General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The inevitable Hillary will lead to President Rand Paul. [View all]jeff47
(26,549 posts)In both 2012 and 2008, Republicans voted for candidates who's histories violated their deeply-held beliefs.
You are claiming Republicans won't vote for Paul in 2016 because his history violates their deeply-held beliefs.
Kinda indicates your analysis is not nearly as iron-clad as you claim.
How'd they pull it off in 2012 and 2008? Massive lying. Both candidates downplayed the "bad" parts of their past, played up the "good" parts of their past, and made speeches which claimed that they really were very conservative. A large enough chunk of the base bought it and they won the nomination.
Paul can use the exact same tactics in 2016.
ETA: I don't think he'd be able to beat Clinton in the general in 2016. But I don't think he'd be able to beat damn near any Democrat in 2016.