Paul’s acolytes insist their man cannot be bought. [...]
Maybe so, but at 76, Paul is understandably concerned about the future of his movement. Aides say if Paul can’t win the nomination, four legislative priorities would top the Texas Representative’s wish list: deep spending cuts that lead to a balanced budget; the restoration of civil liberties; a commitment to reclaim the legislative branch’s right to declare war, which it abdicated to the executive branch in recent decades; and reforms that shore up the U.S. monetary system, such as an audit of the Federal Reserve or competing-currency legislation. Paul might also be enticed, says campaign chairman Jesse Benton, by the prospect of serving as a presidential adviser, a Cabinet position for someone in his orbit or “perhaps a vice presidency.”
Not for himself, but rather his son. Rand Paul, the junior senator from Kentucky and a Tea Party icon, is expected to launch his own White House bid in 2016. Being on the ticket now — or even being mentioned for it — would be a helpful step. [...]
[...] At the same time, Paul’s backers recognize that selling supporters on an alliance with Romney carries special risks, since Paul’s bond with his backers is predicated on his record of principled stands. A pact would have to be done “very cautiously,” says Benton. “We wouldn’t ask our people to do that if we worried they were just being co-opted or that we were in some way selling out.”
But it may soon be time for Paul’s army to decide if it wants to win or lose in the fall. “There’s clearly something going on between the two of them, and that’s a very good thing,” says David Adams, a Kentucky Tea Party strategist who helmed Rand Paul’s Senate primary campaign.
[italics added] At a guess Romney would have no major problem adopting Ron Paul's talking points, as talking points, since the man talks as he believes others want to hear him and that's been his habit from pro-choice Massachusetts days to his current choice-hating position. Bend with the lightest breeze, never mind any chance of breaking in a wind. He even now criticizes Romneycare, a keystone of his Massachusetts miracle, as if it were alien to him, somehow, some way. Who knows, the opportunity may present itself for Romney to present himself as critical of corporate raiding.
So the test is one of the integrity of Ron Paul. We already know about Romney.
I find that Ron Paul -- will he cut a deal thing, to be a very interesting question.
Decades in politics.
We wait. We see. And, Ron Paul's backers, while many may be only true believers, there are career politicians and campaign hangers-on who would cut a deal for a dime. And Ron Paul could not have gotten this far in things without a few such camp followers in tow. Reality is what it is.
_____________UPDATE___________
Hat tip to Digby on the "Let's make a deal" possibilities, this link. That quote Digby noted, channeling Ayn Rand, by young Rand, (was he in fact named after the grande dame?) is garbage. As Digby noted. What is "corporatism" but what young Rand was touting? Perhaps I misunderstand the term. Government in bed with profit-seekers. That is the antithesis of trust in the market. It's stacking the deck, and there are tons of money given tons of lobbyists in DC already, to do all that, so if that's young Rand's world view, we don't need him.