Rand Paul's Wednesday speech at Howard University is significant mostly because it's a very public attempt by an ambitious Republican to engage black voters, a core Democratic constituency. For analysis on that angle, don't miss Jordan Bloom at The American Conservative, Dave Weigel at Slate, Adam Serwer at Mother Jones, Jack White at The Root, and Josh Kraushaar at National Journal. The speech showcased some of the Kentucky senator's strengths and too many avoidable weaknesses to be considered a total success, but efforts like these will pay dividends for Paul if he keeps making them and learns something from each outing. This small beginning is enough to establish him as better on outreach than most in his party.
But I'd like to focus on a passage that could be found in any speech that Paul gives and suggest a different approach. Summing up the Republican philosophy about government, he bundles a bunch of policy stances together that GOP candidates would be wise to disaggregate. Said Paul:
Democrats still promise unlimited federal assistance and Republicans promise free markets, low taxes, and less regulations that we believe will create more jobs. The Democrat promise is tangible and puts food on the table, but too often doesn't lead to jobs or meaningful success. The Republican promise is for policies that create economic growth. Republicans believe lower taxes, less regulation, balanced budgets, a solvent Social Security and Medicare will stimulate economic growth.
... High taxes and excessive regulation and massive debt are not working. The economy has been growing at less than 1 percent and actually contracted in the fourth quarter. If you are struggling to get ahead, if you have school loans and personal debt, you should choose a political party that wants to leave more money in the private sector so you will get a job when the time comes.
What I'd love to see Republicans do, for political and substantive reasons, is to emphasize the distinctness of these questions: (1) How generous and expansive should the safety net be? and (2) How free should the market be? The safety net's size, the level of taxation it requires, and the attendant affect on the economy are vital subjects, and can't be totally separated from the balance of economic policy -- a safety net that provided any layabout with a $100,000 annual living stipend would quickly distort incentives and bankrupt the nation. Still, you'd never know from Republican Party rhetoric that a nation can choose, for better or worse, to have a relatively generous safety net and a government that doesn't otherwise intrude unduly into the free market.