn't he need to be a credible threat to somebody?

It is internecine.

[Adam]

Why? To draw attacks, wouldn't he need to be a credible threat to somebody?

He is a credible threat. The kids up the road from you in Berkeley love him. So do a lot of folks south of you in Silicon Valley.

He's been positioning himself to siphon off a lot of traditional Democrats (particularly college-aged "youth vote" and a significant portion of the Hispanic and Black voting blocs) for a long time now. Personally, he's not my favorite by a long shot, but I have a lot of respect for his "retail" campaigning that he has been doing for a couple of years now, and assuming that Hillary gets the coronation (which is certainly not a given), then she's going to have a pretty hard time working her "writ large" campaigning style against his ground-level "retail" campaigning.

If he can turn the Hispanic vote in southern Cal and kids up and down the state while still hanging on to Fresno and Orange County and San Diego, then he could threaten to turn California to him, which would mean that it's over for any Democrat.

[Billy Jingo]

He is a credible threat. The kids up the road from you in Berkeley love him. So do a lot of folks south of you in Silicon Valley.

He's been positioning himself to siphon off a lot of traditional Democrats (particularly college-aged "youth vote" and a significant portion of the Hispanic and Black voting blocs) for a long time now. Personally, he's not my favorite by a long shot, but I have a lot of respect for his "retail" campaigning that he has been doing for a couple of years now, and assuming that Hillary gets the coronation (which is certainly not a given), then she's going to have a pretty hard time working her "writ large" campaigning style against his ground-level "retail" campaigning.

If he can turn the Hispanic vote in southern Cal and kids up and down the state while still hanging on to Fresno and Orange County and San Diego, then he could threaten to turn California to him, which would mean that it's over for any Democrat.

He doesn't have to turn California; he has to siphon off enough African-American votes in Cleveland and Miami to turn those states. And he at least tries to appeal to that demographic with criminal justice reform. Whether you believe there's a problem or not doesn't really matter. African-Americans do and he is telling them he will do something about it.

[Adam]

He doesn't have to turn California; he has to siphon off enough African-American votes in Cleveland and Miami to turn those states. And he at least tries to appeal to that demographic with criminal justice reform. Whether you believe there's a problem or not doesn't really matter. African-Americans do and he is telling them he will do something about it.

All very true. He is in a good position to entice the Black voting blocs in Cleveland and Cinci, effectively securing Ohio. He could concievably do the same in Wisconsin and possibly even Michigan.

[scott]

He doesn't have to turn California; he has to siphon off enough African-American votes in Cleveland and Miami to turn those states. And he at least tries to appeal to that demographic with criminal justice reform. Whether you believe there's a problem or not doesn't really matter. African-Americans do and he is telling them he will do something about it.

That's the short-sighted liberal in you talking.

He has a real chance to turn California so that's what he's targeting. I know in Fort Worth you think you can monitor the pulse of the left by way of DU and Huffington (with MSNBC on the whole time you aren't watching Fox News), but the world turns regardless. He's not targeting Miami and Cleveland because without the DNC machine the votes just aren't there. However, California is going to be largely ignored by the DNC again and that might not work out this time. People like to assume that it's so liberal, but California passed Prop 8 outlawing gay marriage just a few short years ago. Florida won't go for Hillary because nobody is excited about her. Ohio is always a toss-up but it's not like they are excited about her either.

No matter how much you folks on the left like to gloss things over, the country is ready for a change. So how are you going to do that by running someone from the Obama administration? You can only sell hubris and fear so much. Why is someone your own party rejected 8 years ago suddenly the best choice?

I find it funny that "experience" and "foreign policy" are so important to the left now that there is a pair of freshman Senators without any accomplishments running.

I don't like any of the Republicans running, but I don't like the Democrat either. The fact that the right side has many contenders while the left has a single vagina doesn't bode well for your side.

[Adam]

I find it funny that "experience" and "foreign policy" are so important to the left now that there is a pair of freshman Senators without any accomplishments running.

Now, now....

Barack Obama had plenty of executive experience because he had run a billion-dollar campaign, campaigning against there being too much money in politics, and he had foreign policy experience because he went to Germany and gave a speech. That's why he's been so successful as President, after all.