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U.S. Senator Rand Paul, M.D., is one of the nations leading advocates for liberty. Elected to the United States Senate in 2010, Dr. Paul has proven to be an outspoken champion for constitutional liberties and fiscal responsibility. As a fierce advocate against government overreach, Dr. Paul has fought tirelessly to return government to its limited, constitutional scope.

As a hard-working and dedicated physician - not a career politician - Dr. Paul came to Washington to shake things up and to make a difference. Dr. Paul is a devoted husband and father of three that is currently living with his family in Bowling Green, Ky., where Dr. Paul owned his own ophthalmology practice and performed eye surgery for 18 years.

Dr. Paul has been married for 25 years to Kelley Ashby Paul of Russellville, Ky., and they have three sons together: William, 22; Duncan, 19; and Robert, 16. He regularly volunteered to coach teams for each of his three sons in Little League baseball, soccer, and basketball. Dr. Paul and Kelley are both devout Christians and are active in their local church.

Dr. Paul is the third of five children born to Carol and Ron Paul. He grew up in Lake Jackson, Tex., and attended Baylor University. He graduated from Duke Medical School in 1988. Dr. Paul completed a general surgery internship at Georgia Baptist Medical Center in Atlanta, Ga., and completed his residency in ophthalmology at Duke University Medical Center. Upon completion of his training in 1993, Dr. Paul and Kelley moved to Bowling Green to start their family and begin his ophthalmology practice.

Dr. Paul's entrance into politics is indicative of his lifes work as a surgeon: a desire to diagnose problems and provide practical solutions, whether it be in Bowling Green, Ky., or Washington, D.C.

In 1995, Dr. Paul founded the Southern Kentucky Lions Eye Clinic, an organization that provides eye exams and surgery to needy families and individuals. He is a former president and 17 year member of Lions Clubs International, which is dedicated to preserving sight by providing eyeglasses and surgery to the less fortunate around the world. In recognition of his outstanding and sustained efforts to provide vision care to Kentuckians in need, Lions Clubs International has awarded Dr. Paul many of its highest commendations.

A large part of Dr. Paul's daily work as an ophthalmologist was dedicated to preserving the vision of our seniors. In 2002, The Twilight Wish Foundation recognized Dr. Paul for Outstanding Service and Commitment to Seniors.

During his free time, Dr. Paul currently performs pro-bono eye surgeries for patients across Kentucky. Additionally, he provides free eye surgery to children from around the world through his participation in the Children of the Americas Program. Most recently, he traveled to Guatemala and Haiti on a medical mission trip with the University of Utah's Moran Eye Center. During his time in Guatemala and Haiti, over 200 patients, many of them blind with cataracts, had their vision restored.

Dr. Paul's entrance into politics is indicative of his lifes work as a surgeon: a desire to diagnose problems and provide practical solutions, whether it be in Bowling Green, Ky., or Washington, D.C.

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Meet Rand | About Rand | U.S. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky

The 11-stop, three-day swing starts Monday. The goal is to fire up young voters the campaign believes will be drawn to the senator's emphasis on issues like curtailing government surveillance, criminal justice reform and questioning continued U.S. involvement in wars overseas.

"I think that many of these kids are ready to come our way," Paul told CNN in a brief telephone interview. "Our goal is to turn 10,000 students out -- that could be enough to win the Iowa caucus. We think it's an achievable goal for us."

The swing will take the senator to Cedar Rapids, Mount, Vernon, Iowa City, Davenport, Dubuque, Fayette, Waverly, Cedar Falls, Sioux City, Storm Lake and Des Moines. It builds on an initiative the campaign launched in August aimed at encouraging college students to launch chapters for Paul supporters on 300 college campuses over 30 days. The campaign beat that goal, with 340 chapters set up on campuses nationwide in that time period and has added several more since, 15 of them in Iowa.

The libertarian firebrand, who was one of the first candidates to throw his hat in the ring, is hoping college students will give him an edge in Iowa and other early states. Wooing them could make an impact in Iowa, which has more than 130,000 students at four-year colleges alone, according to the 2013 Iowa College and University Enrollment Report.

The state makes it easy for such students, and all voters, to cast a ballot: One can register and vote on the same day, which will allow people to make a last-minute decision to participate in the state's first in the nation caucus in February.

Paul's campaign notes that his father, former Rep. Ron Paul, came in third in the caucuses here in 2012, a year when they were held during Christmas break. In 2016, they are set for February 1, when school will be in session, making students a key group to engage.

Outside college campuses, Paul says his campaign is well-organized ahead of the caucuses here.

"I think the main thing is our organizational strength is under-reported," he said, adding his campaign had mounted a statewide effort to contact all potential supporters. "We have county chairmen in all 99 counties in Iowa."

The senator is languishing in the single digits in national and early state polls and his campaign is also struggling on the fundraising front, raising some $2.5 million in the third quarter. That's well under the $7 million he raised in the second quarter, but the campaign says part of that figure was money that was transferred from his Senate committee, a practice allowed under campaign finance laws. The campaign has $2 million cash-on-hand, which aides believe is enough for a long race.

