If you've followed US politics over the past few years, it's not surprising at all. Rand is the only Republican that groks IT at all. If he wasn't also in the Koch's pocket, he would be the perfect candidate. He's still far better than Hillary "what email server?" Clinton...why the Republicans won't actually nominate him I'll never understand. He would pull conservative Democrats to him, and is a positive force for both Libertarians and Progressive Republicans (in the vein of Eisenhower). He's spoken out against the NSA, against drones, He's an actual MD. He voted against extending the PATRIOT Act.
My main issue is he's too anti-government, and wants to cut into the Department of Education, and is way too "pro-life". But weighing these against his positives, we'll not find another candidate who scores better. Of course the Republicans will give the nomination to someone else; someone who is more in-line with the $$$ and is a war-mongering corporate shill instead. And when they do, Hillary will sweep this election...it's almost like the Republicans like loosing on purpose.
RP is indeed a mixed bag of much needed reform and batshit crazy.
For a tree hugging liberal, I am however fully on board with killing the department of education. It's not that a DoE couldn't work. It is that the current one has always been a force for evil in schools. This is simply an example of the thing in question no coming even close to what a tree hugging liberal or a baby eating conservative would hope for from a government department. Centralizing some education stuff is entirely sensible, but they tried it and they failed again and again and just made things worse. But yes, he's anti government by default and want to do stupid shit like axing the federal reserve as well.
I want him to have a love child with Elizabeth Warren. Let the spawn be the president.