Rand Paul First to Visit All 3 Early Primary States

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul’s itinerary has him visiting all three of the early primary states before any other GOP presidential contenders, the National Journal reports.

Paul visited South Carolina in January and is set to return in the summer.
But before that: New Hampshire and Iowa in May.

The son of 2012 GOP hopeful Ron Paul of Texas is taking a more traditional route than his father, though perhaps less traditional than most Republican candidates.

In a break with his father, a former Libertarian Party candidate, Rand Paul has been more open to meeting with GOP leadership. And as opposed to more conservative Republicans, he has spoken to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce about his support for legalizing current illegal immigrants. He will speak at the historically black Howard College on April 10.

Some of his father’s supporters don’t like his cozying up to party leadership, but GOP strategist Jesse Benton, who was on Rand Paul’s team when he won his Senate race in 2010 tells National Journal it is vital.

“Early investments in time and attention to the activists and grassroots leaders and other folks crucial to winning early primaries are going to pay big dividends,” Benton said.