Paul: Brat would 'have an outsized role' in Congress

Sen. Rand Paul says he believes that if elected, Dave Brat is positioned to have an outsized role in Congress, because of his historic victory against Eric Cantor in the Republican primary in June.

It was a virtually unprecedented election for a challenger; it sounds like there was something dramatic that he was presenting and saying, and I think that position seems to have a great deal of influence almost immediately in Washington, Paul said in an interview in Ashland on Wednesday.

Flanked by Brat, Paul, in jeans and cowboy boots, sat in a backroom at the Hanover Arts and Activities Center. His feet on the table, Paul leaned back in his chair.

The Republican junior senator from Kentucky, a potential aspirant for the 2016 presidential election and the son of a former presidential candidate, then-Rep. Ron Paul, has served in the Senate since 2011. He is considered a tea party favorite and has what he calls libertarian-ish views.

In his 10-minute speech Wednesday at a rally for Brat and Ed Gillespie, the Republican nominee to take on Sen. Mark R. Warner, D-Va., he had lashed out against President Barack Obama and hailed Brat but spoke little about Gillespie, the former chairman of the Republican National Committee and a former Washington lobbyist.

While Gillespie may not have been the tea partys first choice to run against Warner, Paul hinted that he was looking at the bigger picture when pondering his endorsement.

There are differences within the Republican Party, but they pale in comparison between the Republican Party and the Democrat Party, he said.

I think in the biggest issues of the day, will Ed Gillespie vote for a lowering of taxes and a lessening of regulations just in general? Im guessing yes. Will Mark Warner vote to lower any taxes or lessening any regulations? No, and even if he tells you he will, his party wont.

Paul said he and Gillespie found common ground on that Republicans must be more inclusive if they want to win elections.

One of the things Ed and I talked about, we have a plan that specifically targets people in poverty and those who are unemployed. Its called Economic Freedom Zones, and my plan for Richmond would leave $600 million in that area, over 10 years that otherwise would be sent to the federal government, Paul said.

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Paul: Brat would 'have an outsized role' in Congress