If Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney somehow wins the Presidency this November, he should be forewarned that he will not automatically be the GOP nominee for re-election in 2016.
There is great discontent within the Republican Party with Mitt Romney, and what is happening now is a “shotgun marriage”, as Republicans realize he is their only hope to dislodge Barack Obama from the White House.
But with Romney’s history of moderation until recently; with his alliance with neoconservatives on foreign policy; with the evangelical Christian right uncomfortable with a Mormon nominee, and distrustful of his social conservatism being real; with his close alliance with Wall Street big banks and corporations; and with his refutation of the libertarianistic views of Texas Congressman Ron Paul, it is certain that a President Romney would have rivals in 2016, most notably the highly ambitious Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ron Paul’s heir.
Paul running would set up a new civil war in the GOP, as the Wall Street Republicans would shun him; the foreign policy neoconservatives would look on him with trepidation; and the question would arise if the social conservatives would be able to accept some of his libertarian views.
Let’s just say that Rand Paul is a nightmare to many in the national political scene, including his fellow Kentucky Senator and Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who will not be able to count on Paul’s support to be Minority Leader or Majority Leader of the Senate in the 113th Congress.
Like it or not, the impact of Ron Paul, and his son Rand Paul, will haunt the Republican Party for a long time to come!