“Socially Liberal” Rand Paul

As Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) woos young voters ahead of an expected 2016 presidential bid, it’s become conventional wisdom among many Beltway pundits that Paul could broaden the GOP’s appeal with his ostensibly tolerant views on social issues – never mind that that this narrative is completely divorced from Paul’s traditional conservative positions on such topics.

Paul’s effort to win over Millennials and other constituencies historically suspicious of the GOP came to the fore with his March 19 speech at the University of California, Berkeley, where Paul condemned government surveillance programs as a threat to privacy.

The chattering class proclaimed that the speech was emblematic of Paul’s appeal as an unconventional, “intriguing” Republican. And despite Paul’s conservative stances on issues like marriage equality, reproductive choice, and creationism, many media outlets have also pointed to Paul as the kind of candidate who could help move the GOP away from its hardline social positions. It’s a narrative that even some of Paul’s conservative critics have come to accept, as Charles Krauthammer showed when he called Paul “very much a liberal on social issues.”

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