Talk Elections

Not only is his base apparently less then we would have thought based upon his father's performance this year- not only is he much less of a likeable figure then his father- but he remains far too outside the GOP mainstream....

http://www.politico.com/blogs/on-congress/2012/03/rand-paul-blocks-iran-sanctions-bill-118887.html

He is in a minority of one. Perhaps people admire his principle, but not his policies...

Even I like his dad ten times more than him.

Everyone likes and will always like Ron more; that being said, Rand is 100% right on the Iran sanctions, and his views are much more mainstream compared to his father. Paul's base, while still not large enough to win, has expanded massively. Rand is a strong contender for the nomination.

I like Rand better, he's less mental.

Serious?

Yes. Not a whole lot more, but generally closer to the average Republican.

Hannity and the other conservative talking heads don't go into a seizure when they mention Rand's name, since he is quite good at talking and acting like a standard southern/midwestern social conservative when it counts and keeps the libertarian tendencies to a minimum in comparison.

For that reason, I much prefer Ron to Rand, especially since I don't really see Rand taking as many principled stands (from what I've heard he's about as likely to lose Kentucky next election as Nancy Pelosi to lose San Francisco, but he still can't do as much as a senator) and he just doesn't rub me the right way sometimes. Mind, I don't really like having libertarianism in the US being basically represented by a lone 73 year old congressman with a pendant for making poor short term political decisions.

Do the Father and the Son hold notably different positions on any issues? I can't say I'm aware of any; Rand just seems a bit more nuanced/"marketable." But I don't admit to know the particulars with these two... I'm simply curious.