Could be the oil thing. Could be the pants thing.
At this weekend's upcoming Koch millionaire meet-and-greet Republican candidate money grab, one candidate's absence
may be conspicuous.
The gathering – which also will include former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, but notably not Sen. Rand Paul — is hosted by Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, the umbrella group in the Kochs’ increasingly influential network of political and public policy outfits.
The confab is meant to be exactly what it sounds like, a Koch-organized event gathering a few hundred of the wealthiest conservative funders in America so that a set of Koch-approved candidates can make the pitch that they are the proper candidate to represent the ultra-rich, and are therefore deserving of rich people money. Jeb! will be there, as well as Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Koch golden boy Scott Walker. But no Rand Paul? The Koch team invited him, but so far Paul has declined to commit to the event.
Paul has not ruled out an appearance, said his campaign spokesman Sergio Gor. But he added “it will be difficult due to trips to Iowa and New Hampshire, the first GOP debate in Cleveland and the U.S. Senate being in session all during the same week.”
Mmm-hmm. It might also have to do with Rand Paul bombing at the last of these events, not just opining that maybe oil companies didn't need as many tax breaks as they were getting (you can guess how that went over with this particular crowd) but, far more importantly,
showing up in the wrong style of pants.
It looks like he'll be cutting his losses this time around. Mind you, he still wants Rich People Money—but he'll be gathering it on his own terms. And while wearing his own pants.