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Rand Pauls raising money with the marijuana industry in Colorado. Hes holding private meetings with anti-government ranchers in Nevada. Ask him about same-sex marriage, and hell say the feds shouldnt be in the marriage business anyway it should be left for states to sort out.

The Kentucky senator has always held libertarian views. But hes leaning pretty hard into his anti-government cred during a campaign swing out West, championing states rights and excoriating Washington and federal overreach at every turn.

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Until recently, Paul had taken steps to make sure hes not just a carbon copy of his father, former Texas Rep. Ron Paul. He sanded down the edges of what his rivals call an isolationist foreign policy, talking tough on Iraq and Ukraine. He spoke of reviving cities like Detroit and teamed up with New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker to promote sentencing reform for young black men. Instead of playing up fringe causes like his crusade against the U.S. Federal Reserve, he urged the GOP to become a big-tent party of working-class folks; we need to have people with earrings, nose rings, tattoos, ties, without ties, ponytails, no ponytails.

He also signaled that his presidential campaign wouldnt comprise only operatives associated with the libertarian or tea party wing of the GOP through key hires such as Chip Englander, the former campaign manager for now Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner.

Then came Pauls quasi-filibuster of the renewal of the PATRIOT Act, when the Kentucky senator once again seized the libertarian limelight to oppose what he called domestic spying and his primary opponents said was a vital tool in the fight against terrorism. It looked to many like a desperation move for a candidate starving for attention and struggling to raise the kinds of funds hed need to battle the likes of Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio. And it certainly didnt help rebut Republican hawks accusations that a President Paul would be weak on terrorist groups like the Islamic State.

But it might have been a strategic pivot born of the recognition that going mainstream just wasnt working.

The return to Rand Paul 1.0 comes after weeks of trying to break out of a crowded GOP pack. His poll numbers arent terrible the Real Clear Politics average of national polls puts Paul at sixth place among 15 Republican contenders for the nomination, enough to put him on stage at the first GOP debate in August but show a worrisome lack of upward momentum. In both Iowa and New Hampshire, hes stuck in fourth place.

Pauls move back into his comfort zone also underscores a key priority for his presidential campaign: Lay the groundwork for a strong showing in caucus states where strong organization can pay off and where the live-and-let-live mentality thrives. An early state like Nevada is a plum target for any Republican in the field but holds special appeal for Paul, whose father won the second-most delegates in the past two Republican presidential caucuses there.

A win there or even a strong showing would help Paul distinguish himself among a large Republican primary field that is clamoring to dominate in Iowa, New Hampshire or South Carolina. If Paul were moving through, say, South Carolina, with a large contingent of Republican evangelical voters, he might be trying to do something different.

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Rand Paul 2016: Libertarian politics and his campaign ...

About Rand Paul

A devoted husband and father, Dr. Paul and his family live in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where Rand owned his own ophthalmology practice and performed eye surgery for 18 years. As a hard-working and dedicated physician--not a career politician--Rand Paul came to Washington to shake things up and to make a difference.

Dr. Paul has been married for 24 years to Kelley Ashby Paul of Russellville, Kentucky, and together, they have three sons: William, 21; Duncan, 18; and Robert, 15. He regularly volunteered to coach teams for each of his three sons in Little League baseball, soccer, and basketball. Rand and Kelley are both devout Christians and are active in their local church.

Rand is the third of five children born to Carol and Ron Paul. He grew up in Lake Jackson, Texas and attended Baylor University. He graduated from Duke Medical School in 1988. Dr. Paul completed a general surgery internship at Georgia Baptist Medical Center in Atlanta and completed his residency in ophthalmology at Duke University Medical Center. Upon completion of his training in 1993, Rand and Kelley moved to Bowling Green to start their family and begin his ophthalmology practice.

In 1995, Rand founded the Southern Kentucky Lions Eye Clinic, an organization that provides eye exams and surgery to needy families and individuals. Rand is a former president and 17 year member of Lions Clubs International, which is dedicated to preserving sight by providing eyeglasses and surgery to the less fortunate around the world. In recognition of his outstanding and sustained efforts to provide vision care to Kentuckians in need, Lions Clubs International has awarded Rand many of its highest commendations.

A large part of Rand's daily work as an ophthalmologist was dedicated to preserving the vision of our seniors. In 2002, The Twilight Wish Foundation recognized Rand for Outstanding Service and Commitment to Seniors.

