Paul says libertarians can attract young people to the GOP, particularly on privacy issues. Paul: 'Old guard' losing elections

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said he agrees with those that say there is pushback from the Republican establishment when the party faces heat from factions such as the libertarian wing.

Newt Gingrich said Thursday that he thinks the establishment is growing “more hysterical” as Paul and fellow Republican Sen. Ted Cruz rise in prominence. Paul said Friday on “The Laura Ingraham Show” that he thinks the establishment needs to welcome new ideas.


“I think there’s some truth to that and I think the other thing about it is that the old guard needs to realize they’re the ones that have been losing the last couple of elections,” Paul said. “If we want to win for presidency we have to compete in the states where we’re not competing. Precisely, up in the northeast and on the west coast where Republicans are basically on life support. We need to reach out with issues that may attract new people to the party.”

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One of the most divisive issues in the GOP has been the threat from some, including Paul, Cruz and fellow Sen. Mike Lee, to shut down the government as a means to defund Obamacare. Paul said he does not support shutting down the government, but rather using the continuing resolution as leverage against the president’s signature health care law.

“I don’t want to shut down government, I think it’s a dumb idea to shut down government,” he said. “And I will not do anything to try to shut down the government. But I will try to fund the part of the government that’s constitutional, that is not bad for the country.”

Paul added that he thinks using the continuing resolution to defund Obamacare gives Republicans in the House leverage against Democrats in the Senate during a conference committee on the budget.

“But if we don’t use our leverage at all, basically the House becomes impotent,” Paul said. “And having a Republican controlled House stops bad things, but we never use our leverage to try to get good things. And the good thing might be that we can’t defund Obamacare, maybe we don’t have the muscle to do that, and we probably don’t. But we use the leverage of the House voting to defund it to try to find an in-between.”

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Paul said he thinks there is a place within the Republican party for libertarians such as himself. He said that way of thinking, particularly when it comes to issues of privacy, can be used to attract young people to the GOP.

“Young people, they don’t really associate with Republicans on taxes and regulations. Not that they oppose us, they just don’t have any money so they don’t care much about those issues,” Paul said. “But they’ve all got a cell phone, they’re all on the internet, they’re all concerned about internet freedom and they’re concerned about privacy. And these are precisely issues where we can grow our youth vote.”