GOP ESTABLISHMENTARIANS NOT SO HOT ON RAND PAUL. I think he’s a very smart and talented politician. Whether he should be the 2016 nominee is, of course, to be determined over the next couple of years. But I keep having to lecture GOP establishment folks on this point: If you criticize GOP candidates more harshly than you’re criticizing Democrats, you’re doing it wrong. There are plenty of ways to say that someone wouldn’t be the best nominee without screeching. Because screeching alienates those candidates’ supporters. And you’ll need all of them to turn out in 2016. And in 2014. This sort of thing seems like Politics 101 to me, but apparently not to everyone.

UPDATE: Bill Quick points out problems with the “Rand Paul is weak” argument. That said, the Halliburton comment was dumb.