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By ERIK SCHELZIG and STEVE PEOPLES Associated Press

RUSSELLVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Once described as her husband's secret weapon, Kelley Paul won't be a secret much longer.

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul's wife of 24 years is stepping onto the national stage as part of a book tour launching at roughly the same time her husband is expected to enter the 2016 presidential race. It's a big step for the mother of three who has long played a significant behind-the-scenes role in Paul's political operation, but soon will be thrust into a far more public role on the political world's brightest stage.

Rand Paul has made much of his wife being a hard sell on a presidential bid, yet Kelley Paul hinted on Thursday that she's ready for the pressures of a national campaign and its impact on her family.

"I guess I am as prepared as you can be," she said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I'll try to maintain my sense of humor and optimism and just be brave."

Should Rand Paul join the crowded 2016 Republican field later this spring, as widely expected, Kelley Paul will join the ranks of prospective first ladies who help define their husband's political brands. It's a high-profile role that is challenging at best, yet those who know the family suggest that she would adapt well to the next step in her husband's career.

Reserved but politically savvy, Kelley Paul worked for a Republican consulting firm whose clients included another potential presidential candidate, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, before resigning more than a year ago. She is the mother of three sons, ages 15, 18 and 21, already joins team meetings and conference calls, edits speeches and helps prepare her husband for tough media interviews.

"She's a tremendous asset," said John McCarthy, a former Kentucky GOP chairman who has closely followed Rand Paul's rise. "She a very confident person, very comfortable, and she complements him well."

Having sporadically appeared publicly on her own in recent years, Kelley Paul's public profile has begun to grow.

On Tuesday she kicked off a six-stop speaking tour to Republican women's clubs in her home town of Russellville, where she fondly recalled riding in the annual tobacco festival parade and cheering at high school football games. Her 20-minute speech focusing on her Irish immigrant grandmother moved her audiences throughout Kentucky to tears.

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Book tour puts Rand Paul's 'secret' weapon on national stage - Quincy Herald-Whig | Illinois & Missouri News, Sports