With President Obama’s second inaugural in the rearview mirror, likely Republican contenders for the 2016 nomination wasted little time jockeying for position this week.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal delivered a “dynamite speech” at the RNC meeting in Charlotte. His message was spot-on, but reviews regarding his delivery were mixed.
Playing on Jindal’s policy turf, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio delivered a speech on education reform at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He also had a very cordial conversation with conservative talk radio host Mark Levin on the topic of immigration reform.
(Note: Politico is reporting that Rubio “has joined the bipartisan group of senators working on the issue, and the group may be ready to announce a deal by next Friday.”)
Meanwhile, it was revealed that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg would host a fundraiser for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
Not to be outdone, Rand Paul really stepped things up this week. The Kentucky senator pleased conservatives by grilling Secretary Clinton over Benghazi. Then, he continued his “overnight transformation into a pro-Israel defense hawk” by declaring that: “[A]ny attack on Israel will be treated as an attack on the United States.”
Oh yeah, Paul then ended the week by speaking at the March for Life, where he said: “Our nation is adrift, adrift in a wilderness where right and wrong have become subservient to a hedonism of the moment. I believe our country is in need of a revival.”
As you may know, this week I argued that Paul should skip 2016. I still believe that. But if this week is any indication, he doesn’t appear inclined to take my advice.