Will: Rand Best Positioned to Attack WH ‘Caesarism’

Columnist George Will argued Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is “the candidate most apt to push back against the Caesarism that’s enveloped the presidency” on Tuesday’s “Special Report” on the Fox News Channel.

“His strengths are, among other things, that he has broadened the range of the discussable on foreign policy within the Republican Party, and that’s healthy. Second, on some issues, particularly, with regard to the criminal justice system, he’s the only voice calling conservatives to extend their suspicion of the state, mandatory minimum sentences, overcriminalization, mass incarceration, the human cost of the drug war, and all the rest. Third, he’s the candidate most apt to push back against the Caesarism that’s enveloped the presidency under Barack Obama. And occasionally, he’s quite good on judges, he varies on this somewhat, but says, occasionally that judges, far from being too active, are not active enough in resisting encroachments on our liberty by the legislative branches” Will stated.

Will added, “his problems are, first, he’s a freshman senator, and the record of freshman senators as president is not, at the moment, encouraging. Second, events have not been kind to him because they’ve made foreign policy much more central than he would prefer it to be. Third, he’s trying to base his campaign on groups that often don’t vote Republican or vote at all, particularly youth. He’s quite right to do this…but he will find, I’m afraid that this is lifestyle libertarianism they have, and not suspicion of the welfare state.”

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