Rand Paul makes it official - announces 2016 Presidential bid

Here comes our next major Presidential announcement. Like his fellow wacko bird Ted Cruz, Senator Rand Paul has made it official and announced that he WILL be running for America's top job in 2016.

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We're still waiting for his "hat in the ring" speech, which is scheduled for 11:30 AM, but his campaign site is up and running. It conveys a simple one sentence message:

"I am running for president to return our country to the principles of liberty and limited government."—Rand Paul

It also contains the following video, in which his wife Kelley describes her husband and her family. Obviously, I've made no secret of the fact that I really like Senator Paul - at least in terms of domestic policy. He's a flat taxer and a strict constructionist who puts the Constitution above all. That's exactly what we need. Even those who disagree with him will admit that he's a "principled man" who's managed to succeed in politics while sticking to his guns. Internationally, well, that's another story. While I like Paul's domestic agenda, I'll admit I have concerns about his Libertarian leaning foreign policy ideas. It's not a deal breaker - at least not yet - but at a time when the world is falling apart around us, he'll have to convince me he's up to handling the global stage. With that caveat, I would argue that our domestic issues positively dwarf the United States' international concerns. We're faced with a whole host of internal crises (among them debt, immigration, taxation, infrastructure, and economic malaise) any of which could make fighting a genuine international conflict next to impossible. They also carry the potential to damage the country with the kind of deep, lasting severity that an ISIS attack could never hope to achieve. ...Plus, Paul terrifies Democrats, which is nice. They're well aware that he's the only GOP candidate with any substantive chance of shaving votes away from the eventual elderly statist they'll be running against him. No, there won't be a lot of voters who make the jump, but there doesn't need to be. Just a couple of points could swing the election. So, expect his detractors to do everything in their power to paint Paul as a traditional hardline GOPer. When that fails (and it will) they'll switch gears and try to claim he's some kind of anti-government radical. They're going to have problems with both of these narratives, so they will - as always - end up relying on the rapidly diminshing powers of the race card. If he chooses his running mate wisely, Senator Paul could prove a very formidable candidate. I'm excited to watch his race unfold.