During his free time, Dr. Paul performs pro-bono eye surgeries for patients across Kentucky. Additionally, he provides free eye surgery to children from around the world through his participation in the Children of the Americas Program. Most recently, he traveled to Guatemala on a medical mission trip with the University of Utah's Moran Eye Center. During the week over 200 patients, many of them blind with cataracts, had their vision restored by Dr. Paul.

Dr. Paul's entrance into politics is indicative of his lifes work as a surgeon: a desire to diagnose problems and provide practical solutions, whether it be in Bowling Green, Kentucky or Washington, D.C.

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About Rand Paul

Just before 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) aself-styled racial and political history resourceall his own, shared this tidbit.

Trying to read the mind of an elected official or the meaning of any 2016 candidate's social media feed can be a risky business. But we'll make an attempt.

First, let's set the stage. Paul was in Denver to address a crowd gathered at Chopper's Sports Bar. Per coverage of the speech, Paul seemed to share his ideas on the state of the republic and the Republican Party and why Republicans must be less inclined to move toward what he called "the mushy middle." Then came the thoughts in that tweet.

We could certainly quibble with the idea that "minority" status is always defined by one's appearance -- or at Paul put it, the color of one's skin. But that would distractattention from thereally interesting part of the tweet:Paul appears to have joined agrowing legion of conservative minds focused on the idea that "minority" status is a particularly potent and influential one -- and according, a desirable one -- in American society.

Certainly, political scientists and philosophers have made a study for decades of so-called identity politics. That's banning together of ethnic or ideological minorities in a democratic society to advance a core set of policy ideas or political priorities and maximize their potential influence. It's a political practice that, as Paul seemed to hint at his Denver gathering, sometimes requires those inside said group to put aside some of their differences and maximize their impact. And maybe, that's reallywhat Paul was going for.

After all, there are plenty of reasons that an increasingly conservative Republican Party might wantto embrace smaller-group politics. The much-chronicled changing demographics of the electorate are not moving in a direction that will make Republican expansion easy. So a thought exercise or even a rallying cry for the shrinking but still significant portion of the electorate that votes Republican (or mightbe inclined to do so) makes some sense.

[The GOP's major 2016 problem - in 3 maps]

But quite often, the conservative fixation on "minority" politics and power is also tied up with a sense that said minority groups exert undue influence over American politics or issues in public life. The notion that said groups somehow unfairly or unreasonably make use of their group status and identity to hamstring and control "the majority" is fairly widespread. It gains support or a least an audience each time something major (think the Supreme Court's gay marriage decision) or ultimately minor or symbolic (think the push to remove the Confederate flag from public spaces) happens to change the cultural landscape.

That's the set of ideas that kept the Confederate flag in a cultural space where it could be sold on t-shirts and cell-phone covers and largely unmolested on the South Carolina statehouse grounds until this month. That's the sentiment that Donald Trump just tried to foment as the consequences of his statements about immigration, Mexicans and their alleged criminality began to mushroom. That was the idea behind the numerous articles about the allegedly endangered white male, that CNN piece questioning whether white Americans had become an imperiled and oppressed minority and that Deadline Hollywood story arguing that the drive to diversify film and television casting having "gone too far."

Ok, let's face it, that list is long. Very, very long. And much of what those reactions seek to excuse or defend is pretty, in the minds of many Americans (and especially racial minorities), reprehensible.

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Rand Paul says you can be a minority because of your ...

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD - MARCH 07: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord International Hotel and Conference Center March 7, 2014 in National Harbor, Maryland. The CPAC annual meeting brings together conservative politicians, pundits and their supporters for speeches, panels and classes. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD - MARCH 07: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) takes the stage before addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord International Hotel and Conference Center March 7, 2014 in National Harbor, Maryland. The CPAC annual meeting brings together conservative politicians, pundits and their supporters for speeches, panels and classes. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 12: U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) (C), former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (L) and and Matt Kibbe, president of FreedomWorks, departs a press conference in front of U.S. District Court to announce the filing of a class action lawsuit against the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, National Security Agency Director Keith Alexander and FBI Director James Comey. Paul said he filed the lawsuit to stop NSA surveillance of U.S. phone records because Obama has publicly refused to stop a clear and continuing violation of the 4th amendment. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 12: U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) (C) holds up a group of cell phones in front of U.S. District Court to announce the filing of a class action lawsuit against the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, National Security Agency Director Keith Alexander and FBI Director James Comey. Paul said he filed the lawsuit to stop NSA surveillance of U.S. phone records because Obama has publicly refused to stop a clear and continuing violation of the 4th amendment. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 12: U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) arrives in front of U.S. District Court to announce the filing of a class action lawsuit against the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, National Security Agency Director Keith Alexander and FBI Director James Comey. Paul said he filed the lawsuit to stop NSA surveillance of U.S. phone records because Obama has publicly refused to stop a clear and continuing violation of the 4th amendment. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

