Rand Paul launches 2016 White House bid, plans ambitious 50-state campaign

Sen. Rand Paul, the eye doctor turned politician, officially kicks off his long-awaited campaign for the Republican presidential nomination Tuesday in his home state of Kentucky, intent on waging a 50-state campaign that marries the small-government libertarianism championed by his father and the millennial generation with the traditional forces of the Republican Party.

The scope of the challenge and the ambition of the candidate displayed themselves in full Monday when the first-term Kentucky senator released his campaign slogan Defeat the Washington machine. Unleash the American dream designed to position him as an anti-Washington crusader able to attract new voters to the traditional Republican coalition.

Campaign advisers also told The Washington Times that Mr. Paul planned to compete in every primary election and caucus in all 50 states, all five territories and the District of Columbia, a feat that only two GOP candidates achieved in 2012.

SEE ALSO: Kentucky GOP may change from primary to caucus to help Rand Paul in 2016

Its time for a new way. A new set of ideas. A new leader, one you can trust. One who works for you and, above all, its time for a new president, Mr. Paul said in a video released by his campaign as a prelude to Tuesdays announcement.

The Kentucky senators all-chips-in message was enhanced by his winning preliminary commitment from his home state GOP to convert Kentuckys planned presidential preference primary next May into a presidential caucus earlier in the calendar.

The move will allow Mr. Paul to circumvent Kentuckys election law requirement that a candidates name may appear on the ballot for only one office. He plans to seek nomination for a second Senate term in case his presidential aspirations go south on him.

SEE ALSO: Rand Paul unveils presidential preview: Its time for a new leader, a new set of ideas

The state party, not the state government, runs the caucus.

And the challenge for a politician bred in the shadows of his famous father, former Texas congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul, also came into clearer focus. The elder Mr. Paul gained enormous popularity among millennials but struggled to gain mainstream support from traditional Republicans, who worried about some of his views on eliminating some government agencies and his reluctance to intervene militarily abroad.

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Rand Paul launches 2016 White House bid, plans ambitious 50-state campaign