Rand Paul, a Kentucky ophthalmologist and son of Texas Congressman Ron Paul, is running for US Senate and has received a political blessing from Redstate Editor, Erick Erickson. That’s a pretty big deal. You may or may not remember that in October of 2007, during the Republican primary process for the 2008 presidential campaign, Ron Paul’s zealous supporters were banned from the Redstate website.

The influential conservative blog Redstate.com placed a ban last night on all Paul commentary from readers who are recent arrivals to the blog.

The post on Redstate, “Attention, Ron Paul Supporters (Life is *REALLY* Not Fair),” begins, “Effective immediately, new users may *not* shill for Ron Paul in any way shape, form or fashion. Not in comments, not in diaries, nada. If your account is less than 6 months old, you can talk about something else, you can participate in the other threads and be your zany libertarian self all you want, but you cannot pimp Ron Paul. Those with accounts more than six months old may proceed as normal.”

Redstate founder Erick Erickson said he woke up this morning bombed with hundreds of e-mails, “the overwhelming majority very angry.” His own readers, though, loved the ban.

“It is the most recommended user diary in Redstate history,” he said.

In his carefully worded endorsement of Rand Paul, Erickson points out that there are distinct differences between Rand Paul and his father and that Rand Paul is simply a better choice than his competitors. He also points to Sarah Palin’s endorsement of Rand Paul and the obvious fact that Paul can pick up the Libertarian vote. Here are some excerpts from Erickson’s post earlier today.

We’ve taken a pretty hard line on all things “Paul” here at RedState, and even amongst the contributors I get unmitigated hell for saying I’d support Rand Paul.

But I would.

I have real reservations. No, I do not think he is a truther. No, I do not think he is a birther. No, I do not think he’d be soft on Iran. In fact, in all of the flagged statements about Rand Paul, viewing his statements in context, it is clear the reporters and others are trying to pin him down on his father’s views, not his.

SNIP.

…of the candidates running in the Republican Primary in Kentucky, I find him to be the best choice. He is really for limited government. He is really for not just the idea of freedom, but the idea of liberty — two words treated as synonyms, but with specific meanings. We often times put all our emphasis on freedom, but we should be putting our emphasis on liberty as the founders did and understood it — the right not just to be free, but to act in a moral way such that our freedoms do not encroach on the freedoms of others.

SNIP.

I have no doubt that a Senator Paul and I would but heads on issues, but no more so that I do with other Republicans. Rand Paul transcends GOP politics and picks up libertarians as well. He is not his father and I will not heap my issues with his father on his head.

I’ll join Sarah Palin and others and support Rand Paul for the United States Senate. He can win. And he’s the best of the lot in Kentucky. Your mileage may vary — I know I’m in the minority with even the other contributors — but I hope you’ll step back from your view of his father and give Rand Paul a look as his own man.

There’s been a lot of talk about the renewed alliance of Libertarians and Republicans lately, especially after the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) was held a couple weeks ago.

Erickson’s endorsement of Rand Paul seems to be a continuance that trend.

Many people are noticing a Libertarian shift in the GOP, especially since CPAC this past weekend. I seem to remember a certain blogger predicting a Libertarian shift in the GOP as far back as July, 2009. Let me see, who was that again? Oh yeah…

IT WAS ME.

Mike Huckabee doesn’t like this shift and went so far as to criticize CPAC this year for being too Libertarian but as Allahpundit points out at Hot Air, this just makes the Huckster look a bit out of touch…

What political benefit is there, in this year of all years, to knock CPAC for being “more libertarian” and “less Republican”? Libertarianism has never had more cachet within the GOP than it has right now; it’s not perfectly synonymous with the tea-party movement (of which Huckabee is predictably complimentary) but it’s close enough, especially with Beck in the role of TPers’ patron saint.

My feeling is that Mike Huckabee is just angry about Ron Paul winning the CPAC straw poll this year. If you remember the Republican primaries leading up to the 2008 election, you’ll recall that there was no love between Huck and Paul as they both slugged it out to the end, even when it was apparent that McCain was the nominee.

