Obama went around quacking like an anti-war and pro-constitution duck before 2008, also. Like I said in my post, men lie.

Does that mean I think Rand is lying? No. I would cast Rand under the "libetarian" umbrella, but he is so far from his father. I've seen many debates as to whether Ron was a closet Anarchist, with a fair amount of evidence supporting that claim. Nobody could possibly think that of Rand.

He's a beltway Libertarian like Reason, CATO, or Freedomworks. He'll get rid of the TSA, let you drink raw milk, and let people use whatever lightbulbs they fancy... but on the /real/ issues, it's still up in the air. Will he tackle the industrial military complex? Will he end the War on Drugs? (I'm guessing he'll just leave pot smokers alone in the states that legalize it... that's a fair step, but again, far from the ideal). What of the Federal Reserve?

Not that I'm attacking Rand Paul. As it currently stands, I'm a British citizen with Hong Kong residence, I have about as much the right to vote as somebody who was caught with a joint in Virginia 15 years ago (in Virginia and Kentucky... convicted felons lose the right to vote for life). If I could vote however, it would be for Rand Paul in 2016, unless the Dem  candidate was somebody like Kuchinich, or the Libertatian party had a chance of winning my state... so, yeah I'd vote for him.

That, coming from me, says a lot. I've sworn off voting in the UK, the only exception being any form of succession vote: leave the EU, break up the UK, whatever. So, to say that I'd vote for him at all, is a major step. Would I donate to the campaign or go out and caucus for him? Hell no. Might have done with Ron.

I don't really know why my post went in the direction that it did, but oh well.

Was Obama ever really "pro-constitution?" Maybe in some matters, but certainly not in everything or even most things. From the beginning Obama was a social democrat, and social democrats promote the degregation of property rights and civil liberties for the "greater good." One just has to look at his voting record as a senator to see the signs. The only people tricked by Obama were the ones not looking close enough. 

Rand Paul (like his father) is a proponent of state decisions on drug-usage and has recently tried to legalize industrial hemp.  He also has taken the tradition of introducing the "Audit the Fed" bill his father would introduce every year. And he's ALWAYS talking about military spending cuts and reform. 

"Q: In August you said about drug abuse in Kentucky, "I don't think it's a real pressing issue." You also said drug enforcement should be funded at the state level."

"One of my first actions in the U.S. Senate was to introduce legislation allowing for a full audit of the Federal Reserve. This legislation, S. 202 The Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2011, is a Senate version of similar legislation long-championed by and introduced this session in the House of Representatives by my father, Congressman Ron Paul of Texas.

The Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2011, will eliminate the current audit restrictions placed on the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and mandate a complete audit of the Federal Reserve to be completed by a firm deadline, finally delivering answers to the American people about how their money is being spent by Washington.

We must take a critical look at the Fed's monetary policy decisions, discount window operations, and a host of other things, with a real audit - and not just pay lip-service to the idea of an audit. At a time when we're seeing great volatility in small Euro-zone economies like Greece, Portugal, and Ireland, it is more crucial than ever that we have real transparency at our own central bank."

On Rand Paul: https://mises.org/community/forums/p/32916/512761.aspx#512761

On Obama:

Markets even exist where the Government abolishes them. How can that occur if you cannot have a market without Government.

Conservative means to follow a traditional means of doing things. The primary philosophers to the libertarian movement in the U.S were 18th century liberals. Hence, libertarians are conservative. As a libertarian, my biggest concern with progressives is the massive bloating of the government's control over people's lives they promote in anything that doesn't cause social revolution (via marxist techniques of a group vs. society.) Progressives treat woman's rights as a special interest that takes precendence over individual rights, for example. A libertarian says that all people are equal under the law and deserve equal rights. A libertarian would be opposed to something like affirmative action, for example, because it acts as a special interest in order to artifically change the position of a group in society. A libertarian would say somebody has the right to discriminate on their own private property, as they have sovereignty over their own property, where as a progressive believes greatly in government intervention in this case. A libertarian believes in the free-market and some even believe in laissez-faire, a progressive more likely than not is left economically. Overally, the paleo-conservatives are the closest things to libertarians without actually being one. 

Edit: This doesn't mean that libertarians and progressives can't work together. It means that libertarians aren't likely going to try to co-opt the democrat party though. Especially since there isn't much room left in the democrat party anyway. 

Was Obama ever really "pro-constitution?" Maybe in some matters, but certainly not in everything or even most things. From the beginning Obama was a social democrat, and social democrats promote the degregation of property rights and civil liberties for the "greater good." One just has to look at his voting record as a senator to see the signs. The only people tricked by Obama were the ones not looking close enough. 

Rand Paul (like his father) is a proponent of state decisions on drug-usage and has recently tried to legalize industrial hemp.  He also has taken the tradition of introducing the "Audit the Fed" bill his father would introduce every year. And he's ALWAYS talking about military spending cuts and reform. 

"Q: In August you said about drug abuse in Kentucky, "I don't think it's a real pressing issue." You also said drug enforcement should be funded at the state level."

"One of my first actions in the U.S. Senate was to introduce legislation allowing for a full audit of the Federal Reserve. This legislation, S. 202 The Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2011, is a Senate version of similar legislation long-championed by and introduced this session in the House of Representatives by my father, Congressman Ron Paul of Texas.

The Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2011, will eliminate the current audit restrictions placed on the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and mandate a complete audit of the Federal Reserve to be completed by a firm deadline, finally delivering answers to the American people about how their money is being spent by Washington.

We must take a critical look at the Fed's monetary policy decisions, discount window operations, and a host of other things, with a real audit - and not just pay lip-service to the idea of an audit. At a time when we're seeing great volatility in small Euro-zone economies like Greece, Portugal, and Ireland, it is more crucial than ever that we have real transparency at our own central bank."