Paul's third quarter take is just a fraction of the $20 million the campaign of retired brain surgeon Ben Carson. Paul's campaign says it is on track to post for the third quarter, but the senator says the focus should be on a more comprehensive figure of $16.3 million -- that's how much he says his campaign and supporting super PACs have raised this year, with the help of 120,000 donors. Paul said 96% of donations to his campaign were under $100.

And despite his standing in polls, he says he is not going anywhere.

"We're in it to win and we're in it for the long haul," Paul said, adding that he believes he can win in the first two states to vote. "We still consider that we are contending to win in Iowa and New Hampshire."

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Rand Paul focuses on young votes with Iowa college tour ...

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul believes Edward Snowden deserves some punishment for leaking classified documents about government surveillance, though he says it should be less than what some of his fellow Republicans have called for against the former National Security Agency worker.

During the convention of the Republican Liberty Caucus on Friday, a college student asked Paul whether he would pardon Snowden if elected president. The ballroom in Nashua, New Hampshire, quickly fell silent as Paul joked, "There's always got to be an easy question."

Some libertarians have called for Snowden to be pardoned. Paul's own father and one-time presidential candidate, Ron Paul, has praised Snowden in the past and supported a petition asking for clemency.

Snowden is currently living in exile in Russia and recently joined Twitter.

I know most people would want me to say yes [to pardoning Snowden] and part of me says yes and part of me says we cannot have no rules, Paul said. "We do have secrets -- maybe too many -- but we do have secrets that need to be protected. We have operatives who try to risk our lives to defend our country and he [Snowden] didnt reveal that, but you dont want people to reveal things like that.

Paul said Snowden did something that some see value in: revealing a surveillance program that may have gone hidden were it not for the leak.

"He revealed a program that we probably wouldve never known about had not he revealed it because the government was lying to us," he said. "So in many ways, you could call him a whistle-blower.

Paul said Snowden deserves some sort of punishment, but not a severe penalty like some of his fellow Republicans have called for.

"I think the best compromise on it is that there would be some penalty but that people who are going nuts -- which includes half the people in our party, wanting to execute him, shoot him, chop his head off, all this crazy stuff -- theyre completely wrong," he said. "I think there could be some accommodation. I think he would actually serve some sentence if it were reasonable and were negotiated."

The college student who asked the question, 18-year-old Jake Soraghan, said he believed Snowden should be pardoned and hoped Paul would support that. He added he knew he was asking a tough question of his favorite presidential candidate.

"Even if you support someone, I think you got to give them the tough questions," Soraghan said. "He gave a decent answer."

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Would Rand Paul Pardon Edward Snowden? - ABC News

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Clinton said this week she sent her latest autobiography, Hard Choices, to her Republican rivals as a tongue-in-cheek way to explain her accomplishments as secretary of state. And Paul, one of those Republicans, is now auctioning off that book, promoting it on his online store as an opportunity to "GET YOUR OWN SIGNED COPY OF A GREAT FICTION BOOK!"

Paul placed the book -- signed by both him and Clinton -- on Ebay, and as of Wednesday evening it had attracted five bids and was available for $300. The auction, which includes a copy of Paul's new book, Taking a Stand, closes just before 2 p.m. Saturday.

Other Republican candidates have in return offered to send Clinton copies of their own books or said they would read Clinton's if she watched controversial Planned Parenthood videos.

Paul chose to take a shot at Clinton's record at the State Department on the title page of her book.

"Hillary, your refusal to provide security for our mission in Benghazi should forever preclude you from higher office!" he wrote in black ink before affixing his signature, according to a photograph in his online store.

Paul lists the item's condition as "brand new" and its subject as "fantasy."

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Rand Paul auctions off Hillary Clinton's book ...

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"I think the rumors of my demise are somewhat exaggerated, to say the least," Paul said Sunday on Fox News' "Media Buzz."

His paltry $2.5 million third quarter fundraising haul had sparked expectations that Paul might soon drop out. But he insisted Sunday that he doesn't need much money to keep up his campaign efforts.

"We run a tight ship around here," Paul said. "We plan on being in for the long hall, and I think ultimately celebrity will sort of filter out of this."

Paul also took a shot at Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, one of his GOP rivals for the 2016 presidential nomination.

Five days earlier, he'd said Cruz is "pretty much done for" in the Senate because he's failed to form personal relationships with his colleagues. Paul repeated that criticism Sunday.

"I think we do have different styles. My style is when I disagree with someone, not to call them a name or be very inflammatory," Paul said.

"I can be very strong in what I believe in and I'm willing to stand up for that," he said. "But even (Senate Democratic leader) Harry Reid -- who's on the opposite side -- I have pretty good relations with him, even though he's a Democrat, and I wouldn't call him a liar or I wouldn't call him dishonest because I don't think that furthers the debate, even with people you disagree with."

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Rand Paul says he's not dropping out of 2016 race ...