CBS:
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul had some harsh words Wednesday for Republicans who have blamed the rise of Islamic extremism in Iraq and Syria on American disengagement with the Middle East.
In an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Paul was asked about the criticism he's received from GOP hawks like South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and Arizona Sen. John McCain, who have argued that America's failure to arm moderate rebel groups in the Syrian civil war created space for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to grow.
"I would say it's exactly the opposite," Paul said. "ISIS exists and grew stronger because of the hawks in our party who gave arms indiscriminately, and most of those arms were snatched up by ISIS. These hawks also wanted to bomb [Syrian dictator Bashar] Assad, which would have made ISIS's job even easier."
ABC:
Newly-minted presidential candidate Rick Santorum today slammed fellow 2016 hopeful Rand Paul, who said he blames Republican hawks for the rise of terrorist group ISIS.
“I think that is just fundamentally a misunderstanding of the nature of the enemy we face,” Santorum said in an exclusive interview with ABC News’ Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos.
“ISIS didn't come about because of ... the arms that America left behind. ISIS came about because they hate everything that we believe in and we stand for,” Santorum added. “I think the idea that we accept now that this tripe from the left that it’s our fault that ISIS exists -- go back to the thousand-year history of Muslim expansionism, and look at some of the horrible things that were done to spread radical Islam. That is not something that America had anything to do with.”
On MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”, Sen. Paul asserted GOP hawks “created” ISIS.
“ISIS exists and grew stronger because of the hawks in our party who gave arms indiscriminately,” he said. “They created these people.”
More politics, policy and Rand bashing below the fold.
Important insight from Brian Murphy on Bridgegate trial.
This trial going to be more than mere background noise as Christie’s presidential bid gets rolling. It’s in defendants’ interest! 10/10
— @Burrite
MSNBC:
In one of the most aggressive attacks of the burgeoning 2016 primaries yet, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal branded Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) “unsuited to be commander-in-chief” over Paul’s comments blaming his party’s hawk wing for inadvertently contributing to the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
“This is a perfect example of why Senator Paul is unsuited to be commander-in-chief,” Jindal said in a statement. “We have men and women in the military who are in the field trying to fight ISIS right now, and Senator Paul is taking the weakest, most liberal Democrat position.”
Ooooh, he called Rand a liberal Democrat. Them's fighting words, Rand!
CNN:
"Right now, the Republican brand sucks. I promised Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, that I would stop saying the GOP sucks, and I will (except for this last time)," Paul writes. "I believe the Republican Party and minorities have common ground."
When you think the only way to win is to run against your own party, you're losing. He's right about the GOP, of course, but that's not really the point, is it? Rand is Rand. He'll walk it all back. Still, that a Republican is starting to voice this is a major turning point.
Dana Milbank:
Rand Paul took a left turn on his journey to the Republican nomination, and now his hopes seem to be headed south.
The libertarian Kentucky senator’s new book, “Taking a Stand,” came out Tuesday, and it is chock-full of lines that would position Paul well — if he were running against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination.
I hope that at least one of the FIFA delegates tried to get out of being arrested by rolling around on the floor grabbing his knee.
— @scottdools
NY Times:
Nebraska on Wednesday became the first conservative state in more than 40 years to abolish the death penalty, with lawmakers defying their Republican governor, Pete Ricketts, a staunch supporter of capital punishment who had lobbied vigorously against banning it.
After more than two hours of emotional speeches at the Capitol here, the Legislature, by a 30-to-19 vote that cut across party lines, overrode the governor’s veto of a bill repealing the state’s death penalty law. After the repeal measure passed — by just enough votes to overcome the veto — dozens of spectators in the balcony burst into celebration.
Pew (2014):
According to a 2013 Pew Research Center survey, 55% of U.S. adults say they favor the death penalty for persons convicted of murder. A significant minority (37%) oppose the practice.
While a majority of U.S. adults still support the death penalty, public opinion in favor of capital punishment has seen a modest decline since November 2011, the last time Pew Research asked the question. In 2011, fully six-in-ten U.S. adults (62%) favored the death penalty for murder convictions, and 31% opposed it.
Derek Willis:
Hillary Rodham Clinton is a liberal Democrat on domestic matters, and Bernie Sanders is a socialist. They voted the same way 93 percent of the time in the two years they shared in the Senate.
In fact, from January 2007 to January 2009, Mrs. Clinton, representing New York, voted with Mr. Sanders about as often as she did with the like-minded Democrats Ron Wyden of Oregon and Barbara Mikulski of Maryland.
In many of the cases in which she differed with Mr. Sanders, who represents Vermont and is also running for the Democratic presidential nomination, Mrs. Clinton went with the crowd. She voted with an overwhelming majority of her colleagues, including Republicans. Her positions on the votes that differed from Mr. Sanders represented policy differences but also political calculations by Mrs. Clinton, who was preparing for a presidential run in 2008.