McConnell: Rand Paul can 'count on me' for 2016


Posted: Nov 07, 2014 9:31 AM CST Updated: Nov 07, 2014 10:01 AM CST
By Jeremy Diamond CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. Mitch McConnell just put one election behind him that is expected to sweep him into the position of Senate majority leader, but he already knows who he'd back in 2016 if he decides to run: fellow Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul.

"I don't think he's made a final decision on that. But he'll be able to count on me," McConnell said of Paul's presidential prospects in an interview with the Lexington Herald-Leader published Thursday.

McConnell, who called himself a "big supporter of Rand Paul" said the pair have "developed a very tight relationship."

"And I'm for him," McConnell said. "Whatever he decides to do."

That's despite the fact that other members of McConnell's new majority are considering presidential bids, including Sens. Ted Cruz, Rob Portman and Marco Rubio.

But McConnell and Paul have become close, with Paul campaigning with McConnell to stave off the Senate minority leader's Democratic challenge from Alison Lundergan Grimes. And the pair spent Election Night together in Kentucky.

McConnell and Paul have come a long way since 2010, when McConnell backed his primary opponent, a mistake he said he wished he could "do over again."

"I've learned my lesson there," McConnell said. "That clearly was a mistake. We all make them, and that's one if I had to do over again I would."

Paul has already begun building up a political apparatus in several key primary states and has said he will make a decision by next spring.

But the campaign might have already begun, with Paul calling the results a "repudiation of Clinton" and launching "#HillarysLosers" on Twitter and Facebook with pictures of likely 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton campaigning with candidates who fell short in the ballot count Tuesday.

http://www.erietvnews.com/story/2732...on-me-for-2016