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Rand Pauls youth appeal. Scott Walkers battle scars. Chris Christies swagger.

Its enough to make a 2014 campaign managers mouth water.

The next presidential election is two years away, but Republicans running for office this cycle already have an array of surrogate options when it comes to potential 2016 contenders.

To find out who tops their wish lists, POLITICO put the question in recent weeks to more than 25 GOP campaign managers, strategists and aides in competitive races across the country. Though it was not a scientific survey, their responses offered clues about which potential presidential hopefuls have the most cachet with down-ballot Republicans right now and why.

Operatives mentioned Paul more than any other prospective 2016 candidate. Christie followed despite the fallout from the so-called Bridgegate traffic scandal thanks largely to his continued fundraising prowess. In the next tier were Walker and Ted Cruz, whose diverging styles each appeal to segments of the GOP. After them, Jeb Bush, Paul Ryan and Marco Rubio each got multiple nods. It all speaks to the rowdy selection process that lies ahead for the party in 2016 and, in the meanwhile, the menu of prominent supporters available to candidates on the 2014 map.

(PHOTOS: Rand Pauls career)

Pauls popularity in interviews highlighted the multifaceted appeal the Kentucky senator enjoys as his stock rises within the GOP.

Campaign hands cited the sharp profile Paul has cut in the Senate; his fluency on issues like privacy and Obama administration accountability, which are buzzy among young conservatives and libertarians; and his ability to get supporters to open their checkbooks.

Rand Paul has a lot of grassroots energy hes tapping into, the youth and kind of libertarian movement that other candidates just really havent grabbed a hold of yet, so that makes him kind of a unique, different choice that could inject some energy into the campaign, said a source in one New Hampshire House race.

(Like many people interviewed for this story, the operative asked for anonymity. Aides often said they wanted to avoid alienating other potential surrogates or didnt want to get ahead of invitations that, in some cases, are still in the planning stage.)

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Rand Paul tops 2014 campaigns' wish list

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TAMPA About 80 delegates from some 50 counties, plus candidates, supporters and others, showed up for the Libertarian Partys state convention in Tampa on Saturday to hear the message that Libertarians are the states largest and fastest-growing non-establishment political party.

Dana Cummings of Valrico, state Libertarian chairman, estimated the party has grown some 25 percent since 2012, when it had about 20,000 registered voters. The region including Hillsborough, Hernando, Pinellas and Pasco counties has the states biggest concentration of Libertarians, she said.

In a news conference, half a dozen Libertarian candidates one each for governor and attorney general and two each for congressional and state House seats espoused a message of drastically smaller government and more individual liberty.

They sharply distinguished themselves from the two major parties, saying theres no meaningful difference between Republicans and Democrats.

Voters are increasingly aware of Libertarianism and no longer consider them merely a Republican who wants to smoke pot, said Adrian Wyllie of Palm Harbor, the partys candidate for governor.

Lucas Overby, possibly the Tampa Bay areas best-known Libertarian since he ran in the Pinellas County special congressional election in March, said its particularly wrong to compare Libertarians with Republicans.

Overby is running again. He said he votes more often for Democrats than Republicans, and believes he took more support away from Democrat Alex Sink in the March election than from Republican David Jolly. This time, with no Democratic candidate in the race, he said hes hoping for and getting some Democratic support.

I have never found an area where a Republican candidate actually represented any of my views, said Overby, who described himself as strongly pro-choice and pro-gay rights and in favor of social justice.

The economic concept of smaller government is a cute talking point, but when you never, ever implement it, I cant support that, he said of Republicans.

The issue stances of the candidates suggest they have beliefs in common with various parts of the political spectrum.

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