Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) will make a trip to New Hampshire, along with his father, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), this spring. Rand Paul will head to the Granite State in late April following a trip to Iowa earlier that month, raising reporters' eyebrows because of both states' status in the presidential nominating cycle.
The Kentucky senator will keynote a Cheshire County Lincoln-Reagan Day Dinner, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader's John DiStasio. He'll deliver the speech several days before his father travels to New Hampshire for a series of fundraisers.
Rand Paul is also slated to headline the Iowa Republican Party's "Night of Rising Stars" on April 2, meaning the freshman senator will be making two trips to two key primary states within a month.
Ron Paul has generally been considered the candidate in the family more likely to run. He's scored victories in straw polls dominated by his fervent supporters since he ran in 2008, when he raked in respectable fundraising money during his erstwhile campaign.
Ron Paul has said he's considering running for the Republican nomination again in 2012, though he hasn't made up his mind.
"That I don't know," the Texas Republican said Wednesday on CNBC when asked if he'd run. "So whether I run or not, I hope I still have an ability to reach some people."
The trips to Iowa and New Hampshire do nothing to tamp down speculation that the younger Paul will make a run if his father opts against another campaign, and he's been on a media blitz to promote it. He's also taken some votes to distinguish himself from Senate colleagues and draw press coverage.
But he's also a freshman senator with just two months on the job and no prior political experience. Rand Paul does have a new book out, though, "The Tea Party Goes to Washington," which went on sale last week.
