Is Rand Paul the next Robert Taft?
His CPAC performance and new mainstream persona are latest hints he's not just the second coming of his father
Topics: Opening Shot, Rand Paul, Ron Paul, Robert Taft, Editor's Picks, Politics News
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., speaks at the 40th annual Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Md., Thursday, March 14, 2013. (Credit: AP/Manuel Balce Ceneta)When Rand Paul was announced as the winner of the Republican presidential straw poll at CPAC over the weekend, there was no chorus of boos from the assembled conservatives, a far cry from the response when his father won the same event a few years ago. Unlike Ron Paul, whose political coalition existed as much outside the Republican Party as in it and whose numerous straw poll victories were the product of organized event-crashing that irritated party regulars, Rand has dedicated himself to becoming a force within the GOP — and CPAC ’13 represents the latest evidence that he’s succeeding.
The instinct to compare the two Paul’s is natural. They largely share the same quirky libertarianism, and when Ron stepped out of politics after his third and final presidential campaign last year, it seemed like he was handing off the movement he started to his son. But Ron Paul probably isn’t the best point of reference for understanding where Rand Paul fits in today’s Republican universe, and the role he could play in the years to come. A more interesting comparison might be found in the career of Robert A. Taft, the leader of a mid-20th Century conservative movement that was anchored by many of the basic tenets of Paul-ism.
Known as “Mr. Republican,” Taft was the son of William Howard Taft and represented Ohio in the Senate from 1938 until his death in 1953. In that time, he waged three presidential campaigns, his following growing with each effort. In 1952, he came to the brink of securing the GOP nomination, only to watch helplessly as his panicked enemies in the party rejiggered the convention rules and put Dwight Eisenhower over the top.
Taft favored a libertarian brand of conservatism, one that prioritized individual liberty and was deeply suspicious of big government, big business, and international adventurism. He was one of the New Deal’s leading critics in the Senate, opposed U.S. involvement in World War II, and spearheaded the Taft-Hartley Act, which checked the power of organized labor. His style was hardly populist, but he appealed to a burgeoning army of grassroots individualists and was among the first to see the South as natural turf for conservative Republicanism.
Steve Kornacki writes about politics for Salon. Reach him by email at SKornacki@salon.com and follow him on Twitter @SteveKornacki More Steve Kornacki.




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