March 7, 2013 1:00PM 

# I Was a Rand Paul Fan Before It Was Cool 

By [David Boaz](https://www.cato.org/people/david-boaz) 

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Sure, everybody’s a Rand Paul fan this morning, from the Heritage Foundation to the Huffington Post. Well, maybe not President Obama, John Brennan, and Harry Reid. And alas my good friends at the [*Wall Street Journal* editorial board](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324128504578344700320290068.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read). But still, a wide array across the political spectrum. Me, I was a Rand Paul fan back in 2010. Indeed, I [blogged](https://www.cato.org/blog/live-fancy-farm-picnic) this picture from Kentucky’s legendary Fancy Farm picnic:

![Media Name: dn.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/pubs_2x/public/wp-content/uploads/dn.jpg?itok=JyqzJZyk) 

And a couple of weeks later on “The McLaughlin Group” I [noted](http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2010/08/22/sunday-funnies-voters-more-afraid-democrats-extremists):

> In Kentucky, the Democrats are calling Rand Paul an extremist. Rand Paul is responding by calling his opponent a Democrat. In the end, the voters will be more scared of a Democrat.

But even before that, I’d [written up](https://www.cato.org/blog/george-will-rand-paul) Paul’s Republican primary victory with this graphic illustration:

![Media Name: randslide.gif](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/pubs_2x/public/wp-content/uploads/201005_blog_boaz2011.gif?itok=5XaLxOf7) 

And I’d [pointed out](https://www.cato.org/blog/neocons-finish-out-money-kentucky-race) that Washington’s neoconservative establishment — from Dick Cheney to David Frum, Mitch McConnell, and Rick Santorum — had campaigned hard against Paul in the primary, and been soundly repudiated. They ran some nasty ads against Paul, and his Democratic opponent [kept up](https://www.cato.org/blog/jack-conways-ugly-campaign) the [attack](https://www.cato.org/blog/attacking-rand-paul) in the fall. And again the voters saw the attacks on “radical” Rand Paul and voted for him.

So anyway, I’m happy today to welcome all the new fans who made [\#StandWithRand](https://twitter.com/search?q=%23STandwithRand&src=hash) a number one topic on Twitter last night. And let’s hope they all stick around, and keep trying to rein in the president’s authority to [incarcerate](https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/citizen-padilla-dangerous-precedents) and even [assassinate](https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/obamas-bullseye-us-citizens) American citizens on American soil.

##### Related Tags 

[General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics) 

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