Rand Paul Tells Newsmax Why He Now Backs Romney

Mitt Romney’s positions on a number of key issues including internet freedom and reining in the Federal Reserve earned the endorsement Sen. Rand Paul — even though the Kentucky senator tells Newsmax.TV his first choice will always be his dad.

In an interview at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Chicago, Paul noted a number of key areas of agreement with the former Massachusetts governor including on the REINS Act, also known as the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act, and SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act.

“Well you know, I’ve always supported my Dad,” he said of presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul. “He’s always been my first choice. I knocked on doors for him when I was 11 and every election since then I’ve helped him and he’s still my first choice.

Watch our exclusive interview. Story continues below.



"But you know, they counted the delegates and the nominating process is over and Gov. Romney has a sufficient amount of delegates and so I met with Gov. Romney last week and we talked about some of the areas where we have some agreement, some strong agreement.

“My dad, myself and his supporters are very passionate about the Federal Reserve needing to be reined in and audited and Gov. Romney supports that.

"We’re also very passionate about freedom of the Internet and we were all opposed to the SOPA bill, which we thought would take away some of our civil liberties with regard to the Internet, and Gov. Romney’s right there with us on that.

"One of the other issues that’s very important to me is the REINS Act. This is where regulations that are strangling our economy, regulations that cost over $100 million would have to come back from the EPA and be voted on in Congress. And Gov. Romney is right there with us on that issue as well.”

Paul said there are a “lot of issues of commonality” and noted he really did not want President Barack Obama to get a second term.

“I really don’t want to see a second term. I’m worried about what happens to our economy and our country if we get a second term of President Obama.”

On the upcoming Supreme Court decision on the constitutionality of Obamacare, Paul said he’s been “exhorting my colleagues to say we need to be ready because I think there’s a good chance it’s struck down.”

“When Obamacare’s struck down, the next time we go to tackle these problems we need to talk about how capitalism could fix these problems, how freedom, how competition, how price competition, would work to keep health costs down, instead of just saying ‘Let’s do Obamacare light,’ he said.

“I don’t want that, I want more free market. And the market place is broken. I’m a physician and healthcare didn’t work very well  for one precise reason that everyone needs to think about. If you magically double the amount of eye surgeons tomorrow the price for cataract surgery stays the same. That’s not a market place.

Make it a market place where prices fluctuate, completion works, and you have people paying for their healthcare. Then you have prices coming down.”