Sen. Rand Paul wants the big microphone of a 2016 presidential run

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, a favorite of the Republican Party’s libertarian and tea party wings, says he is considering a run for president in 2016, in part because doing so gives him a bigger platform to discuss national issues.

The first-term senator was asked at a Monitor-hosted breakfast for reporters about his thoughts about running for president. 

“You know, I want to be part of the national debate,” he said. “So whether I run or not, being considered is something that allows me to have I think a larger microphone.”

Later he added, “We are considering it.”

The senator’s father, Rep. Rand Paul (R) of Texas, ran for president in 1988, 2008, and 2012. Senator Paul said he “will continue to travel to the early-primary states.”

“I will be in Iowa, I will be in New Hampshire this spring. I think I will also be in South Carolina in the summer time,” he said.

Paul delivered the tea party response to President Obama’s 2013 State of the Union message, and earlier this year he won a symbolic presidential preference poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). 

Paul also made news last month when he staged a one-man Senate filibuster for nearly 13 hours in opposition to the Obama administration’s potential use of unmanned drone aircraft to kill suspected terrorists, possibly including US citizens on US soil.

As for the timing of a presidential bid, Paul said, “We won’t make any decision before 2014.”