Conservative US Senator Rand Paul announced Tuesday that he is running for his party's nomination for the 2016 presidential race, making him the second major Republican to join the contest.
Paul, a conservative libertarian who was elected to the Senate in 2010 with strong support from the Tea Party movement, wasted no time in lashing out at the traditional political establishment, including his own party.
"The Washington machine that gobbles up our freedoms and invades every nook and cranny of our lives must be stopped," Paul told cheering supporters at a rally in Louisville, Kentucky, where he serves as senator. "Big government and debt doubled under a Republican administration and is now tripling under Barack Obama's watch," he added, noting that Republicans had too often "squandered" their time in Washington.
Paul's announcement comes after Senator Ted Cruz of Texas launched his candidacy two weeks ago with an appeal to the religious right, among others.
Jeb Bush, brother of former president George W. Bush, leads in opinion polls for the primary elections, although he has yet to officially announce his candidacy.
On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton has a team and campaign machine in place, suggesting she will announce in the coming weeks.
It was by defying the Republican "establishment" that Paul, now 52, launched his political career in 2009. This was at the start of the anti-tax and small-government movement known as the Tea Party that would come to exercise a powerful influence within the Republican Party.
Billing himself as a different kind of Republican leader, Paul will look both to rally ultra-conservatives during the primaries and then broaden the base of his party among young people, independents and minorities.
Paul's message of reduced government appeals to supporters who fear an over-intrusion into Americans' private lives by agencies such as the National Security Agency.
"I like hearing that he wanted to end NSA dragnet surveillance on his first day as president," said 27-year-old Will Greg, a Nashville business owner.
Paul's father, Ron Paul, was a libertarian candidate for the presidency - conservative on economic issues but liberal on social issues.
The son prefers the term "libertarian conservative" to describe himself, or a "constitutional conservative," taking care to break with libertarian positions considered too strict or even marginal.
He has pushed against the NSA surveillance programs and has promoted criminal justice reform to end mandatory jail term minimums, endearing himself with libertarians. On foreign policy, he has long been in favor of US disengagement, going as far as proposing an end to all US foreign aid.
But Paul has nuanced his positions on some issues. He recently proposed an increase in the Pentagon budget. And on gay marriage and abortion, he has moved toward the traditional Republican position against both.
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