Politics: Rand vs. Rubio

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Politics Rand vs. Rubio Whether either senator will become a presidential contender depends on how much the Republican Party is willing to change. By John Dickerson Posted Monday, Mar 25, 2013, at 03:25 PM ET The fascination with Sens. Rand Paul and Marco Rubio is understandable. Both are young and ambitious Republicans in a party looking for its next leader. They are charismatic risk-takers who can talk to the media beyond just Fox News. Also alliteration may be destiny. Headline writers cannot resist writing Rand and Rubio combination. (See examples, here, here, here, here, and above.) Both men are also considering running for president. We should leave them to their hobbies. It's three years until the next primary and it's silly to assign too much presidential weight to anything they do now. (Though it's not crazy to imagine people returning to the Rand Paul filibuster of 2013 the way they did Barack Obama's convention speech in 2004). But even now, the presidential jockeying of these two men is interesting in another context. It tells us something about the Republican Party they would hope to lead. The GOP is going through a molting period. The route each man charts and how successful he is in capturing arguments of the moment—on immigration, drones, and whatever else comes up—will tell us something about what the emerging Republican Party values and what it might look like as it tries to get in shape for the next national contest.  If the Republican Party of 2016 embraces either of these two senators it will be a radically different party. If either is elevated into a serious national candidate, it would reverse two old truths about ... 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 Goodbye, Tony Lewis Tie the Knot Six Ways to Avoid the Classic "Broken Bottle Scam"	Advertisement
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