Loonier than the Mad Hatter

New hero of Tea Party Rand Paul is so conservative he scares Dick Cheney

How conservative is he? The 47-year-old Paul - who trounced establishment candidate Trey Grayson in Kentucky's GOP Senate primary Tuesday - wants to abolish the federal departments of education, commerce and energy, as well as the income tax.

Like Palin, with whom Paul now stands atop the Tea Party cake, he is opposed to all government bailouts and earmarks, and President Obama's "socialist" health care law. He favors a constitutional amendment banning abortion, even in cases of rape and incest.

But in a libertarian twist, he also favors legalizing medical marijuana.

That's not all many Americans might find slightly odd about Paul. Some of his positions frighten even staunch conservatives like former Vice President Dick Cheney, who backed Paul's GOP opponent.

"We are encountering a day of reckoning," Paul said Tuesday night in one of his many ominous, end-is-near warnings. "And this Tea Party movement is a message to Washington that we are unhappy, and we want things done differently."