Among many in the chattering class, Sen. Rand Paul is the GOP frontrunner for president. He’s young. He’s interesting. He’s different. In other words, he’s everything that the last GOP nominee for president wasn’t. That said, the real test of a frontrunner is the ability to stand the test of time and to wear well over the course of a long process. Scratch below the surface of Paul’s appeal, and you can see many ways in which he’ll have difficultly standing the test of time.
Many media types (including those who should know better) point to the Kentucky Senator’s success in recent straw polls as proof of his electoral strength. These polls aren’t proof of anything other than the fact that he has lots of support among a self-selected group of GOP voters who have the time and energy to show up at all-day political events (think young people at the CPAC convention). Even scientifically rigorous 2016 horse race match-ups are pretty worthless at this point as they capture little more than name recognition. CONT.
Amy Walter, Cook Political Report