Libertarian Sen. Rand Paul stole the show from under Sen. Marco Rubio\u2019s nose at the opening session of the Conservative Political Action Conference, criticizing a \u201cstale and moss-covered\u201d GOP and calling for a new focus on liberty.<\/p>\n
The back-to-back pairing of Rubio and Rand was seen as the most significant matchup of the annual conference, pitting two likely 2016 Republican contenders before the party\u2019s conservative base. The result pointed to the growing schism in the Republican Party between resurgent libertarians and more traditional Republicans.<\/p>\n
The two men -Paul age 50, Rubio just 41- laid out divergent visions of an inclusive Republican Party. Rubio called for a focus on economic opportunity and a muscular role overseas. Paul called for a reduction in the size of the U.S. government at home and abroad.<\/p>\n
Speaking first, Rubio railed against China in a case for continued American leadership in the world, warning of anti-democratic and anti-dissident actions, including cutting off access to the Internet and forced sterilizations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is what they do to their own people,\u201d Rubio said. \u201cWe want that to be the leading country in the world? \u2026That\u2019s what\u2019s at stake in America\u2019s greatness.\u201d<\/p>\n
Minutes later, and with hundreds standing attentively listening to his every word, Paul echoed his warnings about drone strikes that earned him national fame last week for his 13-hour filibuster.<\/p>\n
But Paul, whose supporters flooded the standing-room-only ballroom audience with thousands of \u201cStand with Rand\u201d posters and stickers, went further, calling for the Republican Party to shift away from neoconservative foreign policy. He warned that the Republican Party is \u201cencumbered by an inconsistent approach to freedom.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe GOP of old has grown stale and moss-covered \u2014 I don\u2019t think we need to name any names, do we?\u201d he said, though the target, Sen. John McCain, was clear.<\/p>\n
\u2018The new GOP,\u201d Paul said advocating for a smaller U.S. presence abroad and a smaller government at home, \u201cwill need to embrace liberty in both the economic and the personal sphere. If we\u2019re going to have a Republican Party that can win, liberty needs to be the backbone of the GOP.\u201d He pledged to introduce a budget in the coming weeks to balance the budget in five years that would also slash the income tax in half, and create a flat tax at 17 percent.<\/p>\n