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Over at the mother ship, David Corn has assembled a bunch of clips of Rand Paul being less than reverential toward Ronald Reagan. Here’s an example from 2009:

People want to like Reagan. He’s very likable. And what he had to say most of the time was a great message. But the deficits exploded under Reagan….The reason the deficits exploded is they ignored spending. Domestic spending went up at a greater clip under Reagan than it did under Carter.

Ouch! That’s not just a hit on Reagan, it’s a direct suggestion that his fiscal policy was worse than Jimmy Carter’s. Jimmy Carter’s!

David has a bunch more along these lines. But here’s my favorite part:

After this article was posted, Paul’s office sent this statement from the senator: “I have always been and continue to be a great supporter of Ronald Reagan’s tax cuts and the millions of jobs they created. Clearly spending during his tenure did not lessen, but he also had to contend with Democrat majorities in Congress.”

Um, didn’t Jimmy Carter also have to contend with Democratic majorities in Congress? Bigger ones, in both houses? Or am I thinking about a different Jimmy Carter?