But forget about the Ron Paul win in the straw poll. It’s very doubtful that Ron Paul would run in 2012 and even if he did, the chances of him getting the nomination are slim to none. The significance of Paul’s libertarian leanings are the only matter of relevance. His young supporters from the Campaign for Liberty were out in force at CPAC. Even Ann Coulter acknowledged the libertarian contingency in the room.

Even Ann Coulter, who drew a huge crowd herself, felt compelled to give a shout out to Paul-mania, saying she agreed with everything he stands for outside of foreign policy — a statement met with cheers.

The younger, Libertarian Republicans in the room were largely responsible for booing one speaker offstage when he singled out a gay Republican group which had co-sponsored the event. Whether the establishment GOP realizes it or not, this was a defining moment which wasn’t lost on the conservative gay blog, Gay Patriot…

Folks, I’m relegated to writing this from my iPhone. But it is big news and a huge topic tonight at CPAC.Earlier today, during a student activist session on the CPAC main stage, one brave young man thanked the group for including GOProud as a sponsor this year. A few minutes later, another student launched into an anti-gay tirade from the same podium. The CPAC attendees turned on him and booed him off-stage.

You see, when libertarians and conservatives can focus on fiscal conservatism, smaller government and increased personal liberty, amazing things can happen. It also scares the living hell out of rank and file Democrat voters. Even the liberal gay blog Americablog sat up and took notice…

When conservatives are standing up for gays, and Democrats treat us like we are an embarrassment, there’s a problem. And when the Republicans increasingly say the right things, like repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell now, and even supporting marriage, and all the Democrats show is political homophobia, gays get the message. To the White House, the DNC, and our leadership in Congress: You are messing with people’s lives, and we know it. And the day that an anti-gay bigot gets booed at CPAC, you all better start being very afraid.

If libertarians feel as welcome in the Republican Party as social conservatives, and they should, America’s independent voters will follow in even greater numbers.

If that alliance can hold together in 2010 and 2012, it will be an unstoppable force.

Young Libertarian style Republicans care about fiscal conservatism, defense, liberty, love of country, and many more of the same things that motivate conservatives. What they don’t care about is if their friends and neighbors are gay or straight, what people choose to eat drink and smoke, and which religion a person does or does not practice.

If the GOP really wants to attract more young voters, they will embrace this young Libertarian Republican faction. With their enthusiasm and activism the sky would be the limit.

Just remember, I said “if.”

OK, the CATO Institute didn’t actually say that Libertarians are wicked smart but they did suggest that Libertarian minded voters are probably the lead indicator of political trends in 2010.

David Kirby and David Boaz wrote the report:

Libertarian — or fiscally conservative, socially liberal — voters are often torn between their aversions to the Republicans’ social conservatism and the Democrats’ fiscal irresponsibility. Yet libertarians rarely factor into pundits’ and pollsters’ analyses.

In 2004 libertarians swung away from Bush, anticipating the Democratic victories of 2006. In 2008, according to new data in this paper, libertarians voted against Barack Obama. Libertarians seem to be a lead indicator of trends in centrist, independent-minded voters. If libertarians continue to lead the independents away from Obama, Democrats will lose 2010 midterm elections they would otherwise win.

We find that 14 percent of American voters can be classified as libertarian. Other surveys find a larger number of people who hold views that are neither consistently liberal nor conservative but are best described as libertarian. A 2009 Gallup poll found that 23 percent held libertarian views. A Zogby poll found that 59 percent considered themselves “fiscally conservative and socially liberal,” and 44 percent agreed that they were “fiscally conservative and socially liberal, also known as libertarian.”

Read it all here.

BONUS VIDEO: The CATO guys analyze the election of Scott Brown in Massachusetts. “This is like Ted Kennedy being elected in Utah.”

Oh, but watch out for the CATO Institute! According to the DCCC (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee), those Libertarians are just a bunch of right wing extremists!

