I finally figured it out. Rand Paul's old-timey talk is shrewdly intended to ward off a surprise Joad Cressbeckler candidacy. Cressbeckler is as tea-party as they come - the genuine article - and a potentially serious threat in the Kentucky Senate race if he chooses to run as an independent.
Who will be the first beltway journalist to dub Rand Paul "brilliant" in light of this? Come on, Mark Halperin, don't be shy!
[DK won't allow me to embed the video, so follow the Joad Cressbeckler link to see it (Onion News).]
By the way:
I just want to add that Google is scarily amazing, as well as revealing. Looking for a link to put on Mark Halperin's name above, I began to type "Mark Halperin idiot" into the Google search window. By the time I had typed the "i" in "idiot," the window was showing "Mark Halperin idiot" as the second suggestion. Then, when I hit enter for the results, the exact item I was looking for - the one that I used for the link on the name - appeared third on the list.
Google not only read my mind, it agrees with me (and innumerable others) that Mark Halperin is an idiot.
Technology!