Only if you considerably stretch the definition. He's a moderate Republican closer to old school states' rights conservatism than neoconservatism, but certainly not a libertarian, though he does exploit the label to make himself look edgy.
This sort of true-Scotsmanning does libertarianism no favors. I say that having voted for Gary Johnson last time around. Rand Paul would be better for USA residents and for the world than any president in my lifetime has been. Of course he isn't perfect, but no one who was would have anything to do with national government.
It isn't true-Scotsmanning, it's a factual statement. Make no mistake, I too consider Rand Paul to be among the higher stock available in the U.S. mainstream political scene.
Yes, except he's a member of the Republican Party, serving as Junior US Senator from Kentucky as a Republican, and running for the Republican Presidential nomination.
Edit: this was not meant to be snark, just an indication that, in the context of this particular thread/discussion, he's a Republican. The parent had a valid question, please stop downvoting him/her.
Rand Paul is a big-R Republican whose views are generally characterized as small-l libertarian. So, yes, he's (in at least some respects) a libertarian (but not a Libertarian), but still a valid counterpoint to a generalization about Republicans, if it doesn't apply to him.
