Friday, April 25, 2014

Rand Paul courting wealthy libertarians for possible 2016 run

Rand Paul and Wealthy Libertarians Connect as He Weighs Running - NYTimes.com - Nicholas Confessore:

April 24, 2014 - "As he has risen in prominence as a Republican presidential contender, Mr. Paul is avidly courting a small but influential cluster of wealthy libertarians.... A tight-knit tribe of philanthropists and entrepreneurs, they have exerted enormous intellectual influence on conservative policy. But they have historically spent more on nonprofit groups and endowing college economics departments than they have on backing candidates."

"Now Mr. Paul is seeking to nudge them into the comparatively messier world of presidential campaigning.

"He has recruited libertarian-leaning financiers and money managers from across the country, including Kenneth M. Garschina, founder of a $5.4 billion New York hedge fund and a contributor to The Review of Austrian Economics, and Donald G. Smith, an investor and board member of the Cato Institute, a libertarian research organization based in Washington. Mr. Paul’s nascent finance team includes Joe Lonsdale, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist who helped start an organization [the Seasteading Institute] dedicated to building new sovereign cities on floating ocean platforms.

"In January, Mr. Paul was the star attraction at a fund-raiser for the Goldwater Institute, a libertarian foundation and legal watchdog based in Phoenix.... In February, at the Club for Growth meeting, held at the Breakers resort in Florida, Mr. Paul pitched a roomful of small-government true believers on the importance of reducing prison sentences for drug offenses."

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/25/us/politics/paul-and-wealthy-libertarians-connect-as-he-weighs-running.html?hpw&rref=politics
'via Blog this'

No comments:

Post a Comment