If there is one establishment libertarian organization in America it is the CATO institute. Formed in 1974 with the help of Charles Koch, the CATO institute is America's libertarian think tank whose stated mission is "to increase the understanding of public policies based on the principles of limited government, free markets, individual liberty, and peace."
David Boaz, its executive vice president, gave an interview to "The Atlantic". In it he had this to say about Rand Paul.
There are all sorts of Washington establishments who are going to want to take down Rand Paul. The spending establishment is certainly not going to like what he's talking about. The Republican political establishment doesn't particularly want to change. And certainly the national security establishment is extremely eager not to debate our policy of global interventionism. They have always sought to rule out of bounds any challenge to it.
If you want a pure libertarian to run for president, you've got the Libertarian Party. If you think the Libertarian Party's candidates aren't pure enough, you can write in Murray Rothbard. When we talk about a U.S. senator running for president, you are talking about the real world of politics. Nobody is going to be a doctrinaire Ayn Rand libertarian. Rand Paul has rounder edges than his father. He has a number of other advantages over his father: He's not 77 years old; he's a not a House member, he's a senator; and he has rounder edges in the way he presents libertarian ideas.
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