Sen. Rand Paul (R) of Kentucky has said he will open an office    in the San Francisco Bay Area. On the surface, it might seem a    tad odd, at least from a more traditional political    perspective. California, after all, goes Democrat in    presidential elections. What kind of chance does a Republican    really have there in two years? The answer, according to numerous analyses of    SenatorPaul's political tactics, lies in his plan to    expand the GOP base, sway independent voters, and, of course,    endear himself to the "libertarian streak" in Silicon    Valley.  
    Paul, in his latest indication of a potential 2016 presidential    bid, told The San Francisco Chronicle Saturday    that he was "in the process" of opening the northern California    office, adding that he'll be coming to the region "fairly    often."  
    "There's a lot of smart people in Silicon Valley, and we want    to use their brains to figure out how to win," he said in an    interview with the paper, playing coy about what precisely he's    trying to win.  
    Those remarks came shortly after a speech to California state    Republicans in which he emphasized the importance of    Republicans winning in California."If we want to win the    presidency, we have to figure out how to compete in    California," he said, according to the Chronicle.He    also criticized President Obama for acting unilaterally on    decisions ranging from immigration policy to authorizing    airstrikes against the Islamic State.  
    Paul's northern California move is in keeping with the    trajectory he has taken in recent months to convince Silicon    Valley tech wizards that the federal government is stifling    innovation coming out of thevalley. In a July speech at    the Lincoln Labs Reboot conference in San Francisco, where    techies and Republican Party members came together to share    ideas, he emphasized that Mr. Obama wants to obstruct, not    encourage, the kind of work emerging from Silicon Valley.  
    "[Obama] is not for innovation. He's not for freedom. He's for    the protectionism crowd. You know he's for the crowd that would    limit the activities of these companies,"he told people    at the conference, according to the Los Angeles Times.  
    He further painted the situation in Washington as dire     desperate for a fix that only top tech talent could    provide.  
    "I have nothing but optimism when I'm out here because I see    amazing potential for growth away from the disaster that is    Washington. I don't have to think there has to be a    governmental solution for everything," he said. "Don't be    depressed with how bad government is. Use your ingenuity, use    your big head to think of solutions the marketplace can figure    out, that the idiots and trolls in Washington will never come    up with."  
    In July, Paul also attended the Allen & Co. media and    technology conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, where hetook    private meetings with Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg    and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, Politico reported. It's not thefirst    time libertarian ideology and Silicon Valley have gone hand in    hand. Paul's father, former US Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, received $2.6 million from Mr. Thiel in    2012 to a super political action committee supporting his    failed presidential campaign.  
    But more than money  though that's surely a key motivator in    his inroads to the tech world  it's all part and parcel of a    broader strategy to make the RepublicanParty more    diverse. At a speech to the Detroit Economic Club in December,    for example, he said that the struggling city, a Democratic    stronghold, would not see a bright future "come from    Washington." Rather, he highlighted the idea of "economic free    zones" that would see federal taxes cut in communities with a    12 percent unemployment rate or higher, attracting more    business activity,the Detroit Free Press reported.  
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Rand Paul opens San Francisco area office. Preparing for 2016? (+video)