Sen. Rand Paul will introduce himself as a presidential candidate next week with a message of inclusivity and “expanding the Republican Party,” a spokesman told the Washington Examiner.
“His message will highlight the importance of making the GOP a bigger, better and bolder party,” said Paul’s spokesman, Sergio Gor.
The Kentuckian is slated to announce his candidacy for president Tuesday in Louisville at the Galt House Hotel, followed by a string of rallies across four states.
Each of those events will have a different focus, reflecting key themes of Paul’s campaign. At the University of Iowa on April 10, for example, Paul will focus his message on bringing young voters into the Republican fold; Wednesday in New Hampshire, a state with the motto “Live Free or Die,” he will speak to downsizing the federal government and limiting its reach.
In addition to stops in Iowa and New Hampshire, Paul will travel to South Carolina on Thursday and Nevada on April 11.
Paul’s rollout approach will depart notably from that taken by Sen. Ted Cruz, who announced his candidacy for president last week at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. There, Texas Republican spoke to an audience of students who were required to attend the event, whereas the onus is on Paul to turn out supporters to his announcement speech and the rallies that follow.
Cruz also suggested in his announcement that his campaign would rely less on adding new Republican voters than on energizing the party’s pre-existing base, especially evangelicals. Paul, by contrast, has spent the lead-up to his presidential campaign reaching out to groups who might be skeptical of Republicans, including African-Americans and millennials.
“I didn’t find much I disagreed with,” Paul reacted to Cruz’s announcement during an interview on Fox News. “I guess what makes us different is probably our approach as to how we would make the party bigger.”
