Martin: Rand's voice will be missed

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky, who speaking to reporters Monday with his wife Kelley by his side, has dropped out the contest to be the GOP nominee for president.
U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky, who speaking to reporters Monday with his wife Kelley by his side, has dropped out the contest to be the GOP nominee for president.

Then there were nine.

We all knew this was coming. There was no way, once voters started casting primary ballots, that the GOP roster of candidates could remain in double digits.

Though it wasn't much of a shocker that Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee dropped out within 48 hours of the Iowa caucuses, it was very surprising (for me, anyway) to see Rand Paul withdraw from the race early Wednesday morning.

photo Columnist David Martin

It wasn't that long ago that Time and Politico named Kentucky's junior senator "The Most Interesting Man in Politics," and by many counts he had a legitimate path - albeit a narrow and unconventional one - to the Republican presidential nomination. But a slim bank account and a very noisy group of GOP peers kept Paul out of the campaign spotlight, dooming his White House bid.

Neither a screamer nor demagogue, Paul brought a principled and grounded dissenting voice to much of the Republican primary conversation. And like him or not, his absence from the race strips valuable nuance from future GOP presidential dialogue.

How much nuance?

The easiest place to start on is foreign policy. One of the most troubling things about the remaining Republicans is that many of them appear to subscribe to the George W. Bush school of Middle Eastern diplomacy: a shot of "shock and awe" chased with nation-building. When others have talked about carpet-bombing and finding out if sand can glow, Paul's been a lonely voice, urging caution and reminding us about the negative consequences of regime change.

Speaking of a lonely voice, with Paul now dedicating his efforts to keeping his Senate seat - he'll likely be squaring off against Lexington Mayor Jim Gray in that general election - you can bet the farm that there won't be any substantive talk about criminal justice reform or the failed War on Drugs during upcoming GOP debates. The same goes for the privacy rights of American citizens. Is no one else worried that the political party touting itself as the defender of individual rights has lost its loudest 2016 presidential candidate interested in reconciling NSA data-mining with the Fourth Amendment? No? Just me? Okay then.

There has been much discussion about how Paul's stock fell so sharply when it seemed just yesterday everyone, from James Carville to Chris Matthews to Bill Kristol, thought he would be a top-tier contender. Did the emergence of ISIS make his foreign policy appear too dovish? Was there never really a "libertarian moment"? Yes, and hmmm, possibly. But I think it's really something else.

When people say Rand isn't your typical politician, they're right. I believe that's what hurt his Oval Office chances more than anything. Instead of making a habit out of running to any issue that might be dominating the headlines at any given moment, Paul typically prefers to address substantial matters that have interested him for years: auditing the Federal Reserve, auditing the Pentagon, flattening the tax code, etc.

Political winds change, and most politicians spend their years chasing those winds. Not Paul. Sometimes political fashions blow toward him. Sometimes they leave him. Either way, he pretty much stays put, topically speaking. That's what makes him popular at some moments and overlooked during others. And if there's one thing you can't be when campaigning for president, it's overlooked.

It's not over for Rand, though. Much good can be accomplished from the Senate floor, and his policies will surely become vogue again. However, for the remainder of the 2016 presidential cycle, his voice will be sorely missed.

Contact David Allen Martin at davidallenmartin423@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @DMart423.

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