The Next Generation of Ron Paulites

Jim Antle III at the American Spectator reports on the fundraising prowess of Peter Schiff and wonders about the future of Rand Paul, two up and coming politicians (roughly) in the Ron Paul tradition. This is quite directly so in the case of Rand Paul, the Republican congressman's son. Yet the son seems less faithful to his father's message than Schiff in some respects, as Antle relates:

On Saturday, libertarian financier and commentator Peter Schiff raised more than $200,000 in a 24-hour "money bomb" as he continues to explore a bid for the Republican nomination to run against Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.).

Having now collected more than $790,000 in campaign contributions since mid-July, the Ron Paul Republican Schiff is competitive financially with the frontrunners for the GOP nomination. Former Congressman Rob Simmons raised $754,000 through June 30 while former ambassador Tom Foley has taken in $528,000 since mid-June.

Schiff's fundraising haul wasn't the only reason libertarian-leaning Republicans had to cheer last week. Rand Paul, the ophthalmologist son of the 11-term Texas congressman and former presidential candidate, announced he was going to run for the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY). As in Schiff's case, the party establishment has other plans—the heavy favorite for the GOP nomination is Secretary of State Trey Grayson—but Paul is likely to take after his father when it comes time for his own money bomb later this month….

While Schiff advised Ron Paul's Republican presidential campaign, Rand Paul got his start in politics supporting his father's bids for public office….Paul and Schiff have very different approaches to the GOP. In a speech to the Connecticut Libertarian Party, Schiff openly talked about using it as a vehicle for libertarian ideas because its electoral debacles make it ripe for a takeover. His theory is that a leader-less and idea-less major party could be reshaped faster than a minor party could be made politically viable.

Rand Paul is much more conciliatory toward regular Republicans. Like Grayson, he said he would not run unless Bunning retired….The younger Paul is careful to present his foreign policy views in a way that could appeal to Republicans more hawkish than he. "Defending our Country is the most important function of the federal government," Paul says on his website. "When we are threatened, it is the obligation of our representatives to unleash the full arsenal of power that is granted by and derived from free men and women."…

Do these men have a chance? Several promising Ron Paul Republicans—and at least one Ron Paul Democrat—won their primaries in 2008 but went down to defeat. Murray Sabrin finished third in New Jersey's GOP primary last year. Despite their fundraising prowess, some Paulites have found fiat currency also to be of little value at the ballot box.

I first predicted this wave of post-Paul Paulite candidates in my February 2008 Reason magazine cover story on Ron Paul and the Ron Paul Revolution.