Word’s just in that the junior senator from Kentucky has signed on to deliver a “Tea Party” response to both the president’s SOTU and Marco Rubio’s official GOP response.

And before you can say “phony war,” the MSM is setting this up as reflecting the yawning gap between the Rubio/Rove “establishment” and the True Conservative tribes–once again showing how no matter what happens to and within the GOP, its “center” keeps getting pulled to the Right.

I don’t know what if anything Rubio or Paul will say on international issues; if so they will probably be offering a stark choice between immediate and ultimate war with much of the rest of the world. But on domestic issues, you’ll need a crow-bar to pry them apart.

Our ideas can save democracy... But we need your help! Donate Now!

Ed Kilgore is a political columnist for New York and managing editor at the Democratic Strategist website. He was a contributing writer at the Washington Monthly from January 2012 until November 2015, and was the principal contributor to the Political Animal blog.