Rand Paul Hopes Privacy Concerns Will Lead to GOP Political Victories

Following in the footsteps of his father, Senator Rand Paul is focusing on privacy as a major component of his political profile. He hopes that it will translate into GOP victories this year and possibly help him if he runs for President in 2016.

The idea is pretty straight-forward: young voters are having privacy issues thrown up to them all the time. Popular sites like Reddit and Hacker News often highlight any news about privacy concerns, particularly government concerns, as the rallying cry for action. While neither Republicans nor Democrats have outstanding records when it comes to addressing privacy issues, the GOP’s platform of smaller government and less intrusion gives them an edge when it comes to privacy.

It could backfire. The biggest challenge facing privacy advocacy groups today is a complacency that has been built over the decades. Many of the actions by the government today would have led to extreme actions from citizens of the United States just two or three decades ago, but today they are handled by the people (particularly the younger generation) with Facebook rants and blog posts. Today’s youth have accepted government intrusions more readily than previous generations and right now, they’re the ones who are most on the fence during election time. Their vote is important. Paul hopes to sway as many of them as possible by being the party that protects privacy.

It may work. It may backfire. If the economy is thriving, the Democrats will take credit. If it’s failing, the Republicans will take the blame. If they are not able to redirect focus away from the economy, they might lose ground in 2014. Privacy may be too small of a topic to distract voters from their bank accounts.

According to the Chicago Tribune:

Paul, 51, is trying to build on the network of libertarian-leaning supporters that his father, former Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, amassed during his 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns. The younger Paul has taken positions on civil liberties, criminal justice and foreign policy that differ from Republican orthodoxy, including his opposition to NSA spy programs.

Read More: Chicago Tribune