Rand Paul, by most accounts, would like to be the Republican Party’s nominee in the 2016 presidential election. He also has a libertarian, isolationist background that has lately been causing him problems with the hawkish party establishment in re: foreign policy. Today Mother Jones documents what could be an even bigger pain for Paul: his long history of comparing Ronald Reagan—who some conservatives literally want to carve on Mount Rushmore and whose presidential library hosted a 2011 GOP primary debate—unfavorably with Jimmy Carter, who is a freakin’ Democrat. Specifically, Paul has said often that Reagan had a worse record on containing government spending than his White House predecessor:
“Why did the deficit rise [under Reagan]? Because spending rose more dramatically under Reagan than it did under Carter. Well, you say, ‘Reagan’s a conservative, Carter’s a liberal.’ Not necessarily always what it seems.”
Check out the MoJo piece for many more examples, backed up with video clips that Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz’s staffs are currently bookmarking/watching over and over on the flatscreen in the office conference room.
