In Early White House Maneuvering, Paul Avoids Predictability

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Rand Paul wasn't a conventional Republican when he won a U.S. Senate seat in Kentucky, and he's not mapping out a predictable strategy as he ponders a 2016 bid for the White House.

Paul confirmed Friday that he will announce his intentions in April or May, and then he spent the day displaying an ideological and political balancing act.

"We have to be a bigger party," he told Alabama Republicans at a fundraising gala Friday evening. "I want to take that message across America. I've shown I'll go anywhere."

He takes with him the small-government libertarianism of his father, former congressman and failed presidential candidate Ron Paul. But the senator also mixes in frequent references to his "Christian faith" as he courts cultural conservatives who were wary of his father.

There's the usual blistering of President Barack Obama and his executive orders, but Paul reminds his partisan audiences that the expansion of presidential authority has spanned decades, through administrations of both major parties.

Paul calls for the conservative "boldness" of Ronald Reagan and offers GOP orthodoxy on tax and spending cuts, making him a tea party darling.

He talks tough on national defense, but also staged an actual Senate filibuster talking for hours on the chamber floor, rather than just using procedural paper delays to protest the American government's use of drones.

Meanwhile, he chides Republicans to reach into the cities for non-white votes that have eluded the GOP by particularly wide margins in Obama's two national victories. And Paul champions criminal-justice reform and plugs his work with New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, a black Democrat, on the issue.

It adds up to a politician who is difficult to put into a box.

"Maybe a different kind of Republican might be the kind of Republican that can win," Paul told reporters Friday in Kentucky.

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In Early White House Maneuvering, Paul Avoids Predictability

WichitaLiberty.TV: Mayor Carl Brewers State of the City address, and the Libertarian Mind – Video

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WichitaLiberty.TV: Mayor Carl Brewers State of the City address, and the Libertarian Mind
In this episode of WichitaLiberty.TV: We #39;ll take a look at a few things Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer told the city in his recent State of the City Address. Then a look at topics from a new book...

By: Bob Weeks

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WichitaLiberty.TV: Mayor Carl Brewers State of the City address, and the Libertarian Mind - Video

Volokh Conspiracy: Our new article on The Mainstreaming of Libertarian Constitutionalism

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Co-blogger David Bernstein and I recently published an article on The Mainstreaming of Libertarian Constitutionalism in Law and Contemporary Problems. The article is now available on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

Libertarian constitutional thought is a distinctly minority position among scholars and jurists, one that at first glance has little connection with either modern Supreme Court jurisprudence or the liberalism that remains dominant in the legal academy. However, libertarian ideas have more in common with mainstream constitutional thought than at first meets the eye. They have also had greater influence on it.

This article explores the connections between mainstream and libertarian constitutional thought in recent decades. On a number of important issues, modern Supreme Court doctrine and liberal constitutional thought has been significantly influenced by pre-New Deal libertarian ideas, even if the influence is often unconscious or unacknowledged. This is particularly true on issues of equal protection doctrine and modern substantive due process as it pertains to noneconomic rights. Here, both the Supreme Court and much of the mainstream academic left have repudiated early twentieth century Progressivism, which advocated across-the-board judicial deference to legislatures. They have also rejected efforts to eliminate common law and free market baselines for constitutional rights.

The gap between libertarian and mainstream constitutional thought is much greater on issues of federalism and property rights. Here too, however, recent decades have seen significant convergence. Over the last thirty years, the Supreme Court has begun to take federalism and property rights more seriously, and the idea that they should get strong judicial protection has attained greater intellectual respectability. Moreover, much of libertarian constitutional thought merely seeks to apply to federalism, property rights, and economic liberties, the same principles that mainstream jurists and legal scholars have applied in other areas, most notably noneconomic constitutional rights and separation of powers.

Ilya Somin is Professor of Law at George Mason University. His research focuses on constitutional law, property law, and popular political participation. He is the author of "The Grasping Hand: Kelo v. City of New London and the Limits of Eminent Domain" (forthcoming) and "Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Government is Smarter."

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Volokh Conspiracy: Our new article on The Mainstreaming of Libertarian Constitutionalism

2305 Lake Avenue Miami Beach 33140 Sunset Islands Modern Contemporary Watrefront Home For Sale – Video

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Islands of Adventure – Merlin Woods Plaza {Lost Continent} | Music Mondays – Video

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Islands of Adventure - Merlin Woods Plaza {Lost Continent} | Music Mondays - Video

MINECRAFT ISLANDS [03] – Marmor, Stein und Eisen // Let’s Play Minecraft Islands [WQHD] – Video

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MINECRAFT ISLANDS [03] - Marmor, Stein und Eisen // Let #39;s Play Minecraft Islands [WQHD]
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MINECRAFT ISLANDS [03] - Marmor, Stein und Eisen // Let's Play Minecraft Islands [WQHD] - Video