Rand Paul plays the partisan in red-meat speech at CPAC

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) went straight for President Obama in his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), focusing on the partisan attacks his father, a candidate for the presidency, has been steering away from.

"Mr. President, don't you realize that as you pile this debt on the backs of working people that gas prices have doubled, food prices are rising at double digits and 11 million people are out of work?" he said. "When you forbid the mining of cheap energy sources, when you ban the new oil pipeline, senior citizens and working families are forced to pay higher electric bills … does your yen for windmills trump your concern for the poor?"

Many see Paul as being handed the libertarian torch from his father, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), when he retires, and there has been talk that he might also run for president someday. 

Paul criticized Obama in the speech for guaranteeing the loan of the failed solar panel company Solyndra, and accused him of giving taxpayer money to friends and political supporters.

He also drew laughs on multiple occasions.

"Is anyone out there tired about hearing about Warren Buffett's secretary?" he joked, referring to Obama’s repeated invocations of the billionaire investor.

Paul stressed the threat that the national debt poses to the country’s future and delved into his father’s favorite theme: the need to restore and protect individual liberty.

"You've got special interests on the right and on the left that clamor for more of your money," he said. "Even our party has yet to grasp the significance and imminence of this coming debt crisis. It's coming," he said to applause.

"It will take bold leadership. This is why I always have said the Republican Party is an empty vessel unless we imbue it with values," he said. "We have to believe in something. It will take someone who's able to transform the boldest of austerity into the warm, vibrant embrace of prosperity. We're in the process of discovering who that leader will be. My hope is that in the search for that leader, we also will rediscover the passion for individual liberty that made America great."