Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky has an ominous prediction for the future of his party: It won't win the White House unless it undergoes a major transformation.
"I think Republicans will not win again in my lifetime for the presidency, unless they become a new GOP, a new Republican party, and it has to be a transformation, not just a little tweaking at the edges," Paul said in an interview with conservative talk show host Glenn Beck
on The Blaze.
Paul said he thinks it's better to find what those in the party can agree on and unite around those things instead of focusing on the disagreements. That is is one of the reasons why he decided to endorse the re-election bid by fellow Kentucky Sen. and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Urgent: Do You Support Rand Paul for President? Vote Now in Urgent Poll
Story continues below video.
"I am someone who believes in bringing people together, to a certain extent," he explained. "Sometimes we preoccupy ourselves with what we disagree with people on, and I am a fusionist, I am someone who believes that ... and think we [try to] bring people together to be a bigger party."
Paul, a potential presidential candidate in 2016, said it's key that Republicans learn how to speak to people who are not typically Republicans — young people, African Americans, and Latinos — by addressing issues they care about and can relate to.
Story continues below video.
"To me it's the ideas of liberty and presenting them to everyone, not just white folks with ties on," he added.
"My goal that there is a struggle going on in the Republican party ... I'm proud of the fact that there is a struggle," Paul said. "I will struggle to make the Republican party a different party, a bigger party, a more diverse party, and a party that can win national elections again."
Paul reminisced about being a 13-year-old boy at the Republican National Convention in 1976 when Ronald Reagan challenged the nomination of Gerald Ford, who went on to win the party's nomination but lost the general election to Jimmy Carter.
Story continues below video.
However, because Reagan was successful in winning both the party's nomination and the presidency four years later, Paul said it's an example of a time in which conservatives in the party defeated the "establishment."
"In the end, Reagan won and the party became a better place, at least for a while," Paul said. "We need to have that debate again, and we need to be a bigger, stronger party."
Urgent: Do You Support Rand Paul for President? Vote Now in Urgent Poll
Related Stories:
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.