Rand Paul builds 50-state network, courts mainstream support for presidential bid

It seems that the Ron Paul campaign was highly successful in amassing a powerful base for Paul the Younger, a feat that could not have possibly been accomplished without the Elder’s presidential bid. While many Ron Paulers would hate to admit it, as many of them hold out much hope for little Rand, he is making key moves that would have left these same libertarians railing against Obamney in the 2012 elections. Some examples of who Paul is courting can be found in this highly informative article. Some excerpts:

Paul, 51, of Kentucky, has been courting Wall Street titans and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who donated to the presidential campaigns of George W. Bush and Mitt Romney, attending elite conclaves in Utah and elsewhere along with other GOP hopefuls.

Foreign policy advisers — such as Richard Burt, a former ambassador, and Lorne Craner, a former State Department official — are expected to be part of the chain of command.

Joe Lonsdale, a hedge fund manager, is also on board, as is Ken Garschina, a principal at Mason Capital Management in New York. So are brothers Donald and Phillip Huffines, Texas real estate developers; Atlanta investor Lane Moore; and Frayda Levy, a board member at conservative advocacy groups Americans for Prosperity and the Club for Growth.

From the state parties, outgoing Iowa Republican Party Chairman A.J. Spiker and former Nevada GOP chairman James Smack have signed on, and a handful of Republican officials are preparing to join once their terms expire, including Robert Graham, chairman of the Arizona Republican Party.

Furthermore:

[Erika] Sather, a former development director at the Club for Growth, spent much of the winter introducing Paul to donors beyond the libertarians who helped Ron Paul raise more than $40 million for his 2012 presidential campaign. Stafford, a former adviser to several conservative groups, has mined the donor lists of the Campaign for Liberty, FreedomWorks and other advocacy organizations.

Cathy Bailey and Nate Morris, two prominent GOP fundraisers from Kentucky, also were instrumental in bringing the group together.

Morris, 33, previously a prolific GOP fundraiser who has raised money for George W. Bush, has served as Paul’s guide as the freshman senator has navigated steakhouse dinners and tony receptions with Republican power brokers.

Nurturing relationships with Bob Murray, a coal baron and former Romney bundler; former George Bush donor Jack Oliver, who is aligned with Jeb Bush; and Blakely Page, an associate of billionaire industrialist brothers Charles and David Koch, has been a priority.

Those big-name donors have not signed on with any potential Republican candidate, but Paul’s supporters think the formation of a leadership team could entice them, or at least signal Paul’s seriousness.

Is Paul the Younger on his way to making friends with the elites of the Eastern Establishment? Only time will tell. It is my prediction that Rand Paul is tragically becoming the right-wing version of Barack Obama. Instead of touting Hope and Change, we hear Liberty and Restoration for America.

I called it here first.

Rand Paul builds 50-state network, courts mainstream support for presidential bid