The House’s new Ron Paul

When it comes to the House of Representatives, Justin Amash is the new Ron Paul.

The Michigan congressman, only 32, sees himself as a leader of the second generation of Paulites in the lower chamber. Sen. Rand Paul moved quickly to present himself as his dads heir to libertarian faithful in recent months, but many in the movement see Amash as even purer than the younger Paul, and hes gotten rave reviews for explaining all his votes on Facebook.

Now, with the opening of a Senate seat in Michigan, Amash must decide whether to pursue his dream of one day winning a spot in House leadership or to take a chance at winning statewide and risk losing it all.

Part of his calculus is that the Senate already has Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah. While he sees the complexion of the Republican conference becoming more libertarian in the years to come, he knows there are still not that many high-profile, libertarian-friendly representatives.

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President Barack Obama carried his state by 9 points, even as Amash won a second term in his Grand Rapids district once held by Gerald Ford by 9 points.

If I feel like I can make a bigger impact in the Senate, then thats something I would certainly take a look at, Amash said in an extended interview in his House office last week. But its gone Democratic in a lot of federal elections, so you have to consider it very carefully.

With the elder Pauls retirement at the end of the year, Amash has taken on a more visible role in the House.

Republican leadership booted him off the Budget Committee in December. The purge elevated his stature on the right as a martyr who was willing to stand up to the establishment, even though members of the steering committee said he was not removed because of votes he took but for publicly taking whacks at other Republicans who voted with the team.

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The House's new Ron Paul