http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/236711-paul-makes-case-against-cruzMarch 23, 2015, 09:32 pm
Paul makes case against Cruz
By Kevin Cirilli
Likely presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Monday that he would be better at expanding the Republican Party than Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who announced his candidacy for president earlier in the day.
Paul and Cruz will likely be going after the same conservative base voters in the Republican primary and Paul said in an interview on Fox News' "The Kelly File" that while their policies are similar, their approach is different.
"We kind of come from the same wing of the party," Paul said. "What makes us different is probably our approach to how we can make the party bigger... It isn't just about rousing a base. It's about exciting the base by being for the principles of liberty but it's then taking those principles of liberty -- not diluting them -- and taking them to new people and bringing them into the party. That's the way you win general elections."
He said that he's "a big believer that you should stand on principle and be true to your principles. But I also think that we should take those principles and try to bring in new people."
"So I've spent the last few years trying to go places Republicans haven't gone and maybe not just throwing out red meat but been intellectually enticing to people who haven't been listening to our message before," Paul said.
"Ted Cruz is a conservative -- but it also goes to winability. And people have to make a decision: Which is the Republican that can not only excite the base but can also bring new people into the party without giving up the principles?" Paul said.
Paul also praised his supporters who sported Rand Paul T-shirts at Cruz's rally, standing directly behind Cruz and providing politically awkward optics for the Tea Party's launch.
"We were glad to see them there and organized and excited about the possibility of me running," Paul said.
