Why is Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) opening an office in the liberal bastion of the San Francisco Bay Area? "There's a lot of smart people in Silicon Valley, and we want to use their brains to figure out how to win," Paul told the San Francisco Chronicle on Saturday, after he spoke before the California Republican Party convention in Los Angeles. The junior senator from Kentucky didn't specify what exactly he hoped to win in California, but he told the Chronicle that one goal is "for the party, winning nationally."
It's lost on nobody that Paul is widely expected to run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, or that Silicon Valley has a lot of very wealthy people, some of them inclined toward Paul's libertarian-tinged politics. "Probably some of the least loyal Democrats are in Silicon Valley," USC political analyst Sherry Bebitch tells the Chronicle. "No-party-preference voters are big in Silicon Valley — and it's not inconceivable that Rand Paul took that into consideration." As Paul said, he plans on visiting the Bay Area "fairly often." For whatever reason.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Wayne Thiebaud: ‘still life painting at its modern best’The Week Recommends The American artist’s ‘luscious yet unsettling’ works are on display at the Courtauld in London
-
How padel took over the worldIn The Spotlight Smaller courts than tennis, thicker rackets than pickleball and glass walls on all sides – padel is enjoying a huge rise in popularity
-
Life onboard a luxury residential shipThe Week Recommends Peek behind the curtain of the most exclusive postcode at sea
-
‘Vile, racist’ leaked chats roil Young RepublicansSpeed Read Leaders of Young Republican groups made racist, antisemitic and violent comments in private chats
-
Trump ties $20B Argentina bailout to Milei votesspeed read Trump will boost Argentina’s economy — if the country’s right-wing president wins upcoming elections
-
News organizations reject Pentagon restrictionsSpeed Read The proposed policy is Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s latest move to limit press access at the Pentagon
-
Trump declares end to Gaza war, ‘dawn’ of new MideastSpeed Read Hamas freed the final 20 living Israeli hostages and Israel released thousands of Palestinian detainees
-
Trump DOJ indicts New York AG Letitia JamesSpeed Read New York Attorney General Letitia James was indicted as Trump’s Justice Department pursues charges against his political opponents
-
Judge blocks Trump’s Guard deployment in ChicagoSpeed Read The president is temporarily blocked from federalizing the Illinois National Guard or deploying any Guard units in the state
-
Trump urges jail for Illinois, Chicago leadersSpeed Read The Texas National Guard begin operations in the Chicago area
-
Bondi stonewalls on Epstein, Comey in Senate face-offSpeed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi denied charges of using the Justice Department in service of Trump’s personal vendettas
