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Rand Paul back in Iowa next week

Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky(Photo: Associated Press)

Likely presidential candidate Rand Paul will be in Iowa next week to campaign for Iowa candidates.

Paul, a Republican U.S. senator from Kentucky, will be in Wilton on Wednesday for the Kaufmann Family Barbecue, an event for state Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton.

"This will be the fourth presidential contender to appear at the Kaufmann Family BBQ," said Jeff Kaufmann, the chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa and a former state representative.

GOP U.S. Senate candidate Joni Ernst will attend the barbecue, too, Kaufmann said in a news release this morning. The fundraiser will be from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 22 at the Wilton Community Center, 1215 Cypress St. in Wilton. The event is open to the press and paid guests. Admission is $25.

Paul will also campaign for 1st District U.S. House candidate Rod Blum at the University of Northern Iowa at noon on Wednesday, and at a 2:30 p.m. tour and small business roundtable at MobileDemand in Hiawatha.

Blum is seeking to replace Democratic U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, whose seat in the left-leaning district is open because he's running for U.S. Senate.

Five other potential presidential candidates have lined up behind Blum: Florida U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio is booked to be in Dubuque on Oct. 29; former Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum stumped for Blum Oct. 15; New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie did a public rally for Blum in Cedar Rapids on Oct. 3; Texas Gov. Rick Perry did four campaign stops with Blum on Sept. 2; and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson headlined a breakfast for Blum on Aug. 25.

Paul is one of the most frequent top-name GOP visitors to Iowa, home of the first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses. He has been trying to reach out to minorities, young voters and others outside the typical GOP base.

He's featured on the cover of the latest issue of Time magazine in an article headlined "The Most Interesting Man in Politics: The Reinventions of Rand Paul," Politico reported this morning.

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Rand Paul back in Iowa next week

On the Road with Rand Paul

TIME Politics 2014 Election On the Road with Rand Paul Can he fix what ails the GOP?

The tattooed and pierced longhairs never showed up to see Senator Rand Paul speak with students at the University of South Carolina in Columbia last month. Those in attendance drew instead from the preppy set, with brushed bangs, blue blazers and proper hemlines, some wearing sunglasses on neck straps like jock jewelry. They mostly hailed from college Republican circles, and the room where they gathered, a wood-stained memorial to the states old power structure, was named for the politician who led the fight to protect school segregation in the 1960s.

You could call them activists, even rebels in their way. But this was not a gathering of losers and outcasts. Paul knew this. And that was the whole point

Read the full story here.

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On the Road with Rand Paul

Rand Paul stumps for Gillespie and Brat in Ashland

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., a potential 2016 presidential aspirant, campaigned in Ashland on Wednesday with Republican Senate candidate Ed Gillespie and congressional nominee Dave Brat.

Virginia, you have been tricked, Paul told a crowd of about 150 at the Hanover Arts and Activities Center.

You have been hoodwinked into believing that Mark Warner is a moderate. ... When Warner is home, he tells you one thing. He used to be for a balanced budget amendment. Mark Warner said one thing when he was running for office, but I was there; I watched him vote against it.

Paul stumped for the candidates three weeks before the Nov. 4 election. Gillespie faces Warner and Libertarian Robert C. Sarvis. Brat faces Democrat Jack Trammell and Libertarian James Carr in the contest for the 7th District seat formerly held by Republican Eric Cantor.

Brat spoke first at the rally, then Gillespie, who introduced Paul. The Kentucky senator, who wore jeans and cowboy boots, was greeted with thunderous applause.

On the Affordable Care Act and Warners support for the health care law, Paul said:

Im a physician, and I am a little bit bothered by Mark Warner, who thinks youre not smart enough to choose your own doctor. I think youre smart enough to choose your own doctor, and I think you may be just smart enough to choose a new senator.

Paul said the election is about the freedom of choice. Its about whether or not the politicians in Washington think that you are smart enough to make your own choices, he said.

Its about whether you want people who believe in the freedom of choice or you want people who are arrogant enough to make those choices for you. I think there is no question, we need a change this year.

In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, Warner campaign spokesman David Turner said that by campaigning with Paul, Gillespie just confirms that he would stay true to his history as a self-described partisan warrior.

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Rand Paul stumps for Gillespie and Brat in Ashland

The Libertarian Angle: Free Trade – Video


The Libertarian Angle: Free Trade
The Libertarian Angle: Free Trade.

By: The Future of Freedom Foundation

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The Libertarian Angle: Free Trade - Video

Long-shot Libertarian candidate could tilt Illinois governor's race

Chad Grimm is a 33-year-old health club manager running a long-shot campaign as the Libertarian candidate for governor of Illinois. So why did Republicans fight tooth and nail to get him removed from the November ballot?

Turns out, Grimms relatively tiny campaign could play a big role in who becomes the next chief executive of President Obamas home state.

The polling is very close, Christopher Mooney, the director of the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois, Springfield told FoxNews.com. So somebody who is pulling 5, 6 percent, it looks like they could have a big impact.

No one is disputing the fact that Grimm is a -- very -- long-shot candidate. But he's pulling enough support to affect the standing of the front-runners.

Recent polls show the two major party candidates, Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn and Republican challenger Bruce Rauner, in a tight race. The Real Clear Politics average of polls shows Quinn recently taking a slight lead. The Rothenberg Political Report rates the race as a toss up/tilt Republican.

This has opened the door for Grimm to play spoiler. A recent Chicago Tribune Poll had him capturing 5 percent of the vote -- votes which the Tribune notes likely would have gone to Rauner had Grimm not been a contender. Another poll had him capturing 6 percent.

Grimm told FoxNews.com he is not looking to be a spoiler, hes looking to win. He said that after dabbling in everything from acting in Los Angeles to owning health clubs in Illinois, he has found his true passion in the Libertarian movement. He says he will work to eliminate the state income tax, end Illinois war on guns and bring common sense solutions to the states problems.

I wanted to give Illinois the chance to, for once, to vote for a politician that is not bought and paid for, he said.

But Grimms potential to be a spoiler captured the attention of Illinois Republicans, who launched a legal battle to get him removed from the ballot.

According to the Associated Press, attorneys for the state GOP argued that thousands of signatures that qualified Grimm for the ballot were invalid.

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Long-shot Libertarian candidate could tilt Illinois governor's race