ARGUMENTS ABOUT US government surveillance have largely failed to captured the imagination of the public.
But the campaign to elect Republican Senator Rand Paul as the next president, seems to be trying to change that.
In an ad released today by the “America’s Liberty” political action committee (PAC), Sunday’s US Senate debate to extend mass collection of phone records is billed as a kind of Royal Rumble.
It pits “Rand Man – the Defender of Freedom”, photoshopped on to what looks like a professional wrestler’s body – against “The head of the Washington spy machine, Obama the Email Reader.”
At one point in the 60-second internet video, which looks a bit like it was produced by the makers of South Park, an American eagle breathes fire in the background, and a booming “WWF” voice snarls:
Get ready for the biggest brawl for liberty of the century.
(To watch the full video, click here).
Rand Paul, a Senator from Kentucky, is following in the footsteps of his father Ron Paul, a Congressman from Texas who ran for president as a Republican in 2008 and 2012.
Both are essentially libertarians, and Rand Paul has gone against Republican orthodoxy by opposing military interventionism abroad, and vehemently criticising the kind of mass phone and email surveillance revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Today’s campaign video – the first by the America’s Liberty group, which is endorsed by Rand Paul – also slams rival Republican hopefuls Senator Lindsey Graham and Senator Ted Cruz, dubbing him “The Capitulating Canadian.”
Among Republican voters, Paul recently polled at 7%. But five candidates shared 10%, in what is a crowded and intriguing contest, with no clear front-runner.
The same poll, however, gave the Kentucky Senator more support than any other candidate in a potential general election against likely Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton – reflecting his appeal across party lines and among independents.
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