GOP civil war battle lines becoming clear

Chris Christie ignited a firestorm when he essentially called Sen. Rand Paul and his fellow libertarian-leaning conservatives “dangerous” for their apprehension to the National Security Agency’s surveillance program and the FBI’s use of drones on American soil.

“This strain of libertarianism that’s going through parties right now and making big headlines I think is a very dangerous thought,” Christie said. When asked if he was referring to Paul, Christie said, “You can name any number of people and he [Paul] is one of them.”

Paul’s camp has since then returned fire.

“He needs to talk to more Americans, because a great number of them are concerned about the dramatic overreach of our government in recent years,” Doug Stafford, a Paul adviser, said. “Defending America and fighting terrorism is the concern of all Americans, especially Sen. Paul. But it can and must be done in keeping with our Constitution and while protecting the freedoms that make America exceptional.”

Paul himself said on Sunday that Christie and Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., are “precisely the same people who are unwilling to cut the spending, and their ‘Gimme, gimme, gimme — give me all my Sandy money now,'” Paul said, referring to federal funding some northeastern states received after the hurricane last year. “Those are the people who are bankrupting the government and not letting enough money be left over for national defense.”

And now Paul’s fellow conservative firebrand Sen. Ted Cruz is getting in on the action.

In an appearance on Fox News Channel’s online program “Power Play,” hosted by network contributor Chris Stirewalt, Cruz voiced his support for Paul.

“I am proud to stand side by side with Rand Paul,” Cruz said. “He and I have been fighting over and over and over again in the Senate to defend our constitutional liberties. I’ll say this — some of this tiff, Gov. Christie is entitled to his views, he’s entitled to express his views, I think most Americans don’t care about politicians bickering in Washington. They don’t care about egos and the battles that will happen in the Beltway. What they’re interested in is solving the problems that we’ve got here.”

Cruz justified his stand with Paul by explaining that he and Paul have the same goal in mind.

“Part of the reason so many Americans are frustrated with Washington is we have seen career politicians in both parties — Democrats and Republicans — lose sight of that — lose sight of our basic constitutional protections,” he added. “And it’s why Americans are looking for leaders to stand up – not engage in personal bickering but solve the problems. Address the grave fiscal and economic challenges in this country. Get back to the free market principles this country was founded on and restore constitutional liberties. And I’m proud to stand side by side with Rand Paul fighting to do exactly that.”

While tensions between the conservative and moderate wings of the Republican Party have been simmering now for some time, Christie’s oversized personality and Cruz and Paul’s increasing national profile and refusal to back down have brought the infighting to a new level.

Sens. Paul and Cruz may end up being rivals for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, but in the mean time they’re laying down some pretty clear battle lines inside the GOP.

“I didn’t start this one and I don’t plan on starting things by criticizing other Republicans,” Paul said in conclusion. “But if they want to make me the target, they will get it back in spades.”