June 12--Often, presidential candidates venture to California for a single purpose: to raise campaign cash.
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky is no exception. He traveled immediately in the days after his April campaign kickoff to a state that serves primarily as the ATM for national political campaigns, and he returned Friday both for fundraisers and to deliver the keynote address at an annual gathering of Orange County Republicans in Irvine.
He then travels to San Diego on Saturday to speak at a Lincoln Day Dinner.
"He's the kind of person whose message resonates with the entire state," Eric Beach, Paul's campaign finance chairman, told The Times in April.
Both stops this weekend are set before friendly audiences in some of the most conservative parts of the state and will give Paul opportunities to try to attract more donors.
Erik Weigand, executive director of the Orange County Republican Party, said Friday's event will be attended by state and federal GOP lawmakers, such as Reps. Darrell Issa of Vista and Mimi Walters of Laguna Niguel.
"We reached out several months ago to all of the likely presidential candidates and Sen. Paul got back to us right away," Weigand said. "I think it shows his interest in Orange County and Republicans across the state."
Paul, who has tapped himself as a "different kind of Republican," has also forged into California's Democratic strongholds more than any of the nearly dozen GOP presidential hopefuls.
In the past year, he's delivered a speech at UC Berkeley and held discussions in Silicon Valley with executives from Facebook and eBay. Last month he opened an office in San Francisco in an effort to tap into the tech field and court donors who might find appeal in his libertarian leanings.
In a California centric op-ed essay Paul wrote in the Washington Times two years ago, he argued that for his party to have success it must "broaden and sharpen" its message so that it "can compete everywhere, every time, for every vote -- coast to coast."
"Republicans reaching out to new audiences doesn't mean being less conservative, but applying libertarian and constitutional principles where they are sorely needed on multiple issues," wrote Paul.
Paul has himself looked to appeal to a wider base of voters. He's visited inner cities and college campuses, talking about issues such as reducing penalties for drug use and policing practices as he courts young and minority voters.
kurtis.lee@latimes.com
