MSNBC panel discusses more evidence of Rand Paul's rising influence

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Rand Paul and the word plagiarism made it into another headline recently. But not in the way you think. It turned out that the libertarian Republican and likely 2016 candidate has been a victim of plagiarism by other Republicans around the country, and not just once.

"BuzzFeed" has found at least eight candidates, including two Senate contenders who have pretty blatantly ripped off the freshman Kentucky senator.

For example, T.W. Shannon, a Senate candidate in Oklahoma seems to have used very similar language to Paul when writing about the Department of Education. Here's what Rand Paul wrote on his Web site, quote, "More money, more bureaucracy and more government intervention are eroding this nation`s educational standards." And here`s what Shannon wrote, quote, "More money, more bureaucracy and more government intervention have eroded educational standards

Another example, here`s Rand Paul`s language on the topic of incumbency. Quote, "Long-term incumbency leads to politicians who seem to care more about what is for their -- what is best for their career than what is best for their country." And here`s what Michael Dreikorn who's running to replace Congressman Trey Radel in Florida wrote. Quote, "Long term incumbency leads to politicians who seem to care more about what is best for their career than what is best for America."

The list goes on and on and on -- gun control, abortion, energy, education and more. According to "BuzzFeed", at least two politicians simply copied Rand Paul entire issues section from his Web site.

So, what does all of this say about Paul`s place in the Republican Party? After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattering. And you don`t see too many people copying verbatim of Jeb Bush`s homework.

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