Paul defends foreign policy views as ’16 looms

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Tuesday defended his foreign policy views in an interview with the editor of The Wall Street Journal editorial page, a bastion of more traditional Republican thinking in that area.

{mosads}The editor, Paul Gigot, told Paul that all the Republicans he talks to about a potential Paul presidential run say they like that he’s reaching out to new constituencies but that they think a super-PAC will hammer his foreign policy views in the primary, and he won’t survive. 

“This is not a small movement, nor is it easy to say that people like myself who believe in less intervention can be characterized as people who don’t believe in a strong national defense,” Paul said. “That’s a caricature and I will have to fight that, but we’ll see what happens.”

He also argued that while he wants less intervention than many Republicans, he does not want no intervention at all. 

“I grew up as a Reagan Republican, I was at the convention in 1976 when my dad was a delegate,” he said. “Do I believe that defense is the No. 1 thing we have to do in the federal government? Absolutely.”

Paul pointed to a Bloomberg/Des Moines Register poll of Iowa Republicans last month, asking if they were in the Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), more intervention wing, or the Paul, less intervention wing. The results were closely split, 45 to 41 percent in favor of McCain’s views.

“I want less. McCain wants more, he wants 15 countries more, 15 wars more,” Paul said of the party’s 2008 GOP presidential nominee. 

One of the issues where Paul has faced scrutiny from the Republican establishment is on Iran’s nuclear program and support for Israel, especially given controversy over Paul’s past statements saying he wants to eliminate all foreign aid, including to Israel. 

Paul has already faced attacks from potential primary rivals Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum calling him an “isolationist,” a charge that Paul denies. 

Paul pointed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s support for the recent extension of nuclear talks with Iran. 

He is resisting talk by some in Congress about imposing new sanctions on Iran. 

“I think it’s a mistake to pass new sanctions in the middle of negotiations, particularly if the new sanctions start out with something that I think really is a nonstarter position for Iran, which is no enrichment,” Paul said.

Maintaining his balancing act, though, he also emphasized, “I think that we need to and should do everything we can to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon, and that includes the threat of force.”

Gigot, the Journal editor, pressed Paul on whether he favors an increase in military spending. Paul pointed to a balancing act between the deficit and increased defense spending.

“I’m for peace through strength absolutely, I’ll spend more money, I’ll spend as much as I can get out of Congress if I were president,” Paul said. “However I won’t do it and run up another $10 trillion in deficit, so it has to be done by cutting other parts of government.”

“I truly believe that the No. 1 threat to our national security is our debt,” he added.

Paul announced on Tuesday that he is seeking reelection to the Senate. In a conference call with reporters, Paul adviser Doug Stafford cautioned that a decision on a presidential run is still “months away.”