First Report on Rand Paul's Secret Presidential Plotting Meeting

David Catanese of US News & World Report is out with the first details of  the meeting of the members of Rand Paul's inner circle that plan to design Rand's campaign to become the 2016 presidential nominee of the Republican party:

More than two dozen advisers to Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul converged inside a boutique Washington hotel Wednesday to begin to form the skeleton of a 2016 presidential campaign. The first-term GOP senator hasn't definitively settled on a White House run, and a potential formal launch remains at least five months away. But the meeting of Paul's political brain trust under one roof for a daylong marathon of strategy sessions marks a significant indication of his ambitions to become a top-flight contender for the Republican nomination. Paul's team gathered at The Liaison hotel off Capitol Hill in Washington, where rolling private meetings in conference rooms touched on a laundry list of subjects, from communications and fundraising to technology and the early state primary map. The confab came just a week after sweeping GOP victories in the 2014 midterm elections, for which Paul campaigned in 35 states. It was the first time his emerging political team from across the country came together, allowing an opportunity to familiarize each other with their goals, priorities and challenges. Doug Stafford, Paul's top political lieutenant, served as master of ceremonies, highlighting the team's past accomplishments and outlining goal posts and benchmarks for 2015. “A lot of different people were sharing pieces of the puzzles they’ve been working on. So many of them are dependent on each other for things to work," says one Paul confidante who attended the gathering but was not authorized to speak about it publicly. "It's black, it's white, it's mostly young. It's male and female. It's tech-savvy, smart, mission-oriented. A lot of campaigns are three people in the room. These people are going to leave this place empowered." Paul, who was personally engaged in the meetings throughout the day, appeared at a 9 a.m. session to welcome his troops and reiterate his call to create a "bigger, bolder Republican Party." After his remarks, he fielded questions and posed his own, creating a give-and-take atmosphere that quickly turned into a pseudo-brainstorming session. "What are you doing in your area of expertise? What suggestions do you have? This is what I'd like to see," Paul said, according to an attendee.

Surely, more details will emerge in the days ahead, including whether Jesse Benton, Rand's nephew via marriage was in attendance, despite the fact that he left the Mitch McConnell campaign as a result of the cloud hanging over him because of the Kent Sorenson under-the-table payoffs. -RW