Sen. Rand Paul should run for president in 2028

OPINION:

Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky Republican, has said that he will decide whether to run for president after the midterm elections. Those elections are now behind us. So here is a message to the senator from many Americans who have been waiting: Run.

Last week, an independent grassroots effort, Draft Rand, was launched to encourage Mr. Paul to run for president in 2028. Constitutional Rights PAC is proud to support it. Our goal is simple: When Mr. Paul sits down to make his decision, we want him to know exactly how many Americans are ready to stand with him.

This is not about tearing down anyone. It is about building something. The conservative movement wins when its coalition stands together, and I believe Mr. Paul is the leader who can reunite it.

Start with the debt. It has surpassed $40 trillion, and Washington’s answer is to borrow more. Mr. Paul’s answer is the Six Penny Plan: Cut six cents from every dollar that the government plans to spend, and the budget balances in five years.

When Elon Musk looked back on his time leading the Department of Government Efficiency, he said that hardly anyone in power actually wants to cut spending. The rare exception he named was Mr. Paul.

Then there is accountability. While the rest of Washington moved on from COVID-19, Mr. Paul did not. A physician, he sent criminal referrals on Anthony Fauci to President Biden’s Justice Department. Twice.

After Mr. Biden handed Dr. Fauci a preemptive pardon, Mr. Paul kept going. This summer, his Homeland Security Committee brought Dr. Fauci back under subpoena. Dr. Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times, and the committee voted to hold him in contempt.

Mr. Paul has defended the Constitution’s war powers no matter which party holds the White House. He opposed President Obama’s war in Libya and demanded an inspector general before tens of billions of dollars went to Ukraine. His view is simple: If a war is worth fighting, then make the case to the American people and let Congress vote.

On privacy, in 2015 he held the Senate floor for more than 10 hours to end the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of Americans’ phone records. This year, he voted against advancing a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Section 702 reauthorization that lacked a warrant requirement.

Americans had watched FISA abused against a presidential campaign in 2016. The answer is a warrant.

This record is the foundation of a coalition. In it are fiscal conservatives tired of watching both parties max out the national credit card; constitutional conservatives who believe that the Bill of Rights means what it says; families and veterans who want our sons and daughters sent to war only when Congress decides that it is necessary; young voters and independents who came into politics through the liberty movement and never found a home in either party’s establishment; and millions of “America First” voters who want accountability, smaller government and a secure border.

These voters agree far more than they disagree. When they stood together in 2010 through the tea party movement, they changed Washington — and Mr. Paul was elected to the Senate as part of that wave. He can bring them together again.

Honest objections have been made to a Rand Paul 2028 run, and they deserve an honest answer. Mr. Paul has broken with his own party — and at times with President Trump — on spending and war powers, and some conservatives hold that against him. Others argue that the party’s base has moved toward a more populist economic agenda than Mr. Paul’s free market approach.

Those are fair points, but a leader who votes his convictions when it costs him is exactly what voters say they want. The fights that Mr. Paul has picked — including the debt, Dr. Fauci and the Fourth Amendment — are now mainstream conservative priorities. Being early shows leadership and principle. It is not a weakness.

The decision to run is Mr. Paul’s to make. Our job is to make sure that he makes it with the facts in front of him. Every name collected at DraftRand.com is a message to the senator that the coalition is ready. If you believe in limited government, a balanced budget and the Constitution, add yours.

Liberty needs a voice in 2028. Let us make sure Mr. Paul hears us.

• Larry Ward is chairman of Constitutional Rights PAC, which supports Draft Rand, an independent effort that is not affiliated with or coordinating with Sen. Rand Paul or any other candidate.