Jumping In Pools requested an interview with me last week and they published it tonight.

We talked about Scott Brown, New England, Massachusetts, Republicans, Libertarians, blogging and more.

Read it all here.

I just added Jumping In Pools to my blog roll.

You would be well advised to do the same.

Not that the Tea Party and the GOP are automatically joining forces, they’re not… yet. But if and when they do, they spell certain doom for Dems.

A new Rasmussen Poll on the generic ballot has the math:

“Running under the Tea Party brand may be better in congressional races than being a Republican.”

“In a three-way Generic Ballot test, the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds Democrats attracting 36% of the vote. The Tea Party candidate picks up 23%, and Republicans finish third at 18%. Another 22% are undecided.”

“Among voters not affiliated with either major party, the Tea Party comes out on top.”

The Tea Party is made up of Libertarians, Republicans, Democrats and Independents who have a few things in common: Love of country, love of liberty, a desire for fiscal conservatism in Washington, DC and a rejection of government expansion.

If a candidate can piece those items together and unite those factions, he or she will be unstoppable.

Via Memeorandum.

If you follow American politics, you’ve probably read something by Robert Stacy McCain, the man L.J. Miller of Red State called “The conservative Hunter S. Thompson for today.”

What you may not know, is that just as Batman had Robin and Sherlock Holmes had Dr. Watson, Robert Stacy McCain has a faithful assistant blogger named “Smitty.”

I caught up with Smitty earlier this week and had a chance to interview him about politics, Robert Stacy McCain, blogging and more.

Aleister: How would you describe yourself politically, Smitty?

Smitty: Federalist in outlook, with a minimalist approach to Constitutional interpretation. “Modulo its own employees, and federal criminals, the Federal Government should not interact with private citizens.”

This concept requires a libertarian Federal government. I’m disinterested in seeing Federal marriage and abortion legislation. While I hold no interest in prefixing the word marriage in any way, and less still in the slaughter of the unborn, those desiring to legislate morality need to understand: they’re playing into the hand of the Imperial Fed when they pursue marriage and abortion legislation/amendments.

Arguing against Socialism seems to be an exercise in dealing with a religious belief system. Arguing the black and white of the Constitution seems a more tangible, positive approach. We can argue the Constitution firmly, and let Socialism have its way at the State level, though not in any State wherein I’d reside.

Aleister: How did you arrive at your political beliefs?

Smitty: I grew up a deeply independent Christian of the Baptist water. I don’t even consider myself Protestant, as I’ve never recognized any temporal religious authority against which to protest. The Bible-as-written mentality plays directly into a Constitution-as-written mentality. I’ve never voted for a Democrat in my life. As an undergraduate, I studied Weapons and Systems Engineering.

It’s interesting that analysis of an engineering system, from a control standpoint, involves discovering where the state is kept. The same word, ’state’, which we use in a political context. Where are the gazinatas and gazoutas? Where does potential and kinetic energy store itself intenally? Given a transfer function that models something, what signals would be required to drive the system to a different operating point? To put the elevator on another floor of the building in a way that is quick, but does not have the passengers going ballistic. All useful feedback is negative: ” Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.–John 15:2

Jonah Goldberg’s Liberal Fascism was an eye-opener. Around that time, I wound up trying the Google Reader, picking up the Instpundit rather quickly, who also pointed out Pournelle’s Iron Law. The point about the Iron Law and the Gospel of John is the word purgeth. Fruitful branches achieve that state through purging. Bureaucracies achieve a state of Iron Law decadence through avoidance of purging.

One way to state the mission of real conservatism and the Tea Parties is to be the negative feedback loop that drives a desperately needed, Constitutional, peaceful purge.

Aleister: How did you get into blogging/end up writing at The Other McCain?

Smitty: At some point early on, Insty linked The Other McCain. I subscribed in the Google Reader, and became a regular commenter. Stacy lives North of Washington, DC; I live to the South. So meeting him in person proved feasible.

