Rand Paul's Petulance With Reporters Will Ruin Him

[DemocratSinceBirth]

You wouldn’t know it based on reputation, but Senator Rand Paul is the most charismatic presidential candidate in the Republican Party. Senator Marco Rubio generates the most buzz in this arena because he doesn’t stumble under questioning; but he's at best only a serviceable public speaker. Senator Ted Cruz can riff, but as one firefighter put it to Bloomberg’s Dave Weigel, his extemporaneous monologues make unconverted audiences feel like they need "to take a shower."

Like Cruz, Paul is every bit the ideologue, but without the cloying infomercial sheen. He’s relaxed and confident, which makes for a very persuasive combination. He's comfortable talking about ideas in public forums without sounding like he’s making canned sales pitches, because he actually built his career around a handful of core beliefs.

But he’s spent the last few years jettisoning those beliefs and sprinkling his record with contradictions, which makes him a bright red target for interviewers, who draw attention to his greatest weakness: extremely thin skin. In the unending contest to channel Ronald Reagan that defines Republican politics, Paul has a decidedly un-Reaganlike tendency to whine and complain and act petulant when challenged by reporters. It will be his undoing.

...


That Paul occupies a niche in national politics reinforces the reflex. When he shushes a reporter or scolds her for talking over him, his loyalists don’t see an otherwise talented politician unable to hide his annoyance. They eat it up. In their minds Paul is the rare politician who’ll bite back at reporters when they supposedly expose their biases. But asking questions that other conservatives continue to raise reveals no bias. What it reveals is that, for all his natural talent, Paul can't reconcile his beliefs with his ambitions. That's a huge problem for a national politician. It will define his candidacy.




http://www.newrepublic.com/article/121489/rand-paul-savannah-guthrie-skirmish-exemplifies-his-greatest-weakness

[el_bryanto]

1. Reporters do have an outsized influence on this sort of thing

If they just take against someone, like they did Gore in 2000, it's very hard to overcome that handicap. Of course Rand's plans for America are terrible, so I'm keen to see him taken out. But it's still problematic - particularly when so much of the media identifies with the moneyed class.

Bryant

[DemocratSinceBirth]

2. Folks are superficial...While they generally don't like the press...

Folks are superficial...While they generally don't like the press when you beat up attractive young female reporters like Savannah Guthrie you look like a brute...

Beating up reporters like Savannah Guthrie will win him no points among women and many men like when Bob Dole beat up Katie Couric.

[el_bryanto]

8. My point is more - they may not like the Press - but the Press has real power to inject stories

into the narrative. Things like Al Gore inventing the internet or the "Dean Scream" got their start in the media (although they were then amplified by the Conservative media and fed back to the Media in a sort of vicious cycle). Those stories should have been laughed off - but because the press had it in for them, they weren't.

The press might well do the same thing to Rand Paul, actually looking at some of his neo-confederate friends if he pisses them off enough.

Bryant

[DemocratSinceBirth]

10. It's not wise to get into a fight with an entity that buys ink by the barrel...

We need to update that metaphor for the new media age.

[Paladin]

9. Let's not pretend that Guthrie wasn't asking important questions.

Rand Paul's sharp contradictions exist, and they need to be pursued by reporters. If Paul is unable to respond to those questions at a level somewhere above that of a petulant 16 year-old caught with a beer in his hand, that is valuable information that everybody needs to be aware of. Whatever the media's general failings, Savannah Guthrie performed a genuine public service for us all.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

12. No argument from me .He is deceitful, disingenuous, and dangerous...

I do think my point that the Savannah Guthries of Paul's generation and the Katie Courics of Dole's generation are horrible choices as foils for them as they come off as very likeable.

[Earth Bound Misfit]

3. F*cking jerk*ff assh*le motherf*cking asshat. FUCK Rand Paul.

OOPS, just saw the Video in your OP, removing dupe.

http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/08/media/rand-paul-savannah-guthrie/
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/04/rand-paul-mansplains-journalism.html


F*cking jerk*ff assh*le motherf*cking asshat. FUCK Rand Paul.

[3catwoman3]

20. Your efficiency with profanity has...

Last edited Thu Apr 9, 2015, 01:39 PM - Edit history (1)

...given me a good morning chuckle. Testy little prick, isn't he?

[Earth Bound Misfit]

32. Funny, I rarely use profanity except when the subject is Rethuglicans...

Testy little prick, isn't he?

Sums it up nicely.

