Do the Democrats fear Rand Paul could be the 2016 Republican Presidential nominee because he could be a far different kind of Republican that could redefine the national Republican brand and make inroads into their constituencies? The Daily Beast’s Olivia Nuzzi, in a well-sourced report, suggests the Dems are starting to aim their political fire at Rand Paul because, yes, they fear him.[icopyright one button toolbar]

Democrats fundraise and campaign by exploiting concerns about right-wing extremism. But at least at the moment, what they apparently fear most is the rise of a candidate who could potentially poach enough of their supporters to beat them in 2016.

And the reason is that Paul would force Democrats (and many inside-the-beltway analysts) to rethink their concept of how a typical Republican would run.

Rand Paul has not yet formally announced he is running for the Republican nomination. But with a lead in GOP polls and already laying the foundation for the infrastructure of a campaign, the junior senator from Kentucky is considered the early front-runner, one who is transparent about his desire to appeal to a broad range of voters—and that has Democrats worried.

For the most part, he’s also showing he’s political pragmatic and will try and expand his constituency rather than just hold onto the support he has and talk to his existing choir (unlike Sarah You Know Who).

For the 10th time in two years, Paul arrived on Monday in Iowa, where the first presidential caucuses will be held in 17 months, to try out his message on a three-day, multi-city, headline-generating tour.

Over the course of the trip, the Democratic National Committee sent out 10 press releases about Paul’s every move and utterance. “What it can tell you as a political observer is that they recognize what we’re trying to point out, which is Rand is the Republican who has the best chance of keeping and energizing the base while going into their constituencies,” a senior aide for Paul told The Daily Beast.

Having only run for office the one time, in 2010, Paul is not the most experienced of campaigners—so heading out early seems intended as batting practice. But as the senator is the only likely potential candidate so publicly engaging in this sort of preliminary campaigning, there has been no way for him to practice unnoticed. While he has been testing the waters, the left has been testing its attacks.

She documents some of the ways Democrats are starting to go after Paul (including his now infamous evacuation from a table xlutching his partially eaten hamburger as Latino activists began asking his table-mate, far-right Republican Rep. Steve King about immigration issues) then notes:

“He’s working not to get out of the conservative box but to redefine it,” Simon Rosenberg, president of the New Democrat Network, told The Daily Beast. If Paul gets the nomination, he becomes the effective leader of his party—meaning his redefinition of that conservative box could become the definition, a problem for Democrats, as Paul has a tendency to stake out atypical positions for a conservative and reach across party lines.

Paul has a limited-government, non-interventionist worldview that is particularly attractive after a decade of war, rampant overspending, and privacy invasions.

He has campaigned against domestic spying and the use of drones on American citizens—memorably conducting a 13-hour filibuster in 2013 on the latter—and has criticized both Republicans and Democrats for their foreign policy. He generated headlines this year when he refused to blame recent violence in Iraq on President Obama, instead pointing a finger at the Bush administration, particularly Dick Cheney. In Iowa this week, he labeled the conflict in Libya “Hillary’s war,” providing a preview of what the general election could look like with both of them in it.

And Paul’s determination to make the GOP more inclusive makes him much harder to vilify than conservatives who might stomp their feet at such a notion.

He has made efforts to reach out to black voters that while met with some skepticism (he once questioned the constitutionality of certain parts of the Civil Rights Act) and cynicism have won him supporters and the acknowledgement that he is, at the very least, trying.

None of this means a)he’ll get the nomination b)he’d be guaranteed to be a highly formidable candidate if he got the nomination c)he’d maintain his current positions once he got to Republican Presidential debates where he’ll be under pressure to move more to the cookie-cutter right.

And he will face political constraints. He underscored both the constraints he faces and his pragmatism in this comment to a reporter:

“The party can’t become the opposite of what it is. If you tell people from Alabama, Mississippi or Georgia, ‘You know what, guys, we’ve been wrong, and we’re gonna be the pro-gay-marriage party,’ they’re either gonna stay home or — I mean, many of these people joined the Republican Party because of these social issues. So I don’t think we can completely flip.”

Martin Logman, looking at this quote about the GOP writes: “It’s really a choice. Does the GOP want to compete in states outside of the Deep South and make themselves into a viable national party that can win a presidential election? The answer is ‘no.’ And, for now, this is a very good thing.”

A CROSS SECTION OF TWEETS:

BONUS:
Rand Pauls’ running away from an immigration activist (despite his cover story) brings a couple of possible campaign songs to mind.

Here’s one:

JOE GANDELMAN, Editor-In-Chief

Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.

themoderatevoice.com/