Rand Paul’s campaign just released a blistering attack on Donald Trump. Any one of these clips might be enough to sink a traditional Republican candidate. But will this work on the non-traditional Trump? Let’s discuss this further after watching the video…

[poll id=”59″]

Trump responds:

.@realDonaldTrump responds to @RandPaul's attack ad, calls Paul pathetic and a mess http://t.co/Bsql9imed6 http://t.co/hk7g7tDB06

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) August 12, 2015

Stay tuned and refresh your screen in a few minutes for analysis from multiple sources…

By the way, Trump is correct that the economy does do better, by some numbers, under Dem leadership.

Of course, most of us here at this blog know that just because you have an “R” by your name doesn’t mean you enact conservative policies, but there’s a better explanation for this chart. See an answer down below in the comments–I don’t want to give it away!

The Traditional View: Attack Up

A writer over at National Review sums up the conventional wisdom:

Look at this from the perspective of Paul: He’s built a reputation as “the most interesting man in politics,” a man who could build upon his father’s base within the GOP (already about 10 percent of GOP primary voters), who could reach out to non-traditionally Republican audiences in Silicon Valley and African-Americans. A solid bid in 2016 was either going to result in winning the nomination, being selected as the vice-presidential choice on a unity ticket, or at least pulling the GOP in a more libertarian direction and becoming a force in the party for decades to come. Suddenly a reality television star jumps into the race, and Paul gets reduced to an afterthought. In the RealClearPolitics national average, Paul was at 11.3 percent back in February. Now he’s at 4.4 percent. In the RCP average in Iowa, he was at the same level of support; now he’s at 3.2 percent… Not all of Paul’s departing support shifted to Trump, but Trump is using up almost all of the oxygen in the media environment. Thus, the only way for Paul to get back into the discussion – and to be seen as a serious alternative for Republicans who are repelled by Trump’s style – is by going on the attack.

The Wait it out View: We’re not in Kansas anymore

The other view sometimes heard on Rand Paul supporting forums is that it’s a major blunder to attack Trump at this early point. Look at Cruz, he didn’t attack Trump and he’s the only legit conservative candidate to have experienced a significant boost in the polls post debate. Rand should wait for the establishment to be forced to take him out–let them use their easy money and waste it on Trump. Rand can come in later and point out that he is the only true conservative. I hope I’m capturing this view correctly? Laura Ingraham interviewed Rand Paul today and put some questions related to this to Paul. Of course, all of this is academic now. Rand has chosen his path of directly confronting Trump.

What conservatives and libertarians need to realize is that Rand Paul is probably the only principled constitutional conservative with the stomach to actually challenge the establishment choice, likely Bush.