At The Atlantic, Peter Beinart says that Senator Rand Paul is now the 2016 Republican presidential frontrunner, “So if Christie is no longer the candidate to beat in the 2016 Republican race, who is? Believe it or not, it’s Rand Paul…”

Beinart says that although “it’s absurdly early… Paul looks like a better bet than anyone else to finish in the top two in both Iowa and New Hampshire. If he did, he’d establish himself as the leading anti-establishment candidate in the GOP field.”

Beinart’s makes a strong case that politically and financially, Paul could go the distance.

At The Dish, Andrew Sullivan describes how Paul best represents significant ideological shifts happening in the Republican Party:

Something fascinating is happening beneath the surface of the Republican-conservative debate. There is a revival – a clear, strong revival – of a conservatism perhaps best represented by The American Conservative of an authentically conservative worldview that is federalist, fiscally austerian, non-interventionist, and more skeptical of government’s national security claims. It’s always been there… but it is now much stronger vis-a-vis the Cold War liberalism and neoconservative orthodoxy that dominated the movement for so long.

Sullivan concludes, “Someone will have to run under that banner in 2016, and it’s hard to see anyone tapping into the passionate activist support for it more effectively than Paul.”

If Beinart believes Paul can succeed in a practical sense and Sullivan believes the Senator represents emerging ideological forces within the GOP, Kentucky’s Independent Ledger reported on Thursday, “Diverse crowd turns out to meet U.S. Sen. Paul: A large crowd assembled Thursday night to listen to, and ask questions of U.S. Senator Rand Paul. The crowd was a mix of ages, race, sex, and professions.”

When Paul went on a 13-hour-filibuster in March over the Obama administration’s drone policies and due process, some said it was the best thing to happen to the GOP in years precisely because it received enthusiastic support across the ideological spectrum, swaying public opinion by a whopping 50 percent.

By each of these measures, Paul represents what libertarian conservatism brings to the GOP.

On paper, a Republican who advocates for smaller government, less war, civil liberties, that can attract youth and diverse crowds, who can appeal beyond the right’s natural base, changing minds to boot—while still being a serious 2016 player—is a really tall order.

So far, Rand Paul is filling that bill.

Disclosure: I co-authored Rand Paul’s 2010 book “The Tea Party Goes to Washington.”

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) spoke on the importance of having a foreign policy informed by religious values Friday at the Faith and Freedom Conference in Washington, DC.

Paul’s message seemed to resonate with the largely evangelical audience.

Regarding the public expression of faith, particularly in political settings, Paul urged the audience not to be deterred. “Your faith and your church should be part of the public arena. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise,” he told the crowd, which responded with a standing ovation. “Reject anyone that tells you that faith can’t be part of public life.”

Politico’s Katie Glueck noted that a major emphasis of the speech was that “freedom and tradition are complementary values.”