Kentucky U.S. Senator Rand Paul’s performance at Tuesday night’s GOP debate played to mixed reviews. The libertarian-leaning Republican called out a number of his rivals on immigration and foreign policy, but failed to gain much traction.
Commentators with The Atlantic wrote that Paul turned in the “most interesting performance of the night” while Jeremy Diamond with CNN Politics listed the Kentucky junior senator in the losers column.
Paul, who narrowly made the cut on the main Las Vegas debate stage, wasted little time jabbing his opponents on their prescriptions for fighting terrorism.
"Trump says we ought to close that internet thing. The question really is what does he mean by that. Like they do in North Korea? Like they do in China? Rubio says we should collect all Americans records all of the time. The Constitution says otherwise," he said. "I think they're both wrong. I think we defeat terrorism by showing them that they do not fear them."
From the opening statements on, Paul’s aversion to increased surveillance on U.S. citizens and hesitance to endorse more military interventions in the Middle East ran against the grain – a strategy the campaign had hoped would make the candidate stand out in a crowded field. So far, real estate mogul Donald Trump continues to dominate while a Real Clear Politics average of major polls shows Paul at just above 2 percent with the Iowa caucus six weeks away.