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Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Rand Paul suspends presidential campaign

GOP Race Loses Rand Paul's Tech, Privacy Cred - US News - Tom Risen:

February 3, 2016 - "The Republican presidential campaign lost its biggest privacy advocate on Wednesday when Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky dropped out of the race, leaving doubt about whether the remaining candidates can resonate with the tech community or voters concerned about government surveillance.

"Taking a libertarian stance on Internet issues including encryption and the National Security Agency's snooping has been a key part of Paul's campaign effort to attract tech savvy younger voters, while other Republican candidates make hawkish statements in favor of mass surveillance.

"Tech policy generates less excitement from voters in presidential elections than issues like national security or the economy, however, which in part explains how Paul struggled below 10 percent in most election polls this past year....

"Paul's stance in favor of encryption and limits on government surveillance reflected the positions of numerous companies like Facebook, Apple and Google, and promised to attract funding if his campaign gained traction.

"Paul sparred during debates with candidates including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on the issue of warrantless surveillance, countering his argument for an expansion of the NSA's spying powers. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and the state's former governor, Jeb Bush, have also supported expanding the NSA's powers.

"The Kentucky senator has called for more accountability and limits to the spying powers of the NSA , but he opposed USA Freedom Act in protest because he and other privacy advocates argued that it did not go far enough to restrict surveillance....

"Less vocal critics of surveillance in the Republican race remain, however, and now have an opportunity to appeal to Paul's libertarian base by speaking more about privacy rights. These include Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who ... voted for the Freedom Act, and neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who has spoken in favor of requiring security agencies to collect data using court orders."

Read more: http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-02-03/gop-race-loses-rand-pauls-tech-privacy-cred
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