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Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.), second form left, speaks as Republican U.S. Senate candidate, Ed Gillespie, top second from right, and Republican 7th district Congressional candidate, Dave Brat, right, listen during a rally in Ashland, Va., on Wednesday. Associated Press

ASHLAND, Va. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul rallied Wednesday with an unlikely pairing of Republican candidates as he lays the groundwork for a presidential campaign that would seek to unify the wings of the party they represent.

On one side of the stage was Senate candidate Ed Gillespie, a former Republican National Committee chairman and Washington lobbyist who favors legal residency for undocumented workers. On the other was House candidate David Brat, a political rookie who won his GOP primary by knocking an ally of Mr. Gillespie, former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, in part by arguing that Mr. Cantor was soft on illegal immigration and beholden to special interests.

After the two candidates exchanged compliments and made the case for their own candidacies, Mr. Paul took the stage. I seek unity, and I smell victory, he said.

The rallys settingin a swing state that President Barack Obama carried twice by turning out minorities, young voters and womenreinforced Mr. Pauls message that we only win when we talk to new people.

The rally three weeks before the Nov. 4 vote was the latest example of how potential presidential candidates are using the mid-term election to test campaign themes, raise their profiles and connect with activists in key states.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.), for example, is campaigning this month for Senate candidates in New Hampshire and Iowa, which hold the first nominating contests. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush stopped in three cities in Michigan on Monday to rally voters behind Republicans on the ballot in November. Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) spent the weekend mingling with Republicans in South Carolina, which traditionally hosts the first presidential primary in the South.

Mr. Paul, who is planning to make four campaign stops in New Hampshire on Thursday, has kept up a particularly frenetic schedule. He is appearing this week in television ads supporting Thom Tillis in North Carolina and Dan Sullivan in Alaska. But he stepped off the campaign trail on Sunday to meet with African American leaders in Ferguson, Mo., a city roiled by racial tension since the August shooting of an unarmed black teenager. At the gathering, Mr. Paul discussed his support for restoring voting rights to felons, an issue not typically raised by Republicans.

He probably does more smart politics in a week than the rest of the national players in a month, said Scott Reed, a top political adviser to the Chamber of Commerce, which is paying for the ads starring Mr. Paul. Hes a great messenger for the party.

Mr. Pauls outreach and willingness to stray from conservative orthodoxy, however, threatens to fracture the libertarian base that helped him win election to the Senate in 2010. At the rally, Doug Shackelford, a 65-year-old retired hospital administrator, called Mr. Pauls outreach to the African American community pandering and said he was showing too much lenience toward illegal immigrants, though Mr. Paul voted against a bill last year that included a pathway to citizenship for people in the country illegally.

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Rand Paul Plays Up GOP Unity in Virginia Rally

Sen. Rand Paul says he believes that if elected, Dave Brat is positioned to have an outsized role in Congress, because of his historic victory against Eric Cantor in the Republican primary in June.

It was a virtually unprecedented election for a challenger; it sounds like there was something dramatic that he was presenting and saying, and I think that position seems to have a great deal of influence almost immediately in Washington, Paul said in an interview in Ashland on Wednesday.

Flanked by Brat, Paul, in jeans and cowboy boots, sat in a backroom at the Hanover Arts and Activities Center. His feet on the table, Paul leaned back in his chair.

The Republican junior senator from Kentucky, a potential aspirant for the 2016 presidential election and the son of a former presidential candidate, then-Rep. Ron Paul, has served in the Senate since 2011. He is considered a tea party favorite and has what he calls libertarian-ish views.

In his 10-minute speech Wednesday at a rally for Brat and Ed Gillespie, the Republican nominee to take on Sen. Mark R. Warner, D-Va., he had lashed out against President Barack Obama and hailed Brat but spoke little about Gillespie, the former chairman of the Republican National Committee and a former Washington lobbyist.

While Gillespie may not have been the tea partys first choice to run against Warner, Paul hinted that he was looking at the bigger picture when pondering his endorsement.

There are differences within the Republican Party, but they pale in comparison between the Republican Party and the Democrat Party, he said.

I think in the biggest issues of the day, will Ed Gillespie vote for a lowering of taxes and a lessening of regulations just in general? Im guessing yes. Will Mark Warner vote to lower any taxes or lessening any regulations? No, and even if he tells you he will, his party wont.

Paul said he and Gillespie found common ground on that Republicans must be more inclusive if they want to win elections.

One of the things Ed and I talked about, we have a plan that specifically targets people in poverty and those who are unemployed. Its called Economic Freedom Zones, and my plan for Richmond would leave $600 million in that area, over 10 years that otherwise would be sent to the federal government, Paul said.

