Rand Paul For Vice President? 'Of Course He Would Be Honored'

Comments by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) that he would be "honored" to be considered for vice president if Mitt Romney is the GOP nominee set off an instant brushfire on the Internet.

"This explains a lot," wrote "the Daily Caller's" Matt Lewis, pointing to the much-remarked upon friendly relationship between Paul's father, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and Romney, both presidential candidates.

HuffPost's Sam Stein wrote: "The Texas Republican has refused to attack Romney during televised debates. He's also devoted a considerable portion of his vast campaign resources to television ads that undermine Romney's opponent of the week, from Rick Perry, to Newt Gingrich, to his latest foe, Rick Santorum."

Rand Paul's remark was treated as circumstantial evidence that there is some sort of agreement between Romney and Paul's father, with Romney promising some sort of reward to Paul for his unofficial and unstated alliance.

But Rand Paul's chief of staff, Doug Stafford, told HuffPost late Wednesday that there was no there there in his boss' comment.

"The senator was answering a question posed to him by the media. His father is running for president, and since no one has won even 20 percent of the delegates needed to win, he is a contender for the nomination," Stafford said in an email. "If he does not win and the eventual winner wishes to consider Senator Paul for the VP spot, of course he would be honored. Why wouldn't someone consider it an honor to be asked to run for the second-highest office in the country?"

Comments

[tom smith 2]

11:27 AM on 02/24/2012

Rand Paul is NOT Ron Paul. Many Ron Paul supporters do not really support Rand Paul. In one telling incident recently when campaigning for his father, Rand Paul was booed by some of his father’s supporters when he hinted that the Ron Paul campaign should not leave the Republican party. Rand Paul is not as genuine as his father. His father would never ally himself with people like Sarah Palin because of her Neo-Con and fanatical religious views. But Rand Paul has no problems allying with Neo-Cons and religious nuts. Why, even Sean Hannity likes Rand Paul, and that’s not an endorsement that any Libertarian would want to have.

[hj871]

03:09 PM on 03/01/2012

There are also many Ron Paul supporters who support both Ron and Rand, myself included. I haven't heard about this booing incident, but if that's true, I have to ask if those people really understand why Ron has stayed in the Republican party himself all these years. Also there is no "deal" or "selling out" by Ron with Romney involving Rand or anything else...that's all just media spin and speculation. It has been debunked already. There's no truth to it at all. But the special interests who own the major media outlets do not want him to win, and since there's nothing in his record to attack (they can't claim he has ever flip flopped or that he isn't conservative enough), there is nothing else for them to attack him on except for silly distractions like this. It's all made up. Stop falling for propaganda.

[CountArtha]

04:36 AM on 04/03/2012

MOST Ron Paul supporters didn't trust Rand when he ran for the Senate. I didn't give his campaign a nickel, even in the primary. He was a lot more willing to cozy up to the neocons, softer on the War on Drugs, and generally more conservative (as opposed to radically libertarian) than his father. We all thought he was an empty suit using Ron's good name to get elected.

Then he got elected.

Rand Paul is the ONLY member of the Senate who is willing to draw a hard line on the budget. He has twice introduced a plan to balance the budget in five years, which is better than the pussyfooting I see from talk radio's favorite conservative, Paul Ryan. He's stood up for civil liberties every bit as resolutely as Ron. Rand Paul IS the next leader of the Republican's libertarian wing. He's even won over those forty-year-old hipsters who run Reason Magazine. Take a look:
http://reason.com/archives/2011/05/09/the-most-interesting-man-in-th

Rand has a different style than Ron that makes him more attractive to mainstream conservatives. I say good; he's our man on the inside. Ron tends to get so polemical fighting the neocons that REAL conservatives forget he's one of their own, so I actually like that Rand speaks the language of conservatives better. I like his chances a lot better than Ron's, and I'll get behind him with the same enthusiasm. All of us should.

[Your Mother]

01:58 AM on 06/11/2012

jury's still out.

[hackerant]

01:39 AM on 02/24/2012

I have a problem with this, and it leads me to question the conspiracy that Ron Paul has a truce with Romney to get Rand in as the V.P. Not saying it's true, but WTF was Rand thinking? I guess the apple did fall far from the tree or what?

[hj871]

03:16 PM on 03/01/2012

Rand is telling the truth, there's no deal. He only answered the question about how he would feel if nominated for VP, because reporters pushed and pushed him to answer. Ron is still his first choice for President. This is just a smear campaign, that's all. Please understand that the media companies have a high stake in who our next President will be.

[OhNoUdinnit]

11:20 AM on 04/16/2012

We all do. I agree that the 2012 election is the most consequential in generations.

[dvncmdy]

04:57 PM on 02/23/2012

Just wait until they start vetting him and find David Duke in the background

[csmomo]

05:50 PM on 04/15/2012

Are you serious? The Klan man?

[dvncmdy]

08:22 AM on 04/16/2012

yes.....;Duke is a big supporter of the Rands.....

[S-Man]

04:56 PM on 02/23/2012

They meant the squirrel on your dome "Dr." Paul.

[Joey Schmoey]

03:01 PM on 02/23/2012

Rand NEVER said he would be honored to be Mitt's VP, he said “I don’t know if I can answer that question, but I can say it would be an honor to be considered,” meaning Rand was being polite and flattered that Romney would want him to be VP but Rand would never VP for Romney because they have almost nothing in common.