While responding recently to the frequent, erroneous regurgitation of old libels against Stacy (one of the only occasions where he gave me a topic), I cast the accusation that  of being a “Wide Supra-machinist” and chronicled the tale of my descent into bloggery here.

This is as good a place as any to interject that it’s an odd thing to be considered worthy interview material. Heaven forbid I be caught taking myself too seriously in public.

Aleister: What are your favorite blogs?

Smitty: Blogs that link The Other McCain have a certain special something. Iowahawk deserves a mention here, as his Idiossey post challenged me to write OediPOTUS Wrecks.

Aleister: Who is your favorite blogger and why?

Smitty: Meh. I have 375 subscriptions in the Google Reader (?!?!?), to the point where it fills faster than I can read. They are organized by topic and priority, so that I can cheerfully nuke a swath of lefty drivel when I need to get the inbox down to a couple hundred entries for reading.

Blogs that are eye-catching are ones that bring fresh perspective, are funny, syntactically tight, are relatively short, and broaden the perspective.

I have 4.5 years of sea time in the Navy, so potty mouth for its own sake really doesn’t move me.

Andrew Breitbart is worthy of special mention for his pivotal role in taking the fight to the enemy and breaking it off where they sit.

Aleister: What blogger do you dislike and why?

Smitty: There really isn’t any need for animus. The ones with whom I disagree make great post-fodder. Even though Stacy’s Rule 4 is “Make some enemies,” mine will never be more than sparring partners. The most negative thing I have to say to anyone in the tubey-webs is nothing at all.

This is in contrast to Stacy, who, as someone making his living off of his writing skills, takes a different tack. He’s required to.

Aleister: Who is your favorite political writer?

Smitty: Victor Davis Hanson, or Paul A. Rahe, whose Soft Despotism is just excellent, and I really need to finish reading it.

Aleister: Who is your favorite TV pundit?

Smitty: Bill Whittle on PJTV.

Aleister: Favorite talk radio host?

Smitty: Not a listener.

Aleister: What’s it like working with Robert Stacy McCain?

Smitty: Easy. It’s Stacy’s blog, and I remain a delighted guest. He offers occasional direction, but our worldviews are quite congruent. At least, if he doesn’t agree with me, he’s never said so. He’s probably cringed at some of my less serious outings, I suppose. Back in September, when Van Jones resigned, we had some fun colliding with each others’ edits. I call Stacy while driving home from the office on the hands-free every couple days or so. We mainly laugh about stuff on the blog and do such chatting as passes for coordination on the blog.

Aleister: How do you and Robert Stacy McCain work as a team?

Smitty: We don’t collaborate on posts. Stacy’s writing time is money, so he’s not out to edit me. I’m not even slightly qualified to edit Stacy (though I may have fixed a typo). We both approve comments. As a sailor without so many nerve endings, my threshold for negative feedback occasionally exceeds Stacy’s desire for decorum in dissent. So, commenters: if you want to trash Stacy, start your own g’dang blog! As for me, you can call Smitty anything except late for supper–I really care not a fig. This post is not an accurate depiction of our working relationship.

Aleister: Who do you like for the GOP in 2012?

Smitty: I like anyone with the asbestos knickers required to go after the Federal Dragon. Our three branch/three level organization scheme has been worn down over the last century by Progressives. I think even Sarah Palin, on her Facebook page, ascribes too much legitimacy to the premise of Federal healthcare management.

What we require is not just another Reaganesque leader who understands the premise of the United States, but someone who can do more to instill those ideas in the populace. Another Reagan chased by another Bush simply isn’t helpful. The national debt noose tightens.

I would probably prefer Ron Paul, except that his foreign policy excites me as much as Barack Obama’s. You’re not going to get the rest of the world to permit the kind of disengagement Paul advocates, for all anyone might think the idea pleasant.

