Paul: No more 'bomb everybody'

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said Monday that Republicans can win in New England and on the West Coast if they’re willing to drop a “we need to bomb everybody tomorrow” foreign policy.

“I think one of the problems we face, as a Republican party, is that we’re behind the eight-ball to begin with,” Paul said on CBS’ “This Morning.” “We’re not winning the West Coast. We’re not winning New England. Maybe we need to embrace more Ron Paul Republicans, more libertarian Republicans. … It means people who are little bit less aggressive on foreign policy. They believe in defending the country, but they don’t believe we need to be everywhere all the time.”


There are only four GOP senators from the six New England states, and none from the three states on the Pacific coast.

“We should have a more defensive foreign policy, a less aggressive foreign policy,” Paul said. “I think that would go over much better in New England than the typical ‘we need to bomb everybody tomorrow’ policy you hear from some Republicans.”

Paul’s advice doesn’t necessarily mesh with recent Republicans wins in New England. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), elected in 2010, has joined with some of the most hawkish members of the upper chamber. Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.), elected nine months earlier, has emphasized his service in the Massachusetts Army National Guard. Both sit on the Armed Services Committee. Another New England Senator, Connecticut Independent Joe Lieberman, won as a third-party candidate in 2006 after his support for the Iraq War cost him the Democratic primary.

Paul, who broke with his father, libertarian icon and Texas Rep. Ron Paul, to endorse Mitt Romney’s presidential bid, said his family isn’t holding it against him.

“It makes it kind of contentious at Thanksgiving,” the younger Paul said. “But so far, they’re still letting me eat at the adult table.”