Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, struggling in the polls and with fundraising, felt the need Thursday to release a “memo” insisting he’s not dropping out of the Republican presidential race.
“There are some in the media who are pushing the false narrative that Senator Rand Paul (SRP) is on the ropes,” reads the missive from Paul’s campaign manager, Chip Englander, and his chief strategist, Doug Stafford, which is crafted in the form of an internal campaign memorandum.
The memo declares that Paul “is here to stay.”
The latest RealClearPolitics poll average shows Paul, once regarded as a top contender for the Republican nomination, tied with Mike Huckabee for eighth in the GOP field with 2.7 percent support, down from the more than 11 percent he had in February.
The Paul campaign memo argues that the media is ignoring Paul’s victories in straw polls among conservative activists.
“Ground game and political organization have a disproportionate impact in primaries and especially caucuses – and SRP has the best organization in America,” the memo reads.
There are some in the media who are pushing the false narrative that
Memo from Paul’s campaign manager, Chip Englander, and his chief strategist, Doug Stafford
The memo cites Paul’s organizing efforts in the early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire, especially with students.
“You will not see this student advantage show up in polls, but you will see it show up in elections – just like the straw polls we keep winning,” the Paul memo reads.
Rand Paul, it is time to take your campaign out back and shoot it.
Erick Erickson, editor of the conservative news site RedState
The memo comes as Erick Erickson, editor of the conservative news site RedState, is the latest commentator to opine that “Rand Paul, it is time to take your campaign out back and shoot it.”
“About the only thing Rand Paul is now doing in the race is serving as a future George Washington University campaign management class hypothetical in how not to run a presidential campaign,” Erickson wrote. “A man who should be setting the agenda of a new GOP reform path is now, at best, an asterisk, headed toward being a polling asterisk.”
The Paul memo asserts that the Kentucky senator’s presidential campaign is picking up momentum and fundraising, and that Paul’s support will register when it counts – when the voting begins.
“The media is fixated on insisting that SRP should get out of the race even though he continues to win every time votes are counted and the polls show him on the rise,” the memo reads.