Why Rand Paul is Winning

Created: February 26, 2010 09:54 | Last updated: July 31, 2020 00:00

A friend passes on this high-quality video of Rand Paul’s closing statement at a candidate forum for Kentucky U.S. Senate candidates. If you’ve watched enough video of his father, Ron, debating Republicans, the resonances and contrasts are remarkable. Rand looks and sounds like his father, but he’s got a yen for partisan combat and a crispness to his arguments.

Ron, who vastly expanded his support as a kind of cult figure in the 2007 campaign, was always more comfortable making philosophical arguments than grappling with his opponents. Rand makes those arguments, then fires bullets back at his opponents, Trey Grayson and Bill Johnson. It’s an illustration of how a candidate whose first media coverage was of the “isn’t this an amusing sideshow” variety has put himself in position to be the GOP’s nominee in Kentucky.

Video after the jump: