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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