[GusBob]

4. he has the arrogance of a surgeon. they have a god/superiority complex

they are not used to being questioned critically. I bet you a buck this attitude kick started his malpractice suits.

His acolytes may eat this shit up, but anyone who has been talked down to by a physician will be anxious to tell this prick to go piss up a rope

[Cosmocat]

6. Its probably partly that, but the root is the name - Paul

he is like any other entitled fuckwit son of privilege.

He literally was spoon fed this libertarian bullshit, with a silver spoon.

[Paladin]

19. He has the arrogance of a prominent doctor's kid.

Not a single un-entitled, needful day in his whole life. And it shows.

And Rand Paul's own medical background doesn't impress me, given his role in formulating his own certification standards. I can't believe people trusted their eyes to this twerp---but then, some people trusted their brains to Ben Carson.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

22. He has malpractice suits???

How many and how were they concluded?

[GusBob]

34. I heard/read 2 suits

not sure of the settlements.

ETA: according to Wiki, one case his was absolved of wrong doing, the other settled for 50K

my point remains: a snippy attitude is a bad start for a Dr to get sued if a pt is unhappy with their surgical results

[Savannahmann]

5. Or..

People will see Rand Paul as the anti-establishment candidate, which will make him more attractive to the populist issues types out there. You know, the Legalize Marijuana, end NSA/FBI/CIA/GCHQ spying, end the Militarization of the Police types.

You know, the folks who see Hillary as another Corporatist candidate. http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026478384

It would be hard to complain that Paul is the Corporate Media selected candidate when he's busy arguing with them.

I guess it depends on if Rand can be seen as the Counter Culture candidate, and if so, he's got a chance.

Either way, Hillary is already falling in the polling and that isn't going to be good news for the determined It's Hillary's turn types.

But we have a long way to go, and unlike most of the folks on our side, I don't assume that the Republicans are idiots who are just one IQ point from drooling.

[Cosmocat]

11. He has a narrow audience

He will build a bit off his father's base, have a little more influence than him over time.

But, whatever "anti-establishment" positions he has, he has establishment positions, and the breaking line on the libertarian bullshit makes him have to stake hard cut positions on issues a lot of pols straddle a bit on.

For all his ham handed efforts to put people of color around him, end of the day his "policy" positions in regard to civil rights is abhorrent. Same with women's rights.

I know people want to believe legalized marijuana is a make or break issue, it isn't.

It has some punch regionally, but at the presidential level it isn't a factor.

It provides a little energy to the mostly apathetic lower age spectrum of voters. End of the day, the people who vote have more grey hair than not, and it is going to be a long time until they get behind legalized marijuana.

To whatever extent he makes some progressives want to wander off to the strange a bit, that more so turns a good part of his party against him. You don't see too many Rs taking direct shots from other Rs like he does.

The article also highlights his tweaky nature, and he just never stops making gaffes. Hard to see him running a large scale campaign WO doing some self inflicted damage.

THAT SAID, sure, anything can happen. Just can't rule out the capacity of this country to be stupid in mass, see Bush II and majorities in the house and senate for Rs.

That said, the republicans tend to err on the side of the name candidate who portrays a "moderate" position - Bush II was the "compassionate conservative," Mccain and Romney the least bombastic candidate in the clown car.

Odds remain with Bush III ...

We will see.

[Bluenorthwest]

14. The fact that large majorities of voters in many States have passed medical marijuana laws and

that 4 States have also passed recreational legality at the ballot box suggests that ' apathetic lower age spectrum of voters' is an incorrect reading of the political cohort around marijuana reform, which is actually one of the best organized, diverse and successful political movements in the country.

And Rand Paul is opposed to all of that, while many Democrats have strongly supported such laws for years, Senator Paul opposes legalization of marijuana, openly supported by Democratic Senator Merkley who endorsed Oregon's legalization bill last November, which then passed strongly at the ballot box.
CA passed it's medical marijuana law in 1996, nearly 20 years ago, with over 5 million yes votes.

The strongest advocates for medical marijuana and cannabis reform are senior citizens, veterans and those with debilitating conditions treatable with cannabis. Not the young people you envision at all.

There would be no reason in a reality based universe for any progressive supporter of marijuana reform to support Rand Paul, who opposes legalization of marijuana. The only people who think he appeals to cannabis activists are those who know nothing at all about the cannabis reform movement. It's fiction.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

18. I thought most of cosmocat's analysis was spot on...

I tend to agree with you that support for marijuana legalization transcends age though I doubt it's a make or break issue for your average voter... I also don't see how his support of medical marijuana legalization while opposing the legalization of marijuana use for other reasons gets him to the left of Hillary Clinton on that issue.

