Rand Paul's speech announcing his candidacy for the 2016 presidential race. The Kentucky senator's announcement was timed to be the day after the NCAA championship game, and also during the two-week Senate recess coming at the end of March. Paul's announcement date enables him to begin his official run for the presidency at the beginning of a fundraising quarter. This will maximize the time he'll have to raise money before his first report is due to the Federal Election Commission. As a declared candidate, his finances will be filed and publicly available each quarter, and part of the success of his candidacy will be measured by the money he raises. #randpaul
About Rand Paul - About Prizm Share
Rand Paul: “I am running!â€
Tuesday, April 7, 2015 - Grand ballroom at the Galt House
Hotel in Louisville, Ky. Rand Paul launches his 2016
presidential campaign. Read full transcript of his speech
below:
"I have a message, a message that is loud and clear and does
not mince words. We have come to take our country back.
We have come to take our country back from the special interests
that use Washington as their personal piggy bank, the special
interests that are more concerned with their personal welfare than
the general welfare.
The Washington machine that gobbles up our freedoms and
invades every nook and cranny of our lives must be stopped.
Less than five years ago I stood just down the road in home town
in Bowling Green and said those same words. I wasn’t supposed
to win, no one thought I would.
Some people asked me, then why are you running? The answer
is the same now as it was then. I have a vision for America. I want
to be part of a return to prosperity, a true economic boom that lists
all Americans, a return to a government restrained by the
Constitution.
A return to privacy, opportunity, liberty. Too often when
Republicans have won we have squandered our victory by
becoming part of the Washington machine. That’s not who I am.
That’s not why I ran for office the first time just a few years ago.
The truth is, I love my life as a small-town doctor. Every day I
woke up, I felt lucky to be able to do the things I loved. More
importantly, I was blessed to be able to do things that made a
difference in people’s lives.
I never could have done any of this, though, without the help of
my parents who are here today. I’d like you to join me and thank
my mother and dad.
With my parents’ help, I was able to make it through long years of
medical training to become an eye surgeon. For me there is
nothing that compares with helping someone see better. Last
August I was privileged to travel to Guatemala on a medical
mission trip together with a team of surgeons from across the
U.S.
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