Paul setting up infrastructure for future campaigns?

[Mr. Morden]

Looks like he's betting on 2016 not being his last presidential campaign, should he not make it this time…

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-07-24/why-isn-t-rand-paul-making-a-data-deal-with-the-gop-

[ElectionsGuy]

Yep, I bet he runs again in either 2020 or 2024.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

We have

Didn't sign, campaign not 100% dead: Paul, Trump
Didn't sign, campaign dead, why running?: Graham, Pataki, Gilmore
Expected to sign: Kasich

[Mehmentum]

Smart move by him.  He's not going to win this year, but if he plans for the long term he may be more successful.   

[Pyro]

As the GOP has a history of nominating runner-ups, he's likely vying for a 2020 run, yes.

[ElectionsGuy]

Yep, I bet he runs again in either 2020 or 2024.

I don't think he is considering 3 runs or even a run that late. He isn't as interested as Taft was in shifting  the GOP. Rand will probably retire after two terms. Also, I think he would be far more pure on the issues if he was considering a future run. By 2020 or 2024, we will have more millenials elected in Congress. If Amash runs for Senate, Ron's base will rally behind him over Rand.

The reason I said or is because if a Republicans wins in 2016 he/she will have no real primary in 2020.

[TarHeelDem]

Smart man. He probably realizes the GOP isn't likely to win the presidency again until at least 2020.

[dudeabides]

Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, and Scott Walker are the three candidates in this cycle who are most likely to run in 2020 should Jeb Bush lose the general election.

If Bush wins the general election, by 2024, Paul will likely be the only one still in office - Walker would have great difficulty winning a third term and Rubio is not running for re-election to the U.S. Senate, though there is speculation he will run for Governor of Florida in 2018.

[ElectionsGuy]

Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, and Scott Walker are the three candidates in this cycle who are most likely to run in 2020 should Jeb Bush lose the general election.

If Bush wins the general election, by 2024, Paul will likely be the only one still in office - Walker would have great difficulty winning a third term and Rubio is not running for re-election to the U.S. Senate, though there is speculation he will run for Governor of Florida in 2018.

If he wants to be president, running for Governor in '18 will make no sense. Be governor for 2 years and campaign for president during the 2nd? It makes more sense to take on Bill Nelson.

[eric82oslo]

The 2016 campaign would only be one of 4-5-6, possibly 7, White House runs of the Paul of Rand. Cruz will probably quit after two or three disastrous atempts, yet Paul will most certainly go all the way.

[heatmaster]

Risky strategy betting on the future; if Jeb wins In 2016, whomever is the Vice President, will have first dibs on 2024; Jeb is going to go with someone he can groom to continue his legacy. So Rand Paul as much as he recognizes that he will not be the nominee in 2016, he can't imagine that Hillary is a slam dunk. Her vulnerabilities are becoming more evident with each passing day. Democrats are also not likely to hold the White House for a third term either. I know a lot of Democrats on this site don't want to acknowledge or accept this likelihood, but Obama is hardly a Eisenhower, Reagan or Clinton kind of figure, with the kind of popularity which could help a Democrat.  By 2016, while he will be popular with those hard-core liberals, not so hot with the rest of the electorate.  Democrats ignore recent history, 2000 & 2008, were change elections,  and 2016 will likely be a carbon copy in terms of the results. Hillary hardly represents change. Rand Paul or others wouldn't be running if they believed Hillary would easily win. Unfortunately for Paul or Rubio, they are one of 16 presidential wannabee's. Jeb Bush is employing a Reaganesque strategy, avoiding controversies or blow-ups, at the end of the day, despite the handicap of the Bush brand name, or his positions on common core and immigration,  he will prevail.  The question is when and it is only a question of time, before others in the field figure this out. I have noticed that Jeb Bush is being treated with kid gloves by his opponents,  because the Vice Presidency will become very attractive soon enough. Donald Trump has been the only one who disses the rest of the field, everyone else knows,  maybe even Trump too realizes this, hence the scorched earth strategy.  In fact Rand Paul is a visionary and he could wait until 2032, he would be 69 then, the same age as Reagan was in 1980.

[Mister Mets]

Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, and Scott Walker are the three candidates in this cycle who are most likely to run in 2020 should Jeb Bush lose the general election.

If Bush wins the general election, by 2024, Paul will likely be the only one still in office - Walker would have great difficulty winning a third term and Rubio is not running for re-election to the U.S. Senate, though there is speculation he will run for Governor of Florida in 2018.

If he wants to be president, running for Governor in '18 will make no sense. Be governor for 2 years and campaign for president during the 2nd? It makes more sense to take on Bill Nelson.

Unless there's a Republican incumbent in 2020.

[Mr. Morden]

In the cases of Walker and Rubio especially, what their future holds depends on how they would lose.  Coming in a close second for the nomination is quite different from an early flameout and dropout after Iowa, Phil Gramm style.

[dudeabides]

Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, and Scott Walker are the three candidates in this cycle who are most likely to run in 2020 should Jeb Bush lose the general election.

If Bush wins the general election, by 2024, Paul will likely be the only one still in office - Walker would have great difficulty winning a third term and Rubio is not running for re-election to the U.S. Senate, though there is speculation he will run for Governor of Florida in 2018.

I don't think Walker will wait 4 years. What is he going to do doing that time? I'm pretty sure Rubio will run for governor. Walker might run for Senate.

Walker will still be Governor of Wisconsin until 2019, so if he runs in 2020, he would begin running in 2019.

Rubio would only be out of office for 3 years by 2020, Jeb Bush has been out of office for 8 years now. Reagan was out of office 5 years by 1980.

But I am confident Jeb Bush will win and be the GOP nominee in 2020.

[Likely Voter]

The way Paul fought to be able to run for both Senate and prez showed that he knew this time was his first go, a sort of practice run. He was getting it out of the way for the real run in 2020 or 2024