[Cosmocat]

29. Not where I live

I posted regionally ...

West and north to an extent.

I can say with absolutely certainty that "senior citizens" in PA don't support legalization of marijuana.

While there is organized support for legalization legislatively, it is not a heavy weight factor in electing actual officials.

My statement about "apathetic lower age spectrum of voters" was spot on - as I noted, this issue will put enough of a charge in them to get out to vote for THIS particular issue.

It is not something that will drive people to the polls twice a year, every year, like the Rs god, gays and guns, for democrats workers and women's rights ...

I do appreciate your point about Paul relative to this issue and is worth noting as much as possible.

[Bluenorthwest]

13. That's hilarious, Rand Paul is not in favor of marijuana legalization, he's anti gay, anti choice an

and in no way Counter Culture. Marijuana is legal in 4 States including my own as of July 1st, and while Democrats had many years of strong support of cannabis reform, Republicans did not. Senator Paul has never supported a legalization bill, Democratic Senator Merkley sure has.

Those of you who think Rand Paul is 'Counter Culture' are just so far off base it's amazing to me. I'd suggest learning a few things about the cannabis reform movement prior to rattling of that rhetoric. There are a few Republicans who have done a lot for cannabis reform, Paul is not one of them, nor was his father.

[tridim]

16. Yep. Rand and all RW Libertarians don't even live in reality...

Let alone any "counter culture". They are running a scam and the idiots are buying it.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

21. Jimmy Carter favored decriminalization as far back as 1979 !!!

As I understand it, in NY, MA, and CA possession of marijuana is treated as a civil infraction, the same as jaywalking, and leaves the person found guilty of it with a fine but no criminal record.

IMHO, that's a prudent and humane way station or compromise on the road to legalization as a criminal record is a job prospect killer in many instances.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

23. He compared abortion to infanticide on CNN./NT

[DemocratSinceBirth]

15. May I please see a citation that he wants to legalize marijuana for recreational use?

Thank you in advance.


Also, when you look at all the polls Ms. Clinton seems to seems to be doing rather well:





http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/latest_polls/president/


http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/2016_presidential_race.html

[Savannahmann]

24. Ok

http://reason.com/blog/2015/04/07/will-rand-paul-be-first-top-tier-preside

[DemocratSinceBirth]

25. Medical marijuana

May I please see a citation that he wants to legalize marijuana for recreational use?

[randome]

7. I didn't watch the Megan Kelley video of her questioning Paul on this.

But the transcript alone makes him sound even more petulant. He isn't going to last long in the limelight.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]A ton of bricks, a ton of feathers, it's still gonna hurt.[/center][/font][hr]

[totodeinhere]

17. It doesn't matter. He wasn't going to get the nomination anyway.

n/t

[babylonsister]

26. I think he's displaying his opinion of women as second-class citizens.

I surely hope the media and anyone with a brain recognizes how condescending he always is where women are concerned. And I hope that, or anything, ruins his chances.

And btw, the media needs to examine his credentials, education specifically, because once someone lies, they're no longer trustworthy. IMO.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

27. Falsus in unum, falsus in omnibus

And btw, the media needs to examine his credentials, education specifically, because once someone lies, they're no longer trustworthy. IMO.

I wouldn't want to be held to that standard but I don't hold myself out a potential POTUS.

[babylonsister]

28. Hey, I'm hardcore.

I've been and am on dating sites. That's my bellwether. Not many pass.

[valerief]

30. Another WAR WHORE. nt

[Orsino]

31. He's been coddled his entire career, and fails every test. n/t

[Gothmog]

33. Rand Paul is not suited to be POTUS

If the man can not handle a simple interview, then he is not suited

[Nitram]

35. It will hurt him, but it's only one reason among many.

The reason he's petulant with reporters is because they are exposing his frantic flip-flopping to the exact opposite of formerly held and firmly stated views. Great fodder for both his GOP opponents in the primaries and his Democratic opponent for the presidency.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

36. He's going to desperately try to make it about the press but that dog won't hunt./NT

[Nitram]

37. Sara Palin tried that too

And look where it got her...

[Gothmog]

38. Rand Paul will not be the GOP nominee

He is too thin skinned to survive a gop debate