News / Politics

Rand Paul to launch presidential candidacy, seeks to revitalize GOP brand

Monday, 06 April 2015 4:57 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 06 April 2015 5:11 PM ]

Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky

Senator Rand Paul will formally launch his candidacy for president of the United States on Tuesday, seeking to revolutionize the Republican Party.

The Kentucky Republican is hoping that a libertarian campaign will appeal to a new generation of Republican voters, especially young Americans and minorities.

“I’ve spent the last couple of years trying to go to places Republicans haven’t gone,” Paul said on Fox News last month. “Not just throwing out red meat, but actually throwing out something intellectually enticing to people who haven’t been listening to our message before.”

Paul’s candidacy is expected to face some skepticism from more conservative Republicans but strategists see him as a candidate best-equipped to defeat likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

“Everyone from the grassroots to the establishment is frustrated over losing the popular vote in five of the last six presidential elections, so he’s hitting on the things that could turn that around. The question is whether he can tie it all together,” GOP strategist Ford O’Connell told the Hill.

Paul, who has pitched himself as “a different kind of Republican leader,” is seeking to lure independents and has even attempted to court some of Democratic voters.

The former ophthalmologist’s most aggressive outreach in recent months has been to African-Americans, who traditionally vote for Democrats.

Sen. Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, who is expected to announce his own presidential bid next week, has called Paul “the chief cheerleader” of President Barack Obama’s foreign policy.

HRJ/HRJ

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