Is Rand Paul going mainstream or vice versa?

“I am the conduit between conservatives in the House who don’t want [a broad bill] and more moderate people in the Senate who do want these things,” Paul said recently on “Fox News Sunday.” “I’m really trying to make immigration work. But they’re going to have to come to me, and they’re going have to work with me to make the bill stronger if they want me to vote for it.”…

In an era of government expansion and mounting debt, the GOP is undergoing something of an evolution in its attitude toward the libertarian philosophy of Paul and his father, former congressman and presidential contender Ron Paul (R-Tex.).

“Most people like me — Republican, conservative — have a libertarian streak in them,” said Vin Weber, a lobbyist, ex-congressman and pillar of the party establishment in Washington. “Whereas 20 or 30 years ago, Republicans would say the real world prevents them from acting on their libertarian instincts, today the real world is heightening their libertarian instincts.”…

“I would define Ron Paul as a hyper-libertarian,” said David Lane, a Christian conservative activist who organized a seven-day trip to Israel for Paul and a group of evangelical pastors in January. “I think [Rand Paul] is closer to where I am philosophically than he is to where his dad is.”