Rand Paul win a victory for liberty candidates

Rand Paul’s win in Kentucky Republican Senate primary on May 18 is being claimed as a victory for him, but also for those looking for fresh alternatives to politics as usual.

 Adam Kokesh, a New Mexico Congressional candidate and Paul supporter, says the Paul victory has broader implications.

“It demonstrates that the Republican Party leadership is out of touch with its own base,” said Kokesh.

Paul’s candidacy was a sore spot for the leadership of Republican Party. The highest ranking Senate Republican, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is also from Kentucky, openly supported Paul’s opponent. However, he had plenty of support from the Tea Party movement and an open endorsement from former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

Kokesh said Paul supports limited government and opposes increased government spending, increased taxes and government bailouts, all of which are important issues to both libertarians and the Tea Party movement.

“I think the original intent of the Tea Party movement doesn’t have any contradiction with the libertarian philosophy,” said Kokesh.“We have seen in many ways the Tea Party movement co-opted by the conservative establishment.”

Although there seems to be a contradiction between Tea Partiers, who support strong military and national defense plan, and libertarians, who oppose the expansion of intervention abroad, Kokesh said that candidates like himself and Paul find a way to agree on these issues.

“We want a strong military, we want a strong national defense,” said Kokesh. But what he doesn’t support is the current policy of nation-building, which he called a “gross misallocation of security resources.”

The libertarian message of respecting the Bill of Rights fits in well with the beliefs of the Tea Party, according to Kokesh. He characterized the Tea Party as an issue coalition, where as the liberterian view is philosophical.

“There are a whole crop of candidates out there representing this message within the Republican Party,” said Kokesh. “I think we are going to see more victories.”