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Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky) has devoted much of his political career to pushing for smaller budgets and a scaled-back U.S. military.

Not anymore.

On Wednesday, Paul proposed increasing defense spending by nearly $190 billion over the next two years. The amendment was first reported by Time Magazine.

That seeming about-face comes as he gets ready to launch a presidential bid next month -- and continues to adjust foreign policy stances that have moved ever further from his libertarian roots.

His latest move may appeal to more mainstream GOP voters: According to a CNN/Opinion Research poll from last year, about 70 percent of Republicans consider themselves hawks rather than doves.

But it's less clear is how his base voters will react. According to a 2013 poll from Reason magazine, self-identified libertarians were much more supportive of defense spending cuts than the public overall or Republicans. The poll found that 60 percent of libertarians supported cutting defense as a way to balance the budget, compared to 49 percent of the overall public and 29 percent of the country as a whole.

How far is the new Paul policy from his old positions? In 2011, back in the pre-sequester era, he called for about a 23 percent reduction in defense spending, including cuts to overseas operational costs and war spending from $159 billion to about...zero.

The amendment Paul put forward Thursday would allocate $697 billion for defense in the next fiscal year. Paul adviser Doug Stafford said the amendment is "response to others in both chambers who are attempting to add to defense spending - some way more than Senator Paul's amendment - without paying for it."

Paul said last month at the Conservative Political Action Conference that national defense is a top priority, a position he has stressed on the campaign trail -- where voters have peppered him with questions about the Islamic State and Iran.

[Read:Paul tries to cement defense as top priority]

Original post:
What Rand Pauls defense spending proposal tells us about his 2016 strategy