Rand Paul's campus challenge

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Charleston, South Carolina (CNN) -- Campus politics aren't always a clear winner for Rand Paul, as he discovered here this week during an appearance at the College of Charleston.

The Kentucky Republican and potential 2016 contender opened with a familiar riff about government surveillance that won predictable applause -- especially from the many students who represented Young Americans for Liberty, the libertarian outfit created from the ashes of his father Ron Paul's presidential campaigns.

Then a young woman in the audience asked if Paul, who sponsored an anti-abortion bill in 2013 that defines life as beginning at fertilization, is opposed to Plan B, the emergency contraception commonly known as the morning-after pill.

A number of social conservatives -- plenty of them in Iowa -- have condemned the morning-after pill as an on-demand abortion drug, sometimes confusing the contraceptive with RU-486, which can be used to induce abortion.

Noticeably uncomfortable with the question, Paul first gave a terse answer: "I am not opposed to birth control," he said. After a pause, he elaborated. "That's basically what Plan B is. Plan B is taking two birth control pills in the morning and two in the evening, and I am not opposed to that."

Rand Paul: 'I am not opposed to birth control'

Next question.

The exchange was notable because it happened on a college campus -- a place where Paul has made inroads in building support for his libertarian agenda. And it underscored the challenge that lies ahead for him: burnishing the libertarian credentials that make him so appealing to young voters while making sure he doesn't stray so far from the Republican line that he won't be able to win the party's presidential nomination.

Another student here pressed him on "the drug war," asking if Paul would support legalizing marijuana, cocaine and heroin. He said he wasn't supportive of drug use, explaining that pot "is not that great," but said drug laws should be left up to states. Colorado and Washington are experimenting with legalized marijuana, he said, and we should be watching carefully.

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Rand Paul's campus challenge