Illinois GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger - Rand Paul would be 'devastating' for Republican Party

RINO's Assemble! You've got an ally in Illinois, and his name is GOP Congressman Adam Kinzinger. Over the weekend, Kinzinger appeared at a town hall event with John McCain and later sat down to talk with the lefties over at ABC's This Week. If that wasn't enough to tell you who Kinzinger is, his choices for potential GOP 2016 Presidential nominees will.

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During a segment which wondered "Will Lewinsky impact Hillary in 2016" (Spoiler alert: No. She won't), Kinzinger offered the following:

"I think on 2016, by the way, I’d love to see Jeb, I’d love to see Chris Christie. I think Paul Ryan would be a great candidate. The one person I don’t want to see, is someone like Rand Paul who put out budgets to cut the military in half. I think that would be devastating for our party right now on national security."

First off, Rand Paul has suggested targeted military cuts as part of a way of changing the way the military deals with the challenges it faces. That much is true. However, to suggest it's anywhere near 50% is absolutely idiotic. We can debate the size and types and the necessity of cuts, but Kinzinger's claim is simply untrue. Even Politifact is blasting it because it's patently false. More importantly, look at the laundry list of failures who Kinzinger would prefer to see get the nomination. His litany of been-there-done-that names reads like the "Zagat guide to Republicans with no chance of winning." To be fair, Kinzinger may have one, albeit narrow, point. Someone like Rand Paul may be devastating to the government-growing, regulation-happy, debt-accruing, go-along-to-get-along Republican Party we've endured since 1988. This, of course, is exactly what his (apparently underserved) base wants. If the GOP is ever going to regain the White House it's going to have to start thinking outside of the box and embracing a variety of the small government conservatives - Paul inculded - that its elites traditionally loathe. ...And it's going to have to ignore the terrible electoral advice of people like Adam Kinzinger.