Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is now going by “doctor” on Twitter and has a new handle entirely....He's "Dr." on his campaign site:
Until yesterday ... [Paul's] account was “Senator Rand Paul” and the handle was “@SenRandPaul.”
... Paul is now just @RandPaul and going by “Dr. Rand Paul.”
And this bit of campaign swag really wants you to think of him as a doctor:
What's going on? I think he's really planning to work the charity-eye-doctor angle in his campaign. His trip to Guatemala last summer to do operations for the poor got great press, even from news outlets, such as The Washington Post, that made note of the obvious publicity angle:
The doctor and his patients greeted each other beneath the gaze of three television cameras, three photographers, six reporters, a political aide, two press secretaries, [and] conservative activist David Bossie....I think that film is going to show up on Iowa television soon -- or maybe it will be held until just before the caucuses. But it'll see the light of day.
Bossie’s presence cast aside any doubt that the trip was merely an opportunity for the senator to reconnect with his medical roots. Bossie is the founder of Citizens United, the group whose lawsuit led the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that corporations and labor unions can spend unlimited funds on direct advocacy for or against political candidates. A documentary filmmaker who has shadowed Paul before, he traveled here with his daughter and a film crew equipped with lights, cameras and an unmanned aerial drone for overhead shots. Bossie said little about his plans, other than that his footage would appear in a film either about Paul or an issue of importance to him.
Yeah, yeah, I know -- to us snarky lefties, "Dr." before Rand Paul's name is a reminder that his board certification is from a group he organized himself, and also that a medical organization to which he belongs, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, has "expressed doubts about the connection between HIV and AIDS and suggested that President Barack Obama may have been elected because he was able to hypnotize voters." But to the good churchgoing folk of Iowa, South Carolina, and other states, what "Dr." Paul is doing will be regarded as saintly soon -- if this plan works.
Do any of Rand Paul's "plans" work. I can't recall any. I view him as a "chicken with it's head cut off." Darting around in all directions at once.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone done a follow-up on the poor people this "Doctor" helped?
ReplyDeleteHow many of them are now more blind than they were before?
Does he supply these poor people with seeing-eye dogs and canes, if he botched his operations?
I don[t know, maybe he's a fine eye specialist. But, all I know is, if I had the money, I'd certainly go for a 2nd opinion - and NOT from anyone HE recommended.
I'm probably too cynical. But, this was a staged "charity" event, which leads me towards my cynicism.
I thought his views on vaccination showed that the state of American medicine improved once he quit "doctoring".
ReplyDeleteMaybe he's also trying to outflank Doctor Ben Carson.
ReplyDelete"Dr." brings with it a lot of credibility and gravitas. I think that's more his motivation than emphasizing his charity work.
ReplyDeleteMaybe he's trying to position himself as a Washington outsider, hoping the conservative rubes will forget that he's been a part of the Washington establishment for a few years already.
ReplyDeleteI've been wondering about that certification business for a long time now, but I haven't seen any explanation for it. In what way did Rand Paul fail to meet the requirements of the American Board of Ophthalmology? That sounds like the sort of thing journalists should dig into, but it seems they never have. Maybe someone will do the job now that he's announced his candidacy? Or is that kind of scrutiny only for Democrats?
ReplyDeleteI think it's especially a sign of continuity with the endless Ron Paul machine, which sometimes referred to its candidate as "Dr." without any name attached. That alongside the fully operational merchandising website suggest the young Dr. is not so much running for president as taking over the family grift business.
ReplyDeleteOf course it's also an elegant way of dismissing his exposed lies about the bachelor's degree he doesn't have.
ReplyDeleteYou're right on both counts.
ReplyDelete