[caption id=”attachment_122383″ align=”aligncenter” width=”2494″]Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
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NATIONAL JOURNAL — When Sen. Rand Paul makes his first visit to Iowa as an official presidential candidate next month, he will head to the campus of the University of Iowa. The location—one of the state’s biggest liberal strongholds—seems unusual for a Republican, but Paul is headed there in the hopes of appealing to a different constituency.
As Paul prepares to formally enter the 2016 arena, younger conservatives are emerging as a backbone of his campaign strategy: a source not only of volunteers and energy but votes. A youth-fueled campaign, his team hopes, will also help brand him as a fresh face for the future of the Republican Party.
From campaigning at universities (by the end of his coming trip, Paul will have hit both of the Iowa’s biggest college towns already in 2015) to using Snapchat and doing interviews with MTV, Paul is focusing more on the next generation of Republicans than any of his GOP rivals.”If you don’t go to a platform where they are, you won’t find them,” Paul, who turned 52 in January, explained during his recent appearance at the South by Southwest festival.
So Paul is trolling his opponents on Twitter, buying up search ads for their names on Google and mocking them on Facebook. He hired away wunderkind digital strategist Vincent Harris from Ted Cruz and has opened an office in Austin to tap into the tech culture there and planning another in Silicon Valley. “It’s the cool factor,” said Frayda Levin, an influential donor who is helping raise money for Paul. “You don’t get that in senior-citizen homes.”
Read more at National Journal.
