US Senator Rand Paul is expected to launch his presidential bid on April 7th. While some of his Republican opponents may have the new car smell, Paul talks about the relationships he has built in New Hampshire. Many of his comments were not as focused on his primary opponents as on former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. Chris Ryan caught up with Senator Rand Paul on the campaign trail at Dyn Inc., an internet performance company in Manchester,New Hampshire. Senator Paul believes that many New Hampshire voters are part of a liberty movement–a leave me alone coalition. This group desires smaller government, second amendment protection, and the right to privacy. These are all issues that Senator Paul has championed. When he combines his support of liberty issues with his very conservative voting record, Senator Paul contends that he is a candidate who can appeal to a broader group of voters than most Republican candidates. One liberty issue which he supports is allowing the use of medical marijuana and decreasing punishments for crimes related to marijuana.
In 2008, the debates for the Republican candidates tended to resemble a celebrity death match. When Senator Paul was asked about how the GOP debates might be different this time, he stated that his focus will be on Hillary Clinton. He is calling for Mrs. Clinton to return the money that she and her husband have received from countries like Saudi Arabia. Money that the Clinton Foundation has received from countries that discriminate against women, such as Brunei and the United Arab Emirates, should be returned. He implied that it his hypocritical for Hillary to pose as the champion of women’s rights while accepting large bundles of cash from country like Brunei where by law women are stoned to death for adultery. Similarly, he believes that Hillary will have difficulty appealing to the middle class or working class voters. In addition to her getting lots of cash from Wall Street, the Senator points out that the Clintons have made hundreds of millions, they have several mansions, and Hillary hasn’t driven herself anywhere in 17 years. Senator Paul believes that she will have to do a lot of explaining when you combine these facts with the impression that people have that the Clintons act like they are above the law. He pointed out that when she was Secretary of State that Hillary Clinton fired an ambassador for using his private email.