Back to Sarah Palin: on her, I’m neutral. Arguing for/against her based upon her looks/speech patterns is ridiculous. You can build a case that BHO functionally rules out rolling the dice on anyone without extensive experience ever again. Expect that line from HRC in about 28 months. The fact that Sarah Palin has the left doing back flips has some entertainment value, but does not a solid plan to alter our course out of shoal waters make. Some may see my posts chiding other bloggers for shrill attacks on Sarah as a sigh of enthusiasm. I was guilty of being insufficiently critical of George W. Bush. This is about as sinful as voting for President Obama was. Let us all repent and restore sanity to US politics.

I voted for Fred Thompson in the VA primary (for all he’d withdrawn from the 2008 race by then) and would love to see him as POTUS, for the simple reason he seems to lack maniacal drive for the job, but does have the horse sense to get it done.

Ultimately, I reject the concept of politics-as-celebrity. Maybe that’s the next step in the unraveling of our system, after politics-as-profession. Thus, the question “Who do you like”, for all it’s an honest nod to the need for a name on the ballot, excites me not. “What ideas do you prefer?” would be a better approach for everyone to take to the leadership question, in my opinion.

Aleister: How do you perceive the relationship between Libertarians and Republicans?

Smitty: Old: Libertarians are reactionary, Republicans are Federalist. New: Libertarians cleave more closely to the spirit of the Constitution, and Republicans are watered-down Democrats.

Progressivism from the Democrats and the GOP has been a path to Fascism through debt, weakening the individualism that is at the core of our greatness. Rejecting the Progressive crack pipe is essential to our very survival.

Aleister: Top 3 favorite bands/musicians?

Smitty: Rush, Chickenfoot/Satriani, Motorhead (if Lemmy can make a living in rock’n'roll, I can do anything.)

Aleister: Top 3 favorite movies?

Smitty: Monty Python (any), The Terminator (despite the fact that I dislike time travel stories), This is Spinal Tap.

Aleister: Thanks, Smitty.

Smitty: You’re welcome.

“Anderson resident Brock Glaze clutched two copies of Palin’s book, hoping to get one signed for himself, and one for a co-worker. Although he considers himself a Libertarian, Glaze said Palin is an exemplary Republican. “I think she’s absolutely brilliant. She’s the only one with the guts to say what needs to be said. Her gender has absolutely nothing to do with it. She has more guts than most of the men in her party. I think she’s not afraid to stand up for her conservatism, her Christianity, for pretty much everything that’s necessary for a free nation.”

What a stark contrast between that quote and the words of Steve Chapman, who one might presume to be a libertarian since he writes for Reason.com. Chapman isn’t buying Palin’s libertarian appeal one bit. In fact, he thinks it’s a great big sham. In an article titled “Sarah Palin and the Decline of Conservatism” he asks “What happened to the party of Goldwater and Reagan?”

“Who needs policy? In her world—and the world of legions of conservatives who revere her—the persona is the policy. Palin is beloved because she’s (supposedly) just like ordinary people, which (supposedly) gives her a profound understanding of their needs.”

“That attitude used to be associated with the left, which claimed to speak for the ordinary folks who get shafted by the system. Logic and evidence about policy, to many liberals, were less important than empathy and good intentions. Now it’s conservatives who think we should be guided by our guts, not our brains.”

Chapman then does his best to disassociate Sarah Palin from the memory of Ronald Reagan.

“When Oprah asked if she had felt any doubts about her readiness to be vice president—which requires the readiness to be president—Palin replied breezily, “No, no—I didn’t blink. … I felt quite confident in my abilities and my executive experience and I knew that this is an executive administrative job.” (The audience tittered.)”

“Contrast that with Reagan, who after learning of his victory on Election Night 1980 told his supporters, “There’s never been a more humbling moment in my life.” Palin doesn’t do humble.”

Funny. Ronald Reagan’s son, Michael Reagan, had a completely different take on Sarah Palin in September of 2008 when he wrote a piece about her called “Welcome Back, Dad.”

