GOP Hawks Reaching Breaking Point With Rand Paul
Earlier this week Nick Gillespie highlighted comments the American Enterprise Institute's Danielle Pletka made on New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's attack on what he sees as the dangerous "libertarianism that's going through both parties right now." When asked if Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was among those exhibiting this strain Christie replied, "You can name any one of them that's engaged in this."
Christie is not alone in the Republican party when it comes to his thoughts on Paul's non-interventionism and opposition to government surveillance. Politico recently published an article on how many of the GOP hawks are close to breaking point with Paul's libertarian positions.
From Politico:
The Republican Party's hawks are finally saying it out in the open: This aggression will not stand, Rand.
After three years of watching the GOP's non-interventionist wing gather strength, there are mounting signs that a more combative set of national security conservatives have reached their breaking point. Now, prominent conservative leaders in what used to be considered the Bush-Cheney mold are increasingly taking the offensive against their intra-party rivals.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie publicly challenged libertarian Republicans Thursday to explain their skepticism about government surveillance to the families of 9/11 victims, declaring at a Republican Governors Association event: "I want them to come to New Jersey and sit across from the widows and the orphans and have that conversation."
Recent polling by Public Policy Polling shows that Paul is currently the GOP 2016 frontrunner. If the Republicans want any shot at taking back the White House in 2016 they should figure out how to live with the libertarianism Christie mentioned. It doesn't look like it's going anywhere soon.
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