Rand Paul in The Washington Post


On Principles & Values: Defeat the Washington machine; unleash the American Dream

Sen. Rand Paul's campaign for the presidency begins powered by a simple rhyme: "Defeat the Washington machine. Unleash the American Dream." It's not hard to parse--Washington is too big and it's constraining economic success--but it's still worth parsing

First, "Defeat the Washington machine." The idea of a less-specific "political machine" is an old one, dating back to 1850. But a candidate in 2012 used the same term to make his case as an outsider: Ron Paul, Rand's father.

Then there's the second line that's glued on to the first: "Unleash the American Dream," [a term which dates back to the 1930s]. Over the course of the Obama administration, the idea of unleashing the American dream--shackled, in the eyes of the Republicans using the phrase, by that Washington machine--has been in vogue. Given its history, then, the slogan is perfect for Rand Paul, fusing together the campaign of his father and the ideas of the Republican mainstream.

Source: Wash. Post 2015 coverage of 2016 presidential hopefuls Apr 7, 2015

On Budget & Economy: Is the Fed too big to be audited?

[At an Iowa event], Paul is focused on reviving his father's political base, by attacking an institution that has long frustrated the libertarian right: the Federal Reserve. Before Paul took the stage, organizers played a video featuring archival clips of both Ron and Rand Paul delivering critiques of the central bank.

Minutes later, Paul, who last month introduced the Federal Reserve Transparency Act, drew raucous applause when he warned its policies are undermining U.S. currency. "Anybody here want to audit the Fed?" Paul said. "Anybody feel that the Fed is out to get us? They're all over the TV! They're going to be out there saying, 'Oh, we can't audit the Fed.' What, are they too big to be audited? Too secret to be audited?"

[Remembering his father's campaign in Iowa], Paul said chuckling, "We used to have an 'end the Fed' dunk booth over there," pointing toward a nearby sidewalk. "People threw balls at Ben Bernanke in order to get someone in the tank."

Source: Robert Costa in Wash. Post on 2016 Presidential hopefuls Feb 7, 2015

The above quotations are from Media coverage of nationwide political races in The Washington Post.
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