Rand Paul 'most intriguing man' in the GOP. Really? (+video)

Among the crowd of Republicans angling for the 2016 presidential nomination, Sen. Rand Paul stands out. Like his father Ron Paul, he may not succeed. But for now he's getting the most attention.

Is Rand Paul really the most intriguing man in todays Republican Party?

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Thats the assertion Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus made the other day, going beyond that to declare the US Senator from Kentucky for Democrats, perhaps the most frightening potential presidential candidate in 2016.

That election is light years away in political time, of course. Sen. Paul could trip over something, like the evidence of sloppy plagiarism in his past speeches and writings he was forced to acknowledge last year.

But really, compared with the other Republicans mentioned these days Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Paul Ryan, Chris Christie, Jeb Bush, etc. (plus such 2012 also-rans as Rick Perry and Rick Santorum, both sniffing the presidential winds again) hes positively sparkly.

Pauls attraction is two-fold.

Hes with most Americans aghast at government domestic spying and resistant of anything that suggests even the possibility of costly adventures abroad. The war on terror waged from 9/11 through the 2000s brought both of those trends, and Pauls thinking is very much in line with that and would be, one senses, even if it didn't comprise popular thought as shown in the polls.

Also, his persona and demeanor doesn't say conservative Republican the jeans, mussy hair, and what Marcus observed was a laconic delivery and soft bluegrass accent that lent a certain stoner quality to his speech which is why (along with his message) he did well at the University of California at Berkeley the other day.

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Rand Paul 'most intriguing man' in the GOP. Really? (+video)