Rand Paul or Tom Cruz

It seems to this writer that every time Sean Hannity interviews Senator Rand Paul that he treats Senator Paul with suspicion. There is just something in the way Mr. Hannity asks the questions or states the problem. I get the impression that Senator Paul does not meet what I will call “the conservative talk show host’s validity test.” There seems to be a “true believer” test on the part of Sean Hannity, Mark Levin and Rush Limbaugh. The test, when applied to Senator Ted Cruz, comes up “yes” but when applied to Senator Paul, it comes up either “no” or “maybe”! Your blogger is concerned about this because, as I have stated in previous Posts after the 2012 election, I believe that the conservative talk show hosts were the people who lost the election for Romney. Firstly, they gave Barrack Obama daily news coverage while seldom covering Romney. This free news coverage, although often critical of President Obama, still put him, his face, his program and his positions before the American electorate. Essentially, the conservative talk show hosts gave Barrack Obama three free hours from Rush, three free radio and one TV hour from Hannity and three from Levin. Romney was seldom mentioned. I remember an axiom that President Clinton used, it was that he didn’t care the reason for the news coverage as long as he was first and front page every day. Secondly, in the 2012 election the conservative talk show hosts, never fully supported Romney. I seem to remember that they were constantly questioning the conservation “credentials” of Romney. This effectively put a “buyer beware” warning sign over Romney’s head. Third and last, this writer believes that the conservative talk shows and the recalcitrant stubbornness of Santorum, RON (not Rand) Paul, and Newt Gingrich effectively doomed the Romney campaign. They never rallied to his campaign, thereby, encouraging their followers to stay home and not vote. Why? It could have been that they were willing to deal with President Obama rather than with a less than “pure” Republican conservative. I am afraid that we may be seeing the same defeat happening again. Senator Rand Paul is more centrist and therefore more acceptable to the electorate. He is conservative but is he conservative enough to win over the talk show hosts? It is time, to step to the center and away from an ultra conservative political agenda. Senator Rand Paul is actually the mentor that Senator Cruz studied before Senator Cruz’s symbolic filibuster. It is Senator Paul, who has been placing before the American people a powerful agenda for renewing and strengthening the American economy, health care, foreign policy. It is Senator Paul who has been unabashedly bold in defending the disenfranchised workers of Kentucky, Michigan, Wisconsin and elsewhere. And it is Senator Rand Paul who places his personal Christian faith alongside his credentials as a physician and surgeon.