Paul makes 'audit the Fed' fundraising push

Rand Paul doesnt plan to campaign with his father and hes spent years reassuring other Republicans that hes cut from a different mold than libertarian icon Ron Paul. But over the weekend, the likely presidential contender reminded voters of one area in which the two Pauls are in agreement: auditing the Federal Reserve.

The senator launched a fundraising campaign on Twitter dubbed an Audit the Fed moneybomb. For four days, his Twitter account offered missives such as, Federal Reserve officials are attacking me. Personally! Help fight back; and President Obama wants nothing more than to stop #AuditTheFed.

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The latest number listed on the web page affiliated with the effort, which ran through Monday night, showed about $80,000. The initial goal was $150,000. Paul officials didnt immediately respond to a request to clarify that $80,000 was the final four-day haul. The initiative was run through Pauls political arm, RANDPAC.

His Twitter spree built off of a Friday event in Iowa, where Paul slammed the Fed before a libertarian-leaning crowd, blaming the institution for rising income inequality and expressing support for ultimately dismantling it. The issue resonates with the liberty wing of the grass roots. But in seizing on a position so closely tied to the elder Paul, a controversial former congressman, the senator also highlights his ties to a corner of the base that makes establishment Republicans queasy.

Rand Paul has also pushed an Audit the Fed bill in Congress that has support from Republicans who dont fall toward the libertarian wing of the spectrum, including potential 2016 rivals Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.

Fed officials have blasted Pauls push.

Who in their right mind would ask the Congress of the United States who cant cobble together a fiscal policy to assume control of monetary policy? Richard Fisher, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, told The Hill last week.

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Paul makes 'audit the Fed' fundraising push