Rand Paul's Difficult Romance with Kochworld

The libertarian hero and the libertarian donors don't always agree.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) speaks at a Ripon Society breakfast on Capitol Hill, January 21, 2015 in Washington, DC.
Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images

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By David Weigel

January 28, 2015 at 5:55 PM UTC

Updated on

January 28, 2015 at 6:13 PM UTC

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This morning, Politico's Ken Vogel and Tarini Parti reported that Kentucky Senator Rand Paul had underperformed at the past week's Koch brothers showcase. (More officially, it was a gathering of the donors who supported the Koch network of pressure groups, and who finally saw returns in 2014.) Many, including Bloomberg Politics' Michael Bender and Julie Bykowicz, had reported that Florida Senator Marco Rubio did himself the most good. Vogel and Parti reported on a "straw poll" that determined the extent of Paul's problem, conducted by Frank Luntz in a breakout session.

"Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul—who received the least enthusiastic response from donors during a Sunday night forum of prospective candidates that also featured Rubio and Texas Senator Ted Cruz—finished last in Luntz’s poll," they reported.