At the second Republican primary debate, Donald Trump said that Rand Paul didn’t belong on the stage as a top tier candidate. And now, it appears a prominent Paul supporter may agree with Trump!
One of three Super PACs supporting Paul has stopped raising money. Purple PAC is run by Ed Crane, who co-founded the libertarian Cato Institute. Crane is disillusioned with Senator Paul, who he says appears to have have abandoned his libertarian views on the presidential campaign trail. Crane discussed Purple PAC’s diminishing support of Paul with Politico.
“I have stopped raising money for him until I see the campaign correct its problems,” said Crane, who co-founded the Cato Institute think tank and serves as its president emeritus. “I wasn’t going to raise money to spend on a futile crusade.”
Crane said the organization currently had over $1 million cash on hand, but no longer wanted to ask for contributions. “I just don’t want to do that to my friends,” he said.
The libertarian views that catapulted Paul to national prominence had “disappeared,” Crane said, leaving many of Paul’s longtime backers miffed.
Rand Paul is also running for reelection for the U.S. Senate, and he took a break from his Presidential campaign to raise money for his quest to retain his Senate seat. This move continues to fuel the rumors that Paul’s campaign is quickly approaching the end of its run.
Despite his strong stances for liberty on the Senate floor, Rand Paul hasn’t been able to capitalize on the enthusiasm his father, Ron Paul, was able to spark. And Donald Trump’s seemingly constant domination of headlines seem to be sucking the air out of his campaign.
Do you think Rand Paul should focus on his Senate campaign? Please comment below.
H/T: Politico