GOP presidential hopeful Paul finds support in Reno

Potential Republican presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., speaks to supporters and curious onlookers during a rally at the Atlantis Casino Resort in Reno on Jan. 17, 2015.(Photo: Jason Bean/RGJ)

Republican presidential hopeful Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., made his first campaign visit to Reno Saturday only to find out that his father has already done a lot of groundwork to boost his popularity.

Former Texas U.S. Rep. Ron Paul captured 22 of Nevada's 25 delegates to the National Republican Convention in 2012 -- even though Mitt Romney easily won that year's Nevada GOP presidential caucus. And Ron Paul's good name now gives his son a ready-made set of supporters in Reno.

A meeting at the Atlantis with local GOP activists and some elected officials was standing-room-only, thanks to his father.

"I support Rand because of his father, Ron, who was the most honest person in government," said Jim Uprichard, who attended the meeting. "I feel that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. So Rand has to be following in his father's footsteps."

Rand Paul, in a private interview, acknowledged that his father has laid groundwork for him in Nevada. However, Rand Paul said he must be his own man if he expects to win the Nevada GOP caucus or the GOP presidential nomination in 2016.

"If I end up doing this (running for president), I really have to be my own person and present my ideas and issues," Rand Paul said. "That doesn't mean my father and I are not from the same tradition in the sense that we believe in limited government that is strictly bound by the Constitution, a belief in a reasonable and rational foreign policy that sees some of the unintended consequences of some of the entanglements overseas. I believe, like dad, about the all-consuming problem about (the federal government) spending money we don't have."

At the podium in front of the crowd, Paul did not mention Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., but blasted potential Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton for the former U.S. secretary of state's role in attacks that claimed four lives of U.S. personnel in 2012 at Benghazi, Libya.

Clinton did a poor job in preparing the embassy for such an attack, Paul said, noting that a U.S. ambassador was assassinated.

"Hillary Clinton got cable after cable to protect the consulate in Benghazi. And what did she do? Nothing," Paul said.

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GOP presidential hopeful Paul finds support in Reno