Rand Paul’s rise came during an era when the GOP was still paying a political price for America’s misadventures in Iraq. But as the 2016 presidential campaign stutters into gear, ISIS is committing new video-taped outrage every week. Nevertheless, Paul advocates for (and modifies) his position openly, in statements and speeches. His clapping does not contain morse-coded messages of warm wishes to Usuli Twelver Shī‘ah clerics.
Obviously, questions of sincerity may still seem important to supporters of Israel. That’s why you have to ask politicians tough questions when you get the chance. Paul has seemingly modified his positions as they relate to Israel before. That’s fair game.
But The Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin speculated that the Real Rand Paul had been revealed by his slow clap. “OOps… almost like he has been faking his support for Israel until now,” she twittered.
And I understand the suspicion. If I ever exerted myself so frantically on behalf of a cause, if lobbying for it required investing so many millions of dollars, and if maintaining party discipline on it required “brutal” ad drops on congressional obscurities, I would worry that some of the response I sought was perfunctory and insincere. The sonnets you receive don’t sound as sweet. The applause seems forced. Almost like they are faking it.
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