Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul announced his presidential candidacy during a speech in Louisville, Kentucky on Tuesday, casting himself as a different breed of Republican ready to reshape the party.
“I have a message, a message that is loud and clear and does not mince words,” Paul told a cheering crowd. “We have come to take our country back.”
Paul has a strong libertarian base of support and is a popular tea party candidate, but questions linger about whether he'll be able to expand his zealous fan-base enough to win the GOP nomination.
We've outlined where Paul stands on various issues that are likely to come up during election season.
Fighting the Islamic State (ISIS)
Paul's foreign policy positions are arguably what has most set him apart from other prominent Republicans who are planning to run. The senator advocates for a dramatically smaller U.S. military footprint overseas, and he's derided the administration of President Barack Obama for its use of armed drones to go after terrorists in nations ranging from Somalia to Yemen and beyond.
But Paul's views have become slightly more mainstream as talk of his 2016 bid increased. He has called for a congressional declaration of war against ISIS, rather than the current reliance on Obama's executive authority.
Though he has previously been in favor of downsizing the military, he proposed a boost in defense spending in March.
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is another issue where Paul has veered to the right.
Late last year, Paul said that while he believes in "traditional" marriage, he doesn't think the government should get too caught up in who marries who. But just a few months into 2015, he went on Fox News and said that he finds same-sex marriage offensive.
His apparent change in position puts him at odds with the majority of young Americans, whom Paul is hoping to court at the polls.
The senator has advocated for rehabilitation of prisoners. He has introduced a bill that would grant voting rights to nonviolent felons. And, along with Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, he proposed legislation that would seal the criminal records of juveniles whose crimes were nonviolent, helping to make sure that crimes they committed as young people don't affect their employment prospects.
Paul has also criticized drug sentences for crimes such as growing marijuana, a talking point that is sure to resonate with younger voters.
The Economy
The New Republic called Paul’s economic ideas the “most dangerous” of any potential 2016 candidate.
He has proposed a bill to “audit the Fed.” The Fed, as you may know, is already audited. But that’s not what this bill is about. Paul’s legislation would erase provisions that shield the Fed from politicians who may want to influence its policies, something Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen said she would aggressively oppose.
The senator has also advocated going back to the gold standard, something The Wall Street Journal said has virtually “no support” among top economists. Paul and his followers believe that the gold standard will prevent the purchasing power of the dollar from crashing due to inflation. But inflation has barely gone up over the past year, and it’s not predicted to climb all that high over the next decade.
On taxes, Paul has said he will propose the "largest tax cut in American history." He's an opponent of the IRS and has also talked of a plan to drastically reduce spending that he claims would balance the federal budget in half a decade.
But he's no longer hellbent on repealing it, either.
Paul has said he would not try to deport undocumented immigrants if he became president, even though many Republican politicians would want him to. Instead, he told Bloomberg that he would like to provide undocumented immigrants with work visas and put them on a path to paying taxes.
Global warmingColor him a climate change contrarian. Sort of.
Paul has previously dodged questions about his views on climate change with lines such as "I'm not saying that theory is right or wrong." He seems eager to avoid any kind of label, whether that's "skeptic" or "believer."
The senator has said that he thinks some of the climate change debate is alarmist, but he has also advocated for cutting back on pollution in general.
Paul represents a coal-producing state. Coal is the dirtiest form of fuel used for generating electricity in the U.S.