Rand Paul suspends presidential campaign

Sen Rand Paul (R-KY) announced that he is suspending his presidential campaign, bringing an end to a bid that began with aspirations of expanding the libertarian base that his father, Ron Paul, built into a powerful national coalition. The low-key senator, as apt to quote a philosopher as to quote Pink Floyd, struggled in a year dominated by hard-line outsiders such as Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX) and businessman Donald Trump. His campaign strategists bemoaned that the mogul had sucked the "oxygen" out of the race, and admitted hat his non-interventionist views on foreign policy were not embraced by Republicans as terrorism and unrest raged abroad.

Two years ago, Sen Rand Paul became the first Republican to assemble a network in all 50 states as a precursor to a presidential run — a sign that he was looking to build a coalition that wasn't as ad hoc as his father's. He began courting Wall Street titans and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who had donated to the presidential campaigns of George W. Bush and Mitt Romney, attending elite conclaves in Utah and elsewhere. His pitch combined his antagonism toward the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs with what he called “crunchy conservatism,” a prioritization of drug-sentencing reform, the environment and civil liberties. On Feb 3, Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX) praised Sen Paul and said that he had always been an ally of the liberty movement. Speaking to reporters in New Hampshire, Sen Marco Rubio (R-FL), a staunch critic of Paul’s foreign policy positions, commended his Senate colleague for running “a good race” and wished him luck in his reelection bid.