Tagged: 2016 Elections

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul says he'll wait until next year to decide whether to run for President, but he says he believes voters are ready for a Libertarian Republican candidate. And, even though he's up for re-election to his Senate seat in 2016, the same year as the Presidential election, he says there's "probably a way that could be done, but we haven't finalized any plans."

Speaking on "Fox News Sunday", Paul said, "I would absolutely not run unless it were to win."

Kentucky's junior U.S. Senator says the Republican Party must broaden its appeal to voters by toning down some of its rhetoric on social issues. Rand Paul also thinks the GOP too often presents itself as a party "eager to go to war."

Paul, a first-term Senator from Bowling Green and rumored 2016 Presidential candidate, spoke to more than 500 Cincinnati-area Republicans over the weekend.

Paul said if Republicans hope to rebound from recent electoral disappointments, the GOP must find new ways to reach out to voters who disagree with the party on hot-topic issues such as abortion and gay marriage.

“We’re going to have to be a little hands off on some of these issues ... and get people into the party,” Paul told the audience.

This isn't the first time Paul has spoken out on the need for the GOP to refashion its approach. He was recently quoted as saying Republicans must "evolve and adapt", or else face continued losses on election day.

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, the tea party Republican who has acknowledged he's interested in a presidential bid in 2016, insisted Friday that he would seek re-election to the Senate that year.

The quandary for Paul is that he has to choose one or the other because, under Kentucky law, he's legally precluded from running for both.

Paul told reporters after a speech to Lexington business leaders on Friday that he has formed a re-election committee and that he intends to be on the ballot for Senate, though he still didn't rule out running for president.