Five Reasons Why You Should Take Rand Paul Seriously (+video)

A few weeks ago, Rand Paul was far down the list of 2016 GOP presidential prospects — a freshman senator with a devoted but mostly marginal following of young libertarians. Now he’s being mentioned in the same breath as Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush.

With his filibuster against the Obama administration’s drone policy, a first-place finish in the Conservative Political Action Conference presidential straw poll — and on Tuesday, a speech pressing for immigration reform — the Kentuckian is on a roll.

The Iowa Republican Party announced Tuesday that Paul will headline their Lincoln Day Dinner on May 10, a coveted invitation for any GOP presidential hopeful.

But is Paul the Republican flavor of the month or someone who could realistically contend for the nomination? Party elites scoff at the idea that Ron Paul’s son would ever become the GOP standard-bearer.

Yet the ophthalmologist is a better politician than his father, and he continues to defy expectations.

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