Rand Paul: GOP can turn California red

◼ How Republicans Can Win California” - Rand Paul/For The Flash Report

[Flash Report Publisher's Note: We are pleased to offer this original column submitted to the FlashReport by United States Senator Rand Paul. This evening at 6 p.m. Senator Paul will be giving an address at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. You can watch the live webcast of his remarks ◼ here. Enjoy! - Jon Fleischman]

◼ “...a libertarian-leaning Republican can have an appeal in California, not only for Silicon Valley folks but voters in general.” - Joel Gehrke/Washington Examiner @joelmentum

President Obama and national Democrats hope to turn the Republican stronghold of Texas into a battleground state, but Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., suspects that Republicans have the capacity to turn California red.

“One of the reasons I come to California is that the Republican Party seems to have given up on California, and my message to those in California is that we’re going to compete nationally as a party, and that includes California,” Paul told Wired Thursday as he traveled to meet with Silicon Valley executives. “And the way we’re going to compete is by running people for office who can appreciate some issues that attract young people and independents: civil liberties, as well as a less aggressive foreign policy, not putting people in jail for marijuana, a much more tolerant type of point of view. If you have Republican candidates like that then I think all of a sudden you’d find California back in play.”