Rand Paul Evolves

According to POLITICO Rand Paul has ‘evolved’.

He’ll push to loosen marijuana penalties, legalize undocumented immigrants and pursue a less aggressive American foreign policy.

Call it the Rand Paul Evolution.

n the wake of Barack Obama’s reelection win and ahead of a possible 2016
White House bid of his own, the Kentucky Republican plans to mix his
hard-line tea party conservatism with more moderate policies that could
woo younger voters and minorities largely absent from the GOP coalition.
It’s the latest tactic of the freshman senator to inject the
Libertarian-minded views shared by his retiring father into mainstream Republican thinking as the party grapples with its future.

In an interview with POLITICO, Paul said he’ll return to Congress
this week pushing measures long avoided by his party. He wants to work
with liberal Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy and Republicans to eliminate
mandatory minimum sentences for pot possession. He wants to carve a
compromise immigration plan with an “eventual path” to citizenship for
illegal immigrants, a proposal he believes could be palatable to
conservatives. And he believes his ideas — along with pushing for less
U.S. military intervention in conflicts overseas — could help the GOP
broaden its tent and appeal to crucial voting blocs that handed
Democrats big wins in the West Coast, the Northeast and along the Great
Lakes.

“We have three big regions where we’re not competitive,” Paul said. “And we have to be competitive in those regions.”