Today, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul became the latest Republican presidential candidate to suspend his campaign. The Senator finished 5th in Iowa, and had a good forecast for New Hampshire. But beyond that, his chances looked grim, as he faced fundraising shortages and a challenger back home. He was the only libertarian candidate and thus his presence greatly widened the debate, but he too was swept away by the rise of political outsiders as Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. With his exit, 10 candidates remain in the race to battle it out for the party's ticket.





Rand Paul 5th place finish in Iowa was seen as a positive surprise by many, as he managed to defeat the "establishment" governors of Jeb Bush, Chris Christie and John Kasich. But many people who understand how voters think, weren't surprised by Paul's results. Paul's libertarian message is particularly popular among college and young voters. Paul is against big government, and is a firm defendant of privacy laws, and thus is very anti-surveillance. He is also a big supporter of criminal justice reform, and is one of the only Republicans who is against a bigger war. Is he like a Republican Bernie Sanders (policy wise)? Not quite, but close. But or such beliefs, he was often ridiculed by the likes of Donald Trump, but Rand Paul is a man of belief, and he never flip-flopped on his values.





Paul had enough of a momentum to continue after Iowa, especially since New Hampshire has a strong libertarian presence. But he would have probably found it hard to continue afterwards. He also had some money issues, and at the end of the day that is what decides things.





Rand Paul was considered to be an early frontrunner of the race in 2013, as he was expected to build on his father's legacy and support, and connect that part of the party with the moderate base. The popular Ron Paul ran several times for President, and in 2012 he was a major challenger to Mitt Romney, who enjoyed a huge base of support. He declined to run this time around due to his age, and passed a great base of supporters over to his son in the hope of winning. That never happened though because the political landscape was completely shaken up by the rise of Trump, Cruz, Carson, Fiorina and the wast number of establishment candidates. Paul was sidelined. What a shame. He was truly a unique member of this group of candidates. He will be missed.





Paul hasn't endorsed anyone yet, and it is unclear if he will be doing that soon. However his supporters are thought to be more likely to join the establishment candidates like Marco Rubio despite big differences on war, over the radical outsiders like Trump and Cruz. This is actually very good news for Marco Rubio, as he is riding on a high wave of momentum, endorsements, fundraising and general support. Rubio is now expected to finish at least 2nd in Hew Hampshire, but could even challenge Trump's lead. Rubio just got a wave of fresh endorsements from both houses of Congress, including several people in Arkansas who were freed up after the exit of Mike Huckabee, and influential South Carolina Senator Tim Scott. With these new additions, he is poised to overtake Jeb Bush as the most endorsed candidate as early as tomorrow, which is another sign of Rubio becoming the sole candidate from the establishment lane who will have the resources to take on Trump and Cruz in a lengthy war.



But don't be surprised to see candidates trying to court Paul supporters in Saturday's debate.





But Paul is not gone yet. He is now returning to Kentucky to focus on his Senate re-election campaign, which was also probably a big factor in his decision. Paul has a wave of new contenders in his homestate now, but most people still expect him to regain his seat. And with being only 53 years old, don't be surprised to see him in more Presidential races in the future!



This is an original material of Finchley 1959.