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Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) criticized former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for complaining that she was “dead broke” after they left the White House. “I mean, there is a lot of Americans struggling, if she wants to come to Eastern Kentucky to my state and talk to miners who are out of work and see the despair in their faces and talk about her personal plight as being the poor spouse of a president, she is welcome to take that message around the country,” Paul explained. Paul pointed to Hillary Clinton’s $8 million book deal that she signed before the...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) says in a new interview that Republicans should embrace a more tolerant view of those who don't hold conservative positions on social issues."I think that the Republican Party, in order to get bigger, will have to agree to disagree on social issues," Paul told vocativ.com. "The Republican Party is not going to give up on having quite a few people who do believe in traditional marriage. But the Republican Party also has to find a place for young people and others who don’t want to be festooned by those issues."Paul's comments harken back somewhat to former...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who spoke Saturday at the Maine Republican Convention, was the big winner in the party’s straw poll. Paul took 26 percent of the vote, to 14 percent for the second-place finisher, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). With 690 ballots cast at the convention in Bangor, the order of finish was: Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.): 176 Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas): 98 Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker: 70 Dr. Ben Carson: 62 New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie: 60 Jeb Bush: 57 Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.): 37 Mike Huckabee: 28 Condoleezza Rice: 26

Sen. Rand Paul has become the first Republican to assemble a network in all 50 states as a precursor to a 2016 presidential run, the latest sign that he is looking to build a more mainstream coalition than the largely ad hoc one that backed his father’s unsuccessful campaigns. Paul’s move, which comes nearly two years before the 2016 primaries, also signals an effort to win the confidence of skeptical members of the Republican establishment, many of whom doubt that his appeal will translate beyond the libertarian base that was attracted to Ron Paul, the former Texas congressman. Rand Paul’s...

The conservative 2016 contender wants to lure young and black voters to the GOP, so he's taking his message to them. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ BERKELEY, Calif. – Rand Paul's swing through Berkeley is just the beginning of his foray into traditionally Democratic territory. After his visit to this liberal stronghold, where he's speaking to students about the NSA and privacy, the Kentucky senator will make stops at the National Urban League in July and at the NAACP in the coming months, if an informal invitation from the group is made official. He's also plotting a trip to Chicago and Milwaukee, Paul said...

On Wednesday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) addressed the University of California, Berkley at an event hosted by the university's Berkeley Forum...

Two things happened over the weekend in the race for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. 1. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul led the field in a national poll conducted by CNN/ORC International. 2. Paul won the straw poll at the Northeast Republican Leadership Conference. 3. Those two events come just a week after Paul cruised to another 2016 straw poll victory at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Add those things up and it's quite clear that Paul is the candidate of the moment on the Republican side. There's no one -- not even Ted Cruz or Jeb Bush -- who has...

Washington (CNN) - Rand Paul has done something his father never did - top the list of potential Republican presidential candidates in a national poll. According to a new CNN/ORC International survey, 16% of Republicans and independents who lean toward the GOP say they would be likely to support the senator from Kentucky for the 2016 nomination. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee, garnered 15%, with longtime Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who's considering another bid for the White House, at 11%. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a 2008 GOP presidential candidate, is the only other...

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul is warning Republicans that if they expect to be relevant in the future and grow the party they will have to soften on social issues. In an interview with vocativ.com, Paul said he had "sort of a Jeffersonian belief in unity, peace and commerce with all" and that the best way to build the GOP for the future is to include people with whom they don't agree on every issue. "I think that the Republican Party, in order to get bigger, will have to agree to disagree on social issues," Paul advised. "The Republican Party is...

March 9, 2013 DRUDGE READERS SURPRISE GOP ELITE FOR PREZ Become latest to defy D.C. establishment in sizzling new poll Drew Zahn When it comes to picking a presidential candidate for 2016, the GOP elite is having a hard time getting the grassroots to toe the establishment line.Top Republican strategist Karl Rove, for example, has repeatedly praised Chris Christie, the Republican governor of New Jersey, as “a strong potential candidate in 2016,” whom Democrats fear will win the nomination.And when other names gained popular attention, particularly attention among the so-called tea-party crowd, the man known as the “architect” was quick...

