By Rohit Bhandari '16:
The last couple of weeks have delivered some good news to GOP Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky. After winning the Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll with an impressive 31% of the vote, talks of Paul as the new frontrunner of the 2016 Republican nomination for president began among political pundits. Paul followed his CPAC straw poll performance with another win in a straw poll for the Northeast Republican Leadership Conference held in the nation’s 2nd primary state, New Hampshire.
To add to the good news, Rand Paul also topped a CNN national poll of potential 2016 candidates. With all of these polls consistently placing Paul at the top, Paul has a strong argument to be considered the current frontrunner. However, it is still very early and much can change before the 2016 primaries. Being the frontrunner this early can also lead a candidate to becoming an early target for their opponents. When asked how he felt about placing first in the CNN poll, Paul simply joked, “It's better than getting last.”
Sources:
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/rand-paul-new-hampshire-poll-104700.html