Don’t worry, it’s short:
Dear Rand,
It’s time to give up this obsession with being president. By now, it’s pretty apparent that you have little national appeal, that you can’t get money from many big donors, and you don’t know how to keep your base happy while bringing in new supporters. These things are unlikely to change any time soon, and it’s time you started focusing on being a Senator from Kentucky instead.
Now, I’m neither a Republican nor a Kentuckian, but it seems to me that you’re lucky that the people of Kentucky (and the KY GOP) will still have you. You’ve pretty much treated them like garbage, what with your insistence on running for both the Senate and the presidency at the same time. It’s obvious you view Kentucky as a consolation prize in case that whole presidential run thing doesn’t work out.
Well, now’s the time to stop your national race, and go ask the voters of Kentucky to forgive you. Then, you need to focus on using your power as a Senator to actually do something that doesn’t involve getting you elected to higher office.
I don’t know if anyone told you this, but US Senators are very powerful people. It’s shocking, I know. But it’s true! In fact, Senators are often national figures who can exercise quite a bit of political power. They have access to classified documents, and can be instrumental in the formation of foreign policy. There are only 100 of them, and it’s a pretty elite club. And even better, you’d only have to run for re-election every six years, and there’s no term limit. Basically, you have a job for life in the Senate if you want it. Managing your constituent groups in a place like Kentucky is lot easier than doing it nationwide. And, if you think that Senators cannot be powerful national figures, I might remind you of a guy named Ted Kennedy. Remember that guy? He had famous family members, though. Oh wait, you do too!
What’s more, the Senate is especially well constructed for the purposes of killing bad legislation. As a Senator, you could be instrumental in rounding up the measly 40-or-so votes that can kill bad legislation, sink bad political appointees, and generally make a president’s life a lot harder than it would be otherwise. You could be on any weekend political show you want. US Senators get to do that stuff.
And yet, for some bizarre reason, none of that is good enough for you. As a Senator, you could be the voice of sane foreign policy, freedom, peace, and a more humane government in general. But nope, you’re obsessed with this presidency thing that seems to require that you constantly change your positions and attempt to woo groups with absolutely horrible ideas and agendas. You don’t have to do that. You have a safe Senate seat, and just imagine how much good your father could have done with the same opportunity. Don’t blow it.
1:19 pm on September 30, 2015
