CHICAGO (AP) – He infuriated his party leaders by almost single-handedly delaying the extension of the Patriot Act. Now, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is fighting to transform his recent Capitol Hill victory into momentum with the voters who will select the next president.
Tangling with a complicated issue that divides the public, Paul does not have an easy task.
Yet he’s seized the opportunity in interviews across the country this week before another showdown in Congress. And as he courts voters in three states, the 52-year-old Republican is putting new distance between himself and the rest of his party’s presidential hopefuls.
Voters are noticing.
“I think some of his ideas are a breath of fresh air,” said Corey Brooks, an African-American pastor in the South Side of Chicago, where Paul campaigned Wednesday. “His views are diametrically opposite of what Republicans tend to say and do, and I think it’s a good thing.”