“I’ve been trying to convince my fellow conservatives that they have been wasting their time in a fruitless quest for a new Ronald Reagan to emerge and lead our party and our nation. I insisted that we’d never see his like again because he was one of a kind.”

“I was wrong!”

“Wednesday night I watched the Republican National Convention on television and there, before my very eyes, I saw my Dad reborn; only this time he’s a she.”

“And what a she!”

“Like Ronald Reagan, Sarah Palin is one of us. She knows how most of us live because that’s the way she lives. She shares our homespun values and our beliefs, and she glories in her status as a small-town woman who put her shoulder to the wheel and made life better for her neighbors.”

“Welcome back, Dad, even if you’re wearing a dress and bearing children this time around.”

I was truly puzzled as to why Steve-Chapman-the-libertarian has such a problem with Sarah Palin but then I checked his bio at Reason.com and suddenly it all made sense.

“Steve Chapman is a columnist and editorial writer for the Chicago Tribune.”

Figures.

Hey, why not? The Democrats are having a civil war, the Republicans are having a civil war, it’s about time Libertarians got in on the game.

Allahpundit made Libertarian unrest the subject of Hot Air’s “Quote of the Day” today citing an article at Reason.com about Glenn Beck.

More evidence of the Libertarian cannibal blood feast can be seen in South Park’s recent parody of Beck.  South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, like Beck, are Libertarians.

“Libertarians are eating each other alive. And it doesn’t make any sense. It doesn’t make any sense. But see, there’s no, there’s no structure to it. And I’m fine with that. But that’s why libertarians lose is because there’s no, there’s no system. There’s no system. And so there’s no one to defend. And so the, both parties, when they start to grind down on you, you have the entire system against you, and it’s quite amazing. It’s quite amazing.”

“So here’s Cartman. Now, this is South Park, and I’m flattered. But remember these guys are libertarians. Here’s South Park.”

Frankly, I don’t see a civil war happening among Libertarians. You’re either a Libertarian who supports Pelosi & Obama or you’re a real Libertarian.

Robert Stacy McCain understands the issue that concerns most of us: Libertarian Sideboob!

Robert Stacy McCain, with whom I enjoy a blogger friendship, is on his way to Orlando, Florida to cover the arrival of the Tea Party Express on Thursday. I caught up with him on his cell phone tonight as he was driving through the lower Appalachian Mountains.

No major scoops but I asked Stacy if he minded me putting up a blog post about our conversation. He didn’t mind at all so I’m happy to share the yadda-yadda-yadda with you.

A portion of our chit chat was about the relationship between Libertarians and Republicans. I think we pretty much agreed that the GOP would be wise to welcome Libertarian minded Republicans to the tent. As a result, Eric Dondero came up in conversation and Stacy encouraged me to send Dondero a big shout out. Mr. Dondero, consider yourself shouted.

The focus of all this Libertarian Republican talk was really an offshoot of a bigger issue – the building of a coalition to oppose Pelosi & Obama’s agenda and this has entirely to do with the conservative grassroots. The point? No more infighting. The grassroots tent has to include social conservatives, libertarians, Republicans, Tea Partiers, and other Americans of all backgrounds.

As Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin said in April 2009, “If you believe in freedom, liberty, self-determination, free enterprise, I don’t care if you’re a Muslim, Jewish, Agnostic, Christian, gay, straight, Latino, black, white, Irish, whatever. Join us.”

If together, we can stop ObamaCare, Cap & Trade and Card Check, American politics will be “a whole new ball game” to use Stacy’s words. I concur.

The libertarians need to stop bashing the neocons, the neocons need to stop trashing the Paulistas, the beltway pros need to stop trashing the grassroots and on and on…

Michael Steele, the head of the Republican National Committee, says he wants to build a big tent. Let’s give it to him.

We can start by working together. Let’s settle the small stuff after the 2010 elections.

I think I just invented the term “Libertarianapalooza.” Talk about a Libertarian round table, though. Here’s Judge Andrew Napolitano sitting in for Glenn Beck with guests John Stossel and Peter Schiff.