One of the most prominent defectors is Drew Ivers, chairman of Ron Paul’s 2012 Iowa campaign, who says he will not endorse Rand Paul for president. On Tuesday, three members of Iowa’s Ron Paul-aligned Liberty movement — state Sen. Jason Shultz and former Iowa Republican Party central committee members Chad Steenhoek and Joel Kurtinitis — announced the same, adding that they will support Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

Ivers, who had dinner with Rand Paul in August, said the Kentucky senator has abandoned many of the stances that made Ivers loyal to his father. “He’s moderating on most of them, not taking a real clear stance on a number of them,” said Ivers. “The strategy of sending a blended message is one that has risk.” An internal poll conducted last month by Liberty Iowa of Ron Paul’s delegates to the 2012 Iowa Republican Convention — the vanguard of his Hawkeye State loyalists — found that Rand Paul is still the preferred choice by a wide margin. But there are signs of erosion: less than 70 percent are leaning Rand Paul’s way in 2016, according to a person with knowledge of the polling who was not authorized to discuss it. Cruz was the group’s second-favorite candidate, with support in the high single digits, followed by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.



For Kurtinitis, who initially planned on supporting Paul, the turning point came during Cruz’s September 2013 filibuster of a continuing resolution to keep the federal government open. “When Rand was filibustering, we saw Mike Lee and Ted Cruz standing there. When the shoe was on the other foot and Cruz was the one giving the filibuster, I and others in the liberty movement looked around and asked, ‘Where’s Rand?’” said Kurtinitis. “It kind of added insult to injury to learn that he planned to be at a fundraiser for [Iowa Gov.] Terry Branstad that day.” In New Hampshire, with its more moderate brand of conservatism, Paul faces similar challenges. New Hampshire Rep. Bill O’Brien, a former state House speaker, said he’s seen a number of Ron Paul supporters gravitating toward Cruz. Aaron Day, a leader of the Free State movement, which seeks to enact libertarian principles in New Hampshire, says members of the movement are showing markedly less enthusiasm for Rand Paul than they showed for his father. “One of the big concerns is whether or not he’s left his liberty base and is he moving towards the center in reality or just for the purpose of optics,” he said. Day cited Paul’s endorsement of moderate Republican Scott Brown’s failed New Hampshire Senate bid and his lack of support for tea party activist Andrew Hemingway’s gubernatorial primary bid.

I think Rand Paul is a person with some genuine beliefs, even if I don't agree with many of them. He says he wants to decriminalize marijuana, release drug dealers from jail, and hide people's criminal records. I also believe he's passionate when he talks about reducing government surveillance of citizens, and that he believes in a restrained approach to foreign policy, which may not be so good for our national security.

But beyond that, everything else is mush. He's great friends with Mitch McConnell, an accommodationist Republican who is an example of everything wrong with Washington. He has said practically nothing about reducing runaway spending; he's a "drug libertarian" but not an "economic libertarian," judging by his priorities as senator.

Ted Cruz, on the other hand, has made restraining the growth of government a key priority, which seems to be why he is winning over Paul's supporters.

You can like or dislike Ted Cruz, or even believe he doesn't meet the qualifications to be president. But at least he's honest about his views. Rand Paul is trying to paint himself as a small-government conservative, and his supporters are seeing through that, which is why more and more of them are calling themselves "former" supporters.

This article was produced by NewsMachete.com, the conservative news site.