Even in Idaho, Paul gets Trumped

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who blitzed through the Gem State last week, would be a viable presidential candidate if this were your usual run-of-the-mill presidential race. He’s one of the fast-rising stars of the Republican Party - with looks, charm and age on his side. He has a message that conservatives like. But thanks to the bombastic Donald Trump, who makes the news almost every day and is providing great political theater, there is nothing ordinary about this campaign. If this were an ordinary year, only a few million people would have bothered to watch the recent Fox News debate and the audiences would be smaller in future debates. With Trump, 24 million people tuned in for the political version of World Wrestling Entertainment. Trump already has turned this campaign into a spinoff of “Celebrity Apprentice,” with him essentially firing everyone except himself. … Next to Trump, Paul sounds like another boring politician with worn-out rhetoric about abolishing the Internal Revenue Service, creating a flat tax and shrinking the size of government - things that presidents can’t seem to do with a hostile Congress. Zzzzzzzzzzz/ Chuck Malloy, in the Lewiston Tribune. More here.

Question: If Rand Paul can’t get traction in Idaho, does that mean he’s done?