Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul spoke to ASU students about his strong support for privacy rights and government responsibility Friday on the Tempe campus.
Paul’s speech attracted a wide range of listeners, from young high school socialists who came “ironically,” to graying adults supporting Paul.
Some in the audience, like computer science junior Eddy Yan, came out of mere curiosity.
“I don’t have any biases toward Democrats or Republicans, I just want to see what everyone has to offer,” he said.
Presidential candidate @RandPaul speaks on the importance of privacy rights. Attendees cheer in approval @statepress pic.twitter.com/5VqApSUlvt
— Isabella Castillo (@isabella_m_cast) May 8, 2015
Charlie Kirk, the 21-year-old founder of Turning Point USA, introduced Paul as someone who fights for free market interaction.
Sen. Kelli Ward, R-Lake Havasu City, also gave a brief introduction, eliciting an enthusiastic response from the audience for causes like liberty, personal responsibility and a change in the culture in Washington, D.C..
As the crowd awaited his arrival, Paul finally took the podium and appealed to what he called, “the leave-me-alone-coalition,” which he identified as anyone who supported the Fourth Amendment right against search and seizure without an official, individualized warrant.
Paul spoke specifically about issues regarding government policy on searching digital property and phone calls in recent history. He criticized the lack of consistency regarding what is defined as personal property and how it is to be protected.
“What I do on my phone, what you do on your phone. . . it’s none of the government’s damned business,” Paul said.
Those in opposition to privacy rights often cite the threat of terrorism as validation for the government’s intrusion on the privacy of individuals, but Paul quickly confronted the issue.
“We’re spending so much damned time going after innocent people that we’re not spending enough time going after the perpetrator,” Paul said. “The Boston Marathon bomber, we knew his name. . . You can get terrorists, you can go after criminals, you can get rapists, you can get murderers. Get a warrant. It’s not that hard.”
Paul said requiring a warrant is not because of a mistrust of the police, but because of a need to protect the people and provide checks and balances on power to eliminate bias.
Paul also spoke on the importance of an American citizen’s right to a trial.
“Once upon a time we talked about innocent until proven guilty,” he said. “We have these rules so bias doesn’t enter into it and so that innocent people don’t end up being murdered and harmed. We have due process so the innocent get their day in court.”
Paul said Republican strategy to appeal to young voters and battle what he called the “undercurrent of unease” among those who are unhappy with the state of U.S. government is to become a party that fully embraces the Bill of Rights in its entirety.
“If we want to be the party that wins the 18 states that Republicans haven’t won in 30 years, we need to be the party that passionately represents and passionately proclaims the entire bill of rights,” he said.
Paul’s proposals to transform the Republican party sounded alluring to even the slightly skeptical listeners like aerospace engineering senior Christina Munoz.
“He brought up a lot of really awesome points about changing the party, which I think is necessary,” Munoz said. “I would identify as a Republican if the party changed.”
Reach the reporter at icastil3@asu.edu.
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