Politics: The Passion of Rand Paul

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Politics The Passion of Rand Paul Why the senator was against Chuck Hagel before he was for him. By David Weigel Posted Wednesday, Feb 27, 2013, at 12:57 AM ET Shortly before noon, before the vote on whether to move forward on Chuck Hagel's nomination for secretary of defense, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul walked onto the floor of the Senate. He stood near the well, where he would have to cast his vote. After Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander cast the first vote—an aye—he and Paul chatted off to the side. When his own name came up in the roll call—"Mr. Paul?"—Paul said nothing. Nearly half of Paul's fellow senators voted in the first alphabetical run-through of names. It was clear, almost immediately, that Hagel would have enough votes to break a filibuster. Paul walked over to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, the unofficial whip of the unofficial Dump Hagel campaign, spoke briefly, then returned to the well. He cast his vote. "Mr. Paul, no." Hagel was vaulting over this final hurdle, but Paul wasn't going to help. Two weeks earlier, Paul had cast a decisive vote against cloture, making Hagel the first-ever national security nominee to face a filibuster. "There's all kinds of rumors all over the Internet about foreign groups that may have provided financing," explained Paul, "and I think he needs to reveal that." Had Paul voted the other way, Hagel wouldn't have spent those extra days being beat up by hawkish Republicans, Washington Post blogger Jennifer Rubin, and groups like the Emergency Committee for Israel. Forty other Republicans joined Paul on that first filibuster, and 26 more joined him ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate The Passion of Rand Paul The Saga of Tomsan Why America's Charities Are So Uncharitable	Advertisement
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