Rand Paul, campaign hawk

Paul continued the fight through the weekend. When Rubio described Paul as “a supporter of the Obama foreign policy,” Paul’s senior adviser Doug Stafford retorted on NRO that “the Rubio–Obama foreign policy has made the Middle East and North Africa less safe.”

This spat showcases Paul’s commitment to defending his unorthodox foreign-policy philosophy — he calls it conservative realism, while Republican hawks, including former vice president Dick Cheney, call it isolationism — aggressively. It also sheds light on the cold war developing among Rubio, Paul, and Senator Ted Cruz (R., Texas). The three tea-party senators arrived in Congress as natural allies, but their national conservative profiles set them on a collision course for the 2016 Republican nomination. Paul’s rivals regard foreign policy as his Achilles’ heel, and they are coming after him.

Paul’s team welcomes the fight, thinking he has an opportunity to win voters who are weary with traditional Republican policies and President Obama alike. “I think that’s a characteristic you look for in a president,” Benton said. “If you’re not pugnacious, you’re not going to be very effective.”