Sen. Rand Paul demolished his competition in the 2014 Washington Times/CPAC presidential preference straw poll on Saturday, winning 31 percent of the vote -- nearly three times the total of second-place Sen. Ted Cruz. Mr. Cruz's 11 percent was still a big improvement for the freshman senator, who won just 4 percent in last year's straw poll. Neurosurgeon Ben Carson was third with 9 percent and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was fourth with 8 percent in results that signal growing discontent with the GOP establishment in Washington. Indeed, CPAC voters now have an unfavorable view of Republicans in Congress,...

Sen. Rand Paul acknowledged Friday he is strongly considering a run for the White House, predicting that libertarian philosophies would revitalize the Republican Party and boost his potential bid. “What the party needs is somebody who will invigorate the party and bring new people,” the Kentucky Republican said in an interview for Lone Star Politics, airing Sunday on KXAS-TV (NBC5). “African-Americans and Hispanics, Asian-Americans are going to look to the Republican Party, if we express ideas of freedom and liberty.” Paul noted that he has a trip scheduled in April to New Hampshire, site of the first presidential primary, and...

The first eight-plus months of 2013 have convinced us of one thing: Rand Paul acts and the rest of the potential 2016 Republican presidential field reacts. On drones, Paul led a 13-hour-long filibuster that drew Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (among others) to the floor in support. On Syria, Paul was out front in his opposition to a military strike — a position that 30 of his Senate Republican colleagues shared as of this writing. Those 30 include both Rubio,who voted against the use-of-force resolution in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. ... Below are our rankings...

The bids of Larry Summers and Janet Yellen to replace Ben Bernanke just took a hit. Ron Paul, the famously libertarian politician and former presidential candidate, has his own choice for the next chair of the Federal Reserve, and it isn't Summers or Yellen. Paul's pick for the next Fed head: No one. Here's what Paul had to say via a spokesperson: "Dr. Paul would prefer we get rid of central economic planning via a central bank. All mentioned candidates believe that one person or a committee has the knowledge to dictate the correct interest rate and rate of growth...

When asked about the rift between Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ) on FOX News this morning, Sarah Palin said she is on "Team Rand." Palin said, "he gets the whole notion of 'Don’t Tread on Me' government, whereas Chris Christie is for big government."

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview on Thursday that he is contemplating a run for president in 2016 and that he will likely make an announcement on a decision shortly after the 2014 midterm congressional elections.“We’ve been thinking about it,” Paul said in a phone interview. “And we will continue to think about it probably until after the 2014 elections. I haven’t made a decision, it’s a big decision you know with regard to family and the extensive travel that’s involved with it. And then also just seeing where the country is going in the...

DETROIT — New numbers from Public Policy Polling show Rand Paul has a slight edge over a crowded field of Republican contenders in very early numbers for the 2016 primary. The poll showed 18 percent of primary voters in Michigan say he would be their first choice for 2016, followed by Jeb Bush at 16 percent, Chris Christie at 15 percent, Paul Ryan at 12 percent, Marco Rubio at 11 percent, Ted Cruz at 7 percent, Rick Santorum at 6 percent, Bobby Jindal at 4 percent, and Susana Martinez with less than 1 percent. On the Democratic side, recent polls...

As far as the pollsters are concerned, the 2016 race is underway. And Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is certainly acting like he's in the race. The latest poll out of Iowa has former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton beating Florida Sen. Marco Rubio handily (48 vs. 37 percent), but could face a tougher race against Senator Paul (46 vs. 42 percent), according to a new poll by Quinnipiac University. The poll says that Iowa voters would give the race to either Senator Rubio or Senator Paul, if the Democratic Party candidate was Vice President Joe Biden. "In general Sen. Paul...

In a gutsy move, Rand Paul challenged young blacks to give the conservative party, once a civil rights leader, another chance What was Rand Paul, a white Republican senator from Kentucky, doing at Howard University, a mostly black campus in Washington DC? Asking black Americans to give conservatism a second look. Paul acknowledged that some people thought he was crazy to speak to a largely democratic group, who were probably part of the 93% of blacks who re-elected President Barack Obama in 2012. He joked: "My response is that my trip will be a success if the Hilltop [the campus...

When you’ve got loons the likes of Ted Cruz and Sarah Palin fluttering about, I suppose it’s easy not to seem like such a wacko bird yourself. Is that why Rand Paul is flying high right now? Or is it because he followed his 13-hour_filibuster — that knee-defeating, bladder-defying moment in the Senate sun — by showing a few of his less florid feathers? Either way, he has managed, with remarkable speed, to migrate to the foreground of Republican politics. You could almost lose sight of what an albatross he really is. Today he’s singing the moderate song of immigration...