The War on Drugs and the Presidential Campaign

Back when Ron Paul was running for President, he was often a lonely voice calling for sentencing reform and a truce in the war on drugs. Now those ideas have gone mainstream and his son Rand is having trouble distinguishing himself from other candidates on the issue. Consider this account of Ted Cruz campaigning in New Hampshire, courting libertarian voters who might be expected to go for Paul:

Afterward, Bloomberg asked Cruz if, as president, he would continue the war on drugs. It was a question Paul could answer with a quick no. Yet Cruz, while not saying whether the war on drugs had been a failure or success, emphasized that he wanted the same sort of legal reform that Paul wanted. He had co-sponsored the Smarter Sentencing Act (though not Paul's other bills) and agreed with him that the justice system had become slanted against one group of Americans.

“I think there are a great many people serving sentences right now that are unfair, and that are frankly taking up prison space and prison facilities that should have been taken up by violent criminals,” said Cruz. “I don't think it makes sense for so many young people, particularly young African-Americans, to serve long prison sentences for non-violent crime.”

Wasn't that heart-warming? And it makes me think again that pundits writing off Cruz may be making a mistake.