Like a lot of folks, including even Jen Rubin, I was impressed with Rand Paul’s recent appearance on Fox News Sunday. And, in general, he’s been a much more formidable politician than your average rookie Senator (and certainly a better politician than his father). I think Rubin’s summary of his strengths is pretty good. But there’s something else about the guy that works to his advantage.
It is natural to assume that there’s more to politicians than what they want you to see when they’re talking on TV. In America, there’s an ingrained (and for the most part healthy) tendency to assume that politicians have a more ambitious agenda than the focus-grouped porridge they offer in public. For decades, this suspicion worked against Democrats in national politics. Alas, in recent years this phenomenon has been more of a disadvantage for Republicans. Obviously, a lot of this has to do with media spin. For instance, George W. Bush, a big government conservative in many areas of domestic policy, was nonetheless seen as some kind of crazy “market fundamentalist.” But at least Bush won elections.
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