On Tuesday, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul announced his candidacy for president. On that same day, the attack ads began.
A particularly deplorable ad ran in several battleground states from Foundation for a Secure and Prosperous America. The spot ends with a mushroom cloud and this message: “Rand Paul is wrong, and dangerous. Tell him stop siding with Obama, because even one Iranian bomb would be a disaster.”
According to the national chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus, Matt Nye, the ad is good news.
“From a political perspective, it’s really good news, because for them to go after Rand on the very first day that he announces with a campaign like that, it just goes to show that they’re very concerned about his candidacy,” he explained in an exclusive interview with BenSwann.com’s Joshua Cook.
“Obviously, the ad is pretty ugly. The takeaway though is he is clearly being perceived as a threat by the establishment, and they’re going to stop at nothing to take him out,” he said.
Nye said that it’s an exciting time to be part of the liberty movement. He cites the rise in grassroots activism and growth within the Republican Liberty Caucus, as well.
“You’ve got all of these different grassroots organizations that have really only come into existence in the last 6 to 7 years,” he said.
Nye explained that there is a wave of excitement and interest within the liberty movement, and that should be encouraging.
“Part of my words of encouragement to people who are getting discouraged and are ready to give up is that Washington, D.C. is the ultimate lagging indicator,” he said. “That’s the very, very, very last thing that’s going to change in terms of the political discourse of this country and the candidates that we get elected.”
He said that liberty lovers should be excited for the opportunity to pick between Texas Senator Ted Cruz, another candidate for president, and Rand Paul.
“When was the last time we actually had two good candidates that you had to think about,” he said.
According to Nye, Rand Paul has a leg up on Cruz.
“Rand Paul has been laying the groundwork for this for quite some time,” he said. Paul has been doing outreach to groups Republicans usually don’t, and that has helped his candidacy.
Click here to listen to Joshua Cook’s entire interview with Matt Nye where he talks more about Rand Paul and the presidential election.