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Paul: Brat would 'have an outsized role' in Congress

ASHLAND, Va.Sen. Rand Paul took the stage as Chumbawambas Tubthumping blared on the speakers.

On one side of him was Ed Gillespie, the former Republican National Committee chairman and ex-D.C. lobbyist whos running for the Senate. On the other: Dave Brat, the Tea-Party insurgent who came out of nowhere to oust then-Majority Leader Eric Cantor in the June GOP primary.

I see unity, and I see victory. Be part of it! Paul told about 150 supporters who had braved the rain and jammed into a former Civil War-era Baptist church in this conservative town of 7,000 just north of Richmond.

But walking the Tea Party-establishment tightrope is proving to be tricky for Paul. When he mocked President Obamas pen and phonecampaign, a man fromthe audience screamed, Treason!

Impeach Obama! someone else yelled.

Sporting a pink shirt, sport coat, jeans and boots, Paul warned the crowd that a vote for Gillespies opponent, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), is a vote to keep Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) in charge of the Senate majority.

But he didnt specifically mention Gillespie, a former George W. Bush adviser, by name. Instead, hequickly pivoted to Brat,an economist and professor at nearby Randolph-Macon College who, Paul said, hasnt yet been elected to Congress but is already shaking up Washington.

Its a narrative much like his own.

When I ran for office, people said, Oh, youre just a physician from a small town. How could you possibly be in the U.S. Senate? Paul said. And I say precisely my strength is that I have not been in office. I havent been dumbed down by the system. I havent been beaten to death by the system. I still know whats right and wrong. I still know whats good for the country.

And I will vote that way regardless of whether I get reelected because its the right thing to do.

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Rand Paul stumps for GOP in Virginia

ASHLAND, Va. (AP) Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky headlined a rally Wednesday for Senate candidate Ed Gillespie and House candidate Dave Brat.

Paul, who has been weighing a potential 2016 presidential bid and campaigning for other Republican candidates across the country, told supporters at a small auditorium in Ashland that Gillespie and Brat would help repeal the Affordable Care Act and rein in federal spending.

Gillespie is the former chairman of the Republican National Committee and is considered an underdog in his bid to unseat Democrat Mark Warner in the senate election.

Brat became an overnight political sensation when he defeated former U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in the GOP primary in June. He faces Democrat Jack Trammell in next month's general election.

WARNER'S RECORD

Gillespie and Paul focused on Warner's record in the Senate and argued that Warner is not the moderate candidate he portrays himself to be.

"I hate to tell you Virginia, but you've been tricked," Paul said, noting Warner's past support for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. "You've been hoodwinked."

Gillespie revisited a familiar attack that Warner is a rubber stamp for President Barack Obama's policies.

"Mark Warner has pretty much voted for every single one of" Obama's policies, Gillespie said. "And it's time for a change."

A spokesman for Warner's campaign said that Gillespie showed by campaigning with Paul that he would "add to the gridlock in Congress."

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Rand Paul stumps for Dave Brat, Ed Gillespie

Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky(Photo: Associated Press)

Likely presidential candidate Rand Paul will be in Iowa next week to campaign for Iowa candidates.

Paul, a Republican U.S. senator from Kentucky, will be in Wilton on Wednesday for the Kaufmann Family Barbecue, an event for state Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton.

"This will be the fourth presidential contender to appear at the Kaufmann Family BBQ," said Jeff Kaufmann, the chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa and a former state representative.

GOP U.S. Senate candidate Joni Ernst will attend the barbecue, too, Kaufmann said in a news release this morning. The fundraiser will be from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 22 at the Wilton Community Center, 1215 Cypress St. in Wilton. The event is open to the press and paid guests. Admission is $25.

Paul will also campaign for 1st District U.S. House candidate Rod Blum at the University of Northern Iowa at noon on Wednesday, and at a 2:30 p.m. tour and small business roundtable at MobileDemand in Hiawatha.

Blum is seeking to replace Democratic U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, whose seat in the left-leaning district is open because he's running for U.S. Senate.

Five other potential presidential candidates have lined up behind Blum: Florida U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio is booked to be in Dubuque on Oct. 29; former Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum stumped for Blum Oct. 15; New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie did a public rally for Blum in Cedar Rapids on Oct. 3; Texas Gov. Rick Perry did four campaign stops with Blum on Sept. 2; and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson headlined a breakfast for Blum on Aug. 25.

Paul is one of the most frequent top-name GOP visitors to Iowa, home of the first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses. He has been trying to reach out to minorities, young voters and others outside the typical GOP base.

He's featured on the cover of the latest issue of Time magazine in an article headlined "The Most Interesting Man in Politics: The Reinventions of Rand Paul," Politico reported this morning.

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Rand Paul back in Iowa next week