Rand Paul: Clinton Democrats Were ‘Soundly Rejected’ on Tuesday

DOOCY: “OK. So they all lost. She was in all those races injecting herself into it. What are you trying to say?”

PAUL: “You know, they actually ran as Clinton Democrats. They tried to separate themselves from the president and there is this whole mantra that developed during the campaign where the president is unpopular, but Hillary is popular. My point is to make that they all ran to separate themselves from the president, they wanted to be associated as Clinton Democrats, and they all were soundly rejected. So, there is a message here about Hillary Clinton as much as there is a message about the president.”

DOOCY: “Sure. I can’t tell you how many times I heard during this campaign cycle where the president is really unpopular. So you know what? Let’s get our secret weapon, let’s get a Clinton to come talk to us.”

PAUL: “They’ve been saying that in Kentucky for 20 years, ever since Clinton won Kentucky. But the only reason Bill Clinton won in Kentucky was because Ross Perot was in the race. No Clinton has ever carried a majority of Kentucky so I think they’re fooling themselves in the South and also the 1990s was a long time ago. It was another era. There weren’t many conservative Democrats left. The party has become so liberal that it’s left most conservative Democrats in the South. So, I don’t know. I don’t think there is such a Clinton cachet as there once was.”

DOOCEY: “No longer the secret weapons as maybe they were once upon a time. But, you know what, senator? When you came out with that list on election night, there were a number of people who said, ‘Well, that makes it official, Rand Paul is taking a shot at Hillary Clinton. He’s running for president.’”

PAUL: “Well, she is seen as the leader in her party and the potential leader in their nominating process. I think it’s a mistake to let someone — I’m not talking about whether I’m running, but to let someone run unopposed. And I think in the past we haven’t gone after the opposing party’s nominee to say who they are and what they represent. And I think she is going to try to say, ‘Oh, I’m different than President Obama. He’s very unpopular, but I have different policies.’ Well, she was part of his administration and I really don’t know of many, if any, policies they disagree on.”