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Rand Paul, once seen as a top-tier contender, finds his presidential hopes fading fast as he grapples with deep fundraising and organizational problems that have left his campaign badly hobbled.

Interviews with more than a dozen sources close to the Kentucky senator, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity, painted a picture of an underfunded and understaffed campaign beaten down by low morale.

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They described an operation that pitted a cerebral chief strategist against an intense campaign manager who once got into a physical altercation with the candidates bodyguard. And they portrayed an undisciplined politician who wasnt willing to do what it took to win a man who obsessed over trivial matters like flight times, peppered aides with demands for more time off from campaigning and once chose to go on a spring-break jaunt rather than woo a powerful donor.

They sketched a portrait of a candidate who, as he fell further behind in polls, no longer seemed able to break through. Paul, lionized as the most interesting man in politics in a Time magazine cover story last year, was supposed to reinvent the Republican Party with his message of free-market libertarianism, his vision of a restrained foreign policy and his outreach to minorities.

Instead, he has been overshadowed by louder voices like Donald Trumps and better-funded figures like Jeb Bush. His theory of the 2016 primary that Republican voters would reward a candidate who promised fresh ideas and an unconventional approach has not been borne out in reality.

At Pauls campaign headquarters on Capitol Hill, morale has begun to sink. At least one key aide recently departed, and others have had conversations with rival campaigns.

Its such a negative environment, said one Paul aide. Everyone is on edge, and no one is having any fun. They need to recapture some of their positive mojo, and fast.

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Easily the biggest problem confronting Paul is his fundraising or lack thereof. Paul has taken in just $13 million, a fraction of what all of his major rivals for the Republican nomination have raised and far less than Paul hoped.

More here:
Rand Paul 2016: Inside his campaign's downward spiral ...