[csmomo]

05:53 PM on 04/15/2012

That shouldn't be a big problem since the VP doesn't do the President's job until the President is dead, so whatever they have "in common" would be inconsequential in any case.

[den1953]

11:12 AM on 02/23/2012

It is amazing to hear how many of these governors and senators want to do so much for the people of there respective states only to abandon them when they get a chance to run for other government jobs of higher stature. While listening to them on the stump railing against big government and high income from the tax payers and keeping government debt to a minimum, but yet they will bolt to a higher paying government job when it is offered to them? The hypocritical politicians are endless!

[hj871]

03:21 PM on 03/01/2012

No, he has no plans to abandon his term as Senator, he only answered the question because reporters asked him, and pushed for answer. He hasn't hinted or suggested anywhere that he plans to leave the Senate early or not finish his term.

[csmomo]

05:57 PM on 04/15/2012

Wasn't he in the Presidental Hopeful pool there for awhile?
I guess his daddy made him shut up and go back to the Senate.

[OhNoUdinnit]

11:25 AM on 04/16/2012

For some, being a United States Senator is a big accomplishment and a serious responsibiliity. I don't mind someone being ambitious, but if you are elected to a full term in the Senate, you should serve out that full term before considering higher office. For that reason, I don't think Rand Paul or Marco Rubio (or Kelly Ayotte) will seriously consider taking the VP nomination this year. There's a problem with someone when they start immediately running for President of VP after just becoming a Senator (hint, hint).

[csmomo]

05:55 PM on 04/15/2012

I distinctly recall the Republicans' CONSTANT HARPING REFRAIN 'way back when was BALANCE THE BUDGET BALANCE THE BUDGET BALANCE THE BUDGET. Then they elected Ronald Reagan who left the biggest debt of any President until Little George took over.

[OhNoUdinnit]

11:28 AM on 04/16/2012

I recall Democrats harping about balanced budgets too. The only people in government to deliver balanced budgets in the last few decades were Bill Clinton and the GOP Congress in the mid/late '90s. Otherwise, they all have shown no serious concern over balancing the budget (Obama, GW Bush have been atrocious on the subject). We should not just disregard efforts to balance a budget that needs serious balancing, or reduction.

[Hardyman1966]

07:44 AM on 02/23/2012

I'll take "Things You Will NEVER Need to Worry About" for $500, Alex!

[LeaderofMen]

08:18 AM on 02/23/2012

You just won. And so did we all.

[watoos013]

07:21 AM on 02/23/2012

Yes, please run a b.ir.cher for VP.

[aquarius2001]

06:58 AM on 02/23/2012

Doesn't matter. Mitt won't be POTUS, so no worries about racist Rand being the Veep.

[traditional]

06:57 AM on 02/23/2012

The one that flew over the nest

[Khakis and Chucks]

06:14 AM on 02/23/2012

One of the only Senators to vote against the NDAA could not hurt Romney. I do not think their ideologies mesh very well though.

[chrsmith3]

05:48 AM on 02/23/2012

Low hanging fruit !

[TheHighForester]

05:39 AM on 02/23/2012

An evil hobbit as Vice-President? There are some who believe that is exactly what this country needs.

[csmomo]

05:59 PM on 04/15/2012

Well, bring back Dick Cheney---but no, he has a heart now.

[OhNoUdinnit]

11:31 AM on 04/16/2012

Isn't that what we have right now? That or a plagarist bufoon/professional politician. At least the Pauls got MDs and had real jobs (not that community agitator and politican aren't "real" jobs!).

[RButler]

05:22 AM on 02/23/2012

If Dan Quayle could be VP, well, anyone can.  You spell potato.  He spells potatoe.

[FanaticRealist]

05:35 AM on 02/23/2012

Except Sarah Palin.

You spell potato, she says that the ability to spell it as "potatoe" is an important demonstration of Republican commitment to personal freedom.

And then she goes and banks the check.

[OhNoUdinnit]

11:32 AM on 04/16/2012

The article is about Rand Paul. Are you contending that a man who completed medical school and was a medical doctor is incapable of spelling words?

[RButler]

05:20 AM on 02/23/2012

Look folks. This is the bottom line. All these republicans think "If Bush could be president, so can I" and look at the results. Can you imagine the cabinet, the judges, the lobbyists that would be appointed or nominated by any of the GOP candidates if the impossible happned and one won?

[csmomo]

06:03 PM on 04/15/2012

Bush's father could not have been President if R. Nixon had not appointed him to replace the disgraced Spiro Agnew and then had to resign from the Presidency himself. If Old George hadnt been President, then Little George probably wouldn't have either. I expect any day now to hear that one of the twins is being considered for VP.

[OhNoUdinnit]

11:38 AM on 04/16/2012

What? Your comments make no sense at all. George Bush was not appointed VP by Nixon. He was appointed RNC chairman by Nixon, CIA Chief by Ford, was elected VP twice with Reagan and elected President in his own right in 1988 (a landslide win). GW Bush would probably not have been elected President had his father not been President as well. You may not have liked it, but Bush was elected - twice. As if Democrats don't benefit from the achievements of their family? (every Kennedy under the sun, Hillary Clinton, Bill Daley, Jesse Jackson, Jr., Jean Carnahan, etc.)