Staking Out A Broad 2016 GOP Field

The GOP and 2016.  Rand Paul’s in now. We’ll survey the field, Paul, Walker, Bush and beyond.

And then it was Rand Paul.  He’s now formally in the 2016 race for the White House. The race for the Republican nomination.  ed Cruz, Rand Paul, and a bunch more soon to come.  Marco Rubio. Scott Walker.  Carly Fiorina. And of course, former Florida governor Jeb Bush. And still more. The GOP has many flavors of candidate lining up for the race. Libertarian. Evangelical. Big tent. Pure tent. All with an eye on each other, and on Hillary Clinton. It’s going to be quite the contest. This hour On Point: we’re looking at the emerging line-up for the GOP and 2016.
-- Tom Ashbrook

Karen Tumulty, national correspondent for the Washington Post. (@ktumulty)

David Winston, president of the Winston Group, a planning and research firm. Former Republican Party advisor. (@dhwinston)

Steve Deace, host of the nationally-syndicated Steve Deace Show, based in Iowa. Author of "Rules for Patriots." (@SteveDeaceShow)

Washington Post: Rand Paul launches 2016 White House bid: ‘We have come to take our country back’ — "A fiercely independent conservative, Paul has drawn notice from the start of his tenure on Capitol Hill, clashing with GOP leadership and introducing his own proposed overhaul for the federal budget. In 2013, the nearly-13-hour filibuster he conducted in opposition to President Obama’s drone policy and the nomination of John O. Brennan to head the CIA catapulted him to stardom on the right, especially among younger Republican voters who have craved a new, contrarian voice."

New York Times: Jeb Bush as Inevitable Choice? Republicans Say Not So Fast — "For all the Republican 'bundlers' who have signed up to raise money for Mr. Bush, others remain uncommitted or are hedging their bets by aiding more than one candidate. Some are privately chafing at what they view as the Bush camp’s presumption of their loyalty."

National Review: Rand Paul Is Running for the Republican Nomination, So Now the Party Is Ready to Attack — "Paul has offered the GOP new ideas at a time when it sorely needed them, pushing Republicans to show up in minority communities and leading by example. He’s partnered with Democrats on criminal-justice reform, an issue where real bipartisan consensus exists, and created a movement on his own regarding privacy and civil liberties, where even Republicans who disagreed couldn’t help but enjoy watching him give the Obama administration hell during his 13-hour speech against the U.S. drone program."