Rand Paul's Travel Schedule Looks Presidential

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is maintaining a travel schedule consistent with a presidential run, according to The New York Times’ Jonathan Martin.

Appearing on CNN’s Sunday news show "Inside Politics," Martin said in the next couple of months, Paul, the Bluegrass State’s junior Republican senator, may be hitting as many as four state conventions, including in Iowa.

"State conventions are so crucial because that’s an opportunity where he can fuse new, establishment party regulars with his dad’s supporters, who go to those events," Martin said.

Paul, 51, is the son of former Texas representative and three-time presidential candidate Ron Paul. Both are medical doctors. Rand Paul is a tea party Republican, while Ron Paul has identified as both a Republican and a Libertarian.

In 2010, Joshua Green of The Atlantic characterized Ron Paul as the "intellectual godfather" of the tea party, moving the party from the fringe to the center of the political debate.

Last year, Doug Stafford, then Rand Paul’s chief of staff, told CNN that Paul would be traveling the country to "weigh in on the future direction of the GOP."

"Rand is moving forward as a national leader and wants to speak out on issues of importance as well as the direction of the party for the future," Doug Stafford said. "These appearances as well as his day to day work in the Senate give him the ability to do just that."

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