Paul in Vegas, says he’s not worried about Romney’s presidential hopes

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul said Friday he isn’t worried about the prospect of third Mitt Romney presidential campaign because voters and former supporters are looking for somebody new in 2016.

“There’ll be a big spirited debate over whether or not he’s had his chance,” Paul said in an interview after chatting up diners at the Peppermill Restaurant, a popular Strip eatery.

Romney, a Mormon, won the GOP presidential caucus in Nevada in 2008 and in 2012, earning about 50 percent of the vote thanks in part to the state’s politically active members of the church. Paul’s father, former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, came in second in 2008 and third in 2012.

Romney privately told fundraisers and supporters this past week that he’s considering a third White House bid, which would shake up the GOP presidential contest. He’d compete most directly with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie if the two establishment hopefuls also jump into the race, which appears likely.

Rand Paul said he believes he can draw some of Nevada’s Mormon vote if he runs for the GOP nomination because that church’s believers are conservative like him and they, too, may think Romney’s time has passed.

“I think there’s a reasonable chance, even though Mormons may have a great affinity for Governor Romney,” he said, “They may say, ‘You know what. There are other conservatives in the race that may be able to hold the banner better this time.’”

Paul’s visit to Las Vegas comes two days after he toured New Hampshire, which holds the nation’s first primary. He said he plans to travel to Iowa on Feb. 7, visiting the state that holds the first caucus vote. Nevada, too, is one of the early voting states, holding the first presidential caucus in the West since 2008.

While in Las Vegas, Paul also met behind-the-scenes with potential financial backers, including a representative of the Fertitta brothers, Lorenzo and Frank, of Station Casinos and the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Last week, Paul met Las Vegas Sands Corp. CEO and top GOP contributor Sheldon Adelson in Washington, D.C., where they both attended a Republican Jewish Coalition meeting, according to a GOP source.

Paul plans to meet voters at Reno’s Atlantis hotel-casino on Saturday. In Northern Nevada he will attend fundraisers for his “victory committee,” collecting money for his Senate re-election campaign. He also headlined a Friday night fundraiser in Las Vegas with the proceeds going to the Nevada Republican Party.

Paul plans this spring to formally announce whether he’ll seek the GOP nomination.

ROCK STAR RECEPTION

The dozens of Nevadans who turned out to talk to him as he strolled from booth to booth at the Peppermill demonstrated Paul’s wide appeal and his ability to attract young voters, older conservatives and people who may operate on the fringe. Treated like a political rock star, he posed for photographs and accepted well-wishes for his potential White House bid.

One man, Chuck Farley, wore a T-shirt with self-applied lettering that said, “IloveRandPaul.com.” Farley said he wasn’t paying attention to politics when Ron Paul ran for president, but Rand Paul drew his attention when he conducted a 13-hour filibuster on the Senate floor in 2013, decrying the idea of drone strikes on U.S. citizens on American soil.

“He’s the future president,” said Farley, a 42-year-old Las Vegan who met Paul for the first time Friday. “He’s going to tear things up. He seems like somebody who doesn’t get pushed around.”

Paul posed for a photo with Farley after praising his T-shirt, saying “Hey, I like it!”

Kirsty Ronquillo, a 20-year-old with pink-dyed tresses, had stars in her eyes.

“He’s my idol,” she said. “He stands for the people. … I’m a Republican, but a libertarian at heart.”

One man, Dannnion Brinkley, presented Paul with a gift: a blue suit jacket made of silky Romanian hemp and perfectly tailored for the Kentucky senator. Paul put the jacket on and wore it during the rest of his diner tour.

Brinkley said he had called Paul staffers in Washington who gave him measurements.

Peggy Orth, general manager of the Peppermill, invited her husband, Rob, to the diner to meet Paul as well. Orth said she wants to invite all potential presidential candidates to the Peppermill, where’s she’s worked for 40 years. Her husband said he hasn’t yet chosen a candidate to back since it’s so early. He described himself as a tea party member.

“The family seems to be constitutional and so I’m all for them,” Rob Orth said of the Pauls.

BROADER SUPPORT

But Rand Paul appears to have broader support than his father. He said this week he doesn’t plan to campaign with his dad, if he does run. Meanwhile, he said he’s touring early voting states as a test.

“We’re trying to find out whether or not the ideas as I present them — they’re a little bit different than other Republicans — whether they’re resonating enough that I would have a chance of winning should I decide to run for the nomination,” Paul said. “So it’s a way of finding out and testing whether or not people are open to a Republican that’s making us slightly less inclined to be involved in war, a Republican that … doesn’t think we should put people in jail for 20 years for marijuana or for having some pills.”

On national security, Paul has said he isn’t an isolationist, but believes military action should be used only if a vital U.S. interest or American lives are at stake. In the case of the radical Islamist group ISIS, for example, he said U.S. military action is required to fight a group that has staged terror attacks and killed American journalists and aid workers.

“I think you have to judge every situation on whether there’s a threat to America or American interests or to American lives,” Paul said. “In the case of ISIS, I think there are.

“But I kind of blame the rise of ISIS on us putting a lot of weapons in the civil war in Syria,” he added, saying the U.S. and its allies shipped 600 tons of weapons to the region. “As a consequence, we created a safe haven for ISIS.”

Paul said the U.S. military should be used to defend Americans and U.S. assets around the world, but he said such action doesn’t always require putting American troops on the ground.

“I’m not putting American ground troops back into Iraq,” he said. “It would be local ground troops.”

Paul appeared to be enjoying himself during his diner-dash chats.

“I”m just happy to be in Las Vegas,” he said.

Contact Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919. Find her on Twitter: @lmyerslvrj