re: Rand Paul's way-too-early path to the GOP nomination.

If Rand Paul wins Iowa, it will legitimize him and he will win the republican nomination.

It's laughable to even include Huntsman in any speculation. You are talking about a guy who thought it was a good idea to run to the left of Mitt Romney in a primary where voters were desperately searching for a conservative alternative. He ran a shitty campaign and is way to moderate to rally the base to vote for him in a general, much less win the Republican nomination.

As for Rand, he starts out with a floor of 15% if you go by what his dad did in 08 and 12 in Iowa. So for him, the more candidates in the better.

Some things he will have to explain and that will hurt are:

1) Does Rand want to legalize all drugs?
2.) Position on farm benifits
3.) Civil Rights Act positions.
4.) Foreign policy under a Rand Paul administration. ( expect lots of hypothetical scenarios to be thrown out)