Paul slams GOP rivals for lacking consistency

Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul stressed his conservative principles and his desire to enforce all ten of the amendments in the Bill of Rights at three stops Saturday morning.

The Kentucky senator offered a slew of attacks for his political rivals vying for the same nomination, alleging that they have been unwilling to deliver on all the same principles.

Speaking of Gov. Jeb Bush, Paul accused his father and brother of failing to scale back the size of government, citing President George H.W. Bush's increase of taxes in 1990 and President George W. Bush's support for the Iraq War, which brought about a surge in military spending and a supposed softening of Fourth Amendment rights as a means of countering terrorism.

At a stop in Marshalltown, Paul pointed to Trump's support for eminent domain as a means of suggesting his platform lacks any constitutional inspiration.

"That's his business model, and he's also said he supports the Supreme Court decision that allowed that. There's nothing really conservative about that so I continue to tell people that I think he's a fake conservative," Paul asserted of Trump's use of eminent domain while in the private sector.

Paul did, however, have some positive words about the conservative principles of one candidate, but his remarks of praise were for the only candidate who has dropped out of the race thus far.

Speaking of Gov. Rick Perry in Nevada, Paul said, "This is the thing Rick Perry was pretty good on: He talked about the Tenth Amendment. The Tenth Amendment says, 'Those powers not given to the government are left to the states and the people, respectively.' We need to honor the entire Bill of Rights."

Paul asserted that such a strategy would not only help illuminate conservatism as an ideology, but would serve to broaden the GOP's coalition of voters, which many have suggested has become exclusive of minorities and young people.

The senator concluded his stops in Iowa by visiting a number of Cy-Hawk tailgates, where he abstained from expressing support for either team — despite repeated probes from Iowans.

AT THE EVENTS

SETTING: Meet and greet events in Marshalltown and Nevada and a tour of some Cy-Hawk tailgates in Ames.

CROWD: About 30 people in Marshalltown and about 20 in Nevada.

REACTION: Heavy support for his idea to broaden the Republican coalition by adopting a more strictly constitutional philosophy.

WHAT'S NEXT: The senator was set to speak in St. Louis later in the evening.