Rand Paul Is Running For President

The Republican Party officially has its second candidate for the 2016 presidential nomination. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) announced he's running for president on Tuesday, but the way he did so was quite unexpected: the junior senator updated the "About" section on his website to include the news, just hours before he's scheduled to speak at a rally in Louisville, Kentucky. "I am running for president to return our country to the principles of liberty and limited government," Paul's website stated as of Tuesday morning.

The "About" section also includes two biographies: one on Rand Paul and a second, shorter one on his wife, Kelley Ashby Paul. "Senator Rand Paul, M.D. is one of the nation’s leading advocates for liberty," Paul's biography stated. "As a hard-working and dedicated physician--not a career politician--Rand Paul came to Washington to shake things up and to make a difference."

A new video has also surfaced on the website. It begins with a clip of Kelley talking favorably about her husband, and features photos from the couple's early relationship. "Like no one that I'd ever met," the tagline reads.

Paul has been playing up his campaign theme, "Defeat the Washington Machine," in recent days. The front page of his official website now flashes that tagline next to a real-time counter of donations. And of course, there can be no Rand Paul website without the emblematic, "Stand With Rand" slogan.

Late on Sunday, Paul's office released a presidential nomination teaser video on his various social media accounts. The video highlighted Paul's brief yet definitive tenure in the Senate, including his nearly 13-hour-long filibuster in 2013 to block President Obama's CIA nomination.

"On April 7, a different kind of Republican will take on Washington..." the video began, launching into clips of media pundits from CNN and Fox News praising the senator. The video also included several clips from Paul's rousing, pre-campaign speech at the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference.

Paul is expected to formally announce his candidacy for the 2016 Republican nomination at noon on Tuesday. His rally will be held in the ballroom of Galt House Hotel in downtown Louisville.

Paul joins fellow junior Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in the Republican presidential nomination race. So far, those two are the only politicians who have announced their candidacy, but more major GOP players are on the way. Pundits believe Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker are likely to jump in, while conservative royalty and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush remains a potential heavyweight. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, businesswoman Carly Fiona and Dr. Ben Carson have also been named as possible Republican candidates. All in all, it should be a pretty crowded primary race in the GOP lane.

Cue the Ron Paul "It's Happening" gif.

Image: Getty Images, screenshot/Rand Paul, gif/Reaction Gifs