Under pressure to show loyalty to his party and to critique its heresies against libertarianism, he does a lot of the former, not much of the latter.

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At the same time, his libertarian supporters, another key to his political future, are forever wary of being betrayed by a sellout, and uninclined to lend their time and money for someone who isn't delivering. Basically, Senator Paul has to retain a lot of supporters accustomed to the uncompromising purity and outspokenness of his father (the subject of a tribute video at the RNC extolling his refusal to compromise), but without being quite so pure, uncompromising or outspoken.

Needing to please his party on the one hand, and his core supporters on the other, Sen. Paul erred on the side of pleasing the party Wednesday with an on message speech. He attacked President Obama for his "You didn't build that" comment, in keeping with the GOP's major theme. He focused on subjects of agreement between libertarians and establishment Republicans.

And he eschewed opportunities to chide fellow Republicans. In the beginning of his speech, for example, he invoked James Madison and the notion of enumerated powers, as if Mitt Romney and many other Republicans are reliable champions of a severely limited federal government. And though Paul used inspirational immigrant stories to extol the American Dream, specifically invoking Vietnamese boat people, he didn't advocate for allowing more immigrants to come here legally.

He did nod to his supporters later in the speech, however subtly.

"Republicans and Democrats alike must slay their sacred cows," he stated. "Republicans must acknowledge that not every dollar spent on the military is necessary or well-spent, and Democrats must admit that domestic welfare and entitlements must be reformed." I'm glad he included that line. But asking Republicans to acknowledge that a little bit of military spending is wasted isn't enough. Sen. Paul himself favors deeper cuts to military spending than his speech suggests.

"Republicans and Democrats must replace fear with confidence, confidence that no terrorist, and no country, will ever conquer us if we remain steadfast to the principles of our Founding documents," Sen. Paul said. Were delegates in the hall aware that the GOP hasn't remained steadfast to those documents, and that Mitt Romney's avowed policies are deeply at odds with them?

If not Senator Paul didn't give them any hint.

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Rand Paul Plays It Safe in His RNC Speech