Rand Paul's Wife Hesitant About White House Bid

Ascending GOP star Sen. Rand Paul is readying a bid for the 2016 presidential race, but his wife Kelley — the "secret asset" in the Kentucky lawmaker's increasingly high-profile political life — isn't sold on the prospect, Vogue reported Wednesday.

Kelley Paul says she's worried about the relentless scrutiny a Rand Paul presidential campaign would bring.

"Because in this day and age it's mostly about character assassination," she says. "When I think of the tens of millions of dollars in opposition research that they’d be aiming right at us and our family — that’s what it’s about."

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But as Paul weighs a run at the White House, his wife is already a key participant — an "impassioned defender" of his ideas, collaborator on his speeches, and someone who balances the famously dour lawmaker, the magazine noted.

"He’s very optimistic and thinks anything can happen and isn’t really afraid to take risks," she says. "And that’s great and exciting when you are in your 20s. But you realize how valuable that is with all of life's ups and downs."

"Things happen. Your kids get older, your parents get older; the older you get, the more challenges you are confronted with. And for me the thing that I have most loved and been grateful for in him as a husband is that he is always optimistic and doesn’t fall apart in a crisis."

Now working on an oral history of stories from her Irish-immigrant grandmother and other women, Kelley Paul told the magazine she was aware her appearance with her husband on a trip to Iowa this summer added "another element" to his wooing of the Christian right.

Other moves may also be helping her husband's prospective run, the magazine said.

Kelley Paul recently left the political consulting firm The Strategy Group for Media, where she worked on behalf of Paul's fellow conservative, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas — another possible GOP presidential contender — and she maintains a board position at Helping a Hero, a charity that builds houses for wounded war veterans, countering any suggestion that Paul, known for his anti-military conflict position, lacks an interest in U.S. soldiers, the magazine said.

The Pauls met during his 1989 surgery internship at the Georgia Baptist Medical Center in Atlanta.

"I kind of blew him off a little bit because I thought he was about 18," she says.
But she now manages to draw out his "warmer, more mischievous side," the magazine said.

Showing off family photos, Kelley Paul quips she "got so much grief" about a Christmas card she sent out of her husband’s swearing-in with Vice President Joe Biden.

"It was just pure laziness on my part," she said. "I have three boys who hate to pose for pictures." The Pauls are trying to pass along the libertarian ideals of grandfather Ron Paul to their boys: Robert, 14; Duncan, 17; and William, 20.

The elder Paul is well prepared for what lies ahead for his son, the magazine said.
"Ron thinks it’s terribly early to be starting a campaign," Rand’s mother Carol told the magazine.

But the prospect of a Rand Paul presidential campaign "feels real," she said.

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"Rand says he won’t declare that he’s going to run until after 2014 ... Groundwork has to be set."