FILE - In this Nov. 6, 2013 file photo, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. This is a year of auditioning, positioning, networking and just plain hard work for people who are considering running for president in 2016. You could see them stirring in 2013 as they plugged holes in resumes, took preliminary steps to build potential campaign organizations and made carefully calibrated moves to get better known by Americans generally and key constituencies in particular. Most _ but not all _ are ticking off items on what could be called the presidential prep checklist. And theyve got baggage to deal with. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., talks to media outside the White House in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014, after an event hosted by President Barack Obama about the Promise Zones Initiative. The Promise Zone Initiative is part of a plan to create a better bargain for the middle-class by partnering with local communities and businesses to create jobs, increase economic security, expand educational opportunities, increase access to quality, affordable housing and improve public safety. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 07: U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) (2nd L) talks to reporters while walking to the Senate chamber to vote on unemployment insurance at the US Capitol January 7, 2014 in Washington, DC. The U.S. Senate voted 60-37 to move forward with a bill to extend federal unemployment benefits for three months. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 17: U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) (3rd R) talks to reporters after a vote December 17, 2013 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The Senate has passed a cloture vote to clear the way for a final vote of the Ryan-Murray Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul speaks at the Detroit Economic Club held at the Motor City Casino, in Detroit, Dec. 6, 2013. Paul, spoke of economic freedom zones. (AP Photo/The Detroit News, Max Ortiz)

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Rand Paul: Take Down South Carolina's 'Symbol Of Human ...

Hoping that switching the conversation from his unconventional foreign policy to domestic affairs will revive his flagging presidential ambitions, SenatorRand Paul (R-KY) has taken to the Wall Street Journal Op-Ed page to introduce his plan to reform the United States federal tax system.

I am announcing an over $2 trillion tax cut that would repeal the entire IRS tax codemore than 70,000 pagesand replace it with a low, broad-based tax of 14.5% on individuals and businesses. I would eliminate nearly every special-interest loophole. The plan also eliminates the payroll tax on workers and several federal taxes outright, including gift and estate taxes, telephone taxes, and all duties and tariffs. I call this The Fair and Flat Tax.

While calling for a flat tax, Paul writes that he would retain the mortgage and charitable contribution deductionsnote that a pure flat tax tends to go by the wayside when a politician is confronted with the popularity of the mortgage and charitable deductionsand would levy no tax on the first $50,000 of income for a family of four. Low-income working families would additionally be permitted to retain the earned-income tax credit.

As I have noted on many occasions, I do not have an immediate, allergic response to the concept of a flat tax.

It is, after all, an enticing notion to imagine wiping out 70,000 plus pages of incomprehensible tax rules and regulations. This is particularly true when acknowledging that most of these pages are filled with tax breaks that benefit the wealthy special interests and others who can mold the tax code to their advantage through generous contributions to elected officials in Congress.

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. speaks during the Road to Majority 2015 convention at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, Thursday, June 18, 2015. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

And who, with the exception of H&R Block, would not prefer simply dropping a postcard in the mail on April 15thavoiding much of the stress, strain and agony that tax day represents to so many Americans?

Still, there are lingering concerns that this approach will benefit the wealthy by making less of their incomesactive and passiveand estates fair game for the taxman while shifting the tax burden onto the shoulders of the middle class.

The reality is that our current progressive tax system in its purest formone unfettered by reams of special interest breaks and exemptionsis, in part, a system of wealth distribution. And while, for many, the words wealth distribution constitute the most offensive phrase in the English language, the concept may be far more important to our economy than those who harbor such feelings maycare to recognize.

By taxing the wealthy at a higher rate, thereby leaving extra money in the pockets of those who earn less, we fund government while creating the opportunity for the middle-class to spend more money in our consumer-driven economy without denying the wealthy the opportunity to do the same.

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Rand Paul Struggles To Keep Candidacy Alive By Introducing ...