While the Left is busy readying its coronation of Queen Hillary who currently looks to have no solid primary opponent—they’re the party of “choice,” doncha know—the GOP field is adding its second candidate to what is shaping up to be a large, diverse pool of interesting prospects. Rand Paul, on the heels of Ted Cruz’s announcement two weeks ago, is set to declare today that he, too, is officially throwing his GOP hat into the ring, and will seek the office of the presidency. He is slated to declare at an event at the Galt House in Louisville, Kentucky, at 11:30 ET. You can watch the announcement live on C-SPAN here. Over the weekend, Senator Paul, preparing for his Tuesday statement and the kickoff of a reported 50-state campaign, released this video, titled A Different Kind of Republican Leader:

It’s pretty compelling stuff, even if the chants at the conclusion are a wee bit creepy. I recall watching his near 13-hour filibuster on the Senate floor, holding up a CIA nomination, following receipt of Eric Holder’s legal justification that would potentially allow unilateral drone strikes on American citizens, not only overseas, but inside the United States. And unlike one soon-to-be-retired Senator who filibustered by reading passages from his own book (hint: it’s the same guy who defiled our Senate by slandering, on the Senate floor, a former presidential candidate), Senator Paul talked…and talked…and talked…about our federal government’s increasing overreach, while demanding a clarification from Eric Holder. He’s also a loud critic of the exponential growth of privacy violations at the hands of the NSA, an issue that has become one of his primary championed causes. Paul’s other concerns range from fiscal irresponsibility to the unease that Iran is staring, with lustful eyes, at an eventual nuclear weapon. And he’s reached out to university and minority communities in his quest to grow support. That said, Senator Paul has received criticism as of late for allegedly going “fuzzy” on his core principles. From the Washington Post:

There are at least two areas where Paul has moved more in line with the conservative Republican base, somewhat to the consternation of the purists in the libertarian movement: adopting a more muscular posture on defense and foreign policy, and courting the religious right.

Where he once pledged to sharply cut the Pentagon’s budget, for instance, Paul late last month proposed a $190 billion increase over the next two years — albeit one that would be paid for by cutting foreign aid and other government programs. His tour following the announcement of his candidacy will include an event at Patriots Point in South Carolina’s Charleston Harbor, with the World War II-era aircraft carrier USS Yorktown as a backdrop.

The haziness over Paul’s positions increased last week with his conspicuous silence on controversies in the realms of both national security and the cultural fronts.

Nearly all of his potential rivals for the 2016 GOP nomination have been vocal in their support for Indiana’s new religious liberties law, which critics say would allow discrimination against gays. And the Republican response to President Obama’s nuclear negotiations with Iran has been widespread skepticism.

But supporters say he hasn’t changed.

“He’s still the same guy. It’s only how he’s viewed that has changed,” said [David Adams, who served as campaign chairman for Paul’s insurgent 2010 Senate campaign]. “He’s gone from somebody viewed as an oddity to somebody who’s interesting. And on the issues, he has answered the same questions over and over, that he hasn’t so much changed but shown a more three-dimensional side of where he’s coming from.”

Paul also has been trying to find common cause with evangelical Christian voters, who have been skeptical of and even hostile toward the energized libertarian element of the GOP.

“The First Amendment says keep government out of religion. It doesn’t say keep religion out of government,” he told a group of pastors at a private breakfast on Capitol Hill on March 26.

His tone was a signal, wrote David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network, that “this is not some ‘crazy libertarian’ who wants to distance himself from faith-and-government issues.”

Not to worry, though, the objective MSM will vet him vigorously, as it should any presidential candidate. And if they can’t find some good dirt—has he claimed, like his potential rival, Jeb Bush, to be Hispanic lately?—they’ll accuse his staffers of being too attractive, and criticize the amount of his hard-earned money he spends on sweaters, or some other egregious violation of their sensibilities. You know, just like they’re doing with Queen Hillary.

Of course, response to his upcoming announcement today range from this:

#randpaul2016 has the best messaging of any candidate. "Defeat the Washington Machine" is brilliant.

— Ryan Mauro (@ryanmauro) April 6, 2015

…to this:

https://twitter.com/Ernestsworld/status/585242341725736962

…and just about everything in between.

I theorized way back when, when Rand Paul endorsed Senator Mitch McConnell for re-election, that there was a method to his apparent madness, given McConnell’s less than popular position with the GOP base. I posited that when the time came, and the GOP indeed took control of the Senate, that he’d call in that chip and receive the endorsement of the sitting Senate Majority Leader. Well, that time has arrived. Senator Paul’s already received the coveted endorsements of my own representative, Raul Labrador of Idaho, Michigan’s popular Justin Amash, Kentucky’s Thomas Massie, and Rep. Mark Sanford, former governor of South Carolina, at least three of whom are admired by the “conservatarians” among us. Will McConnell join that list? Only time will tell if Senator Paul is paid back for that controversial endorsement. Either way, he’s got a long road ahead of him.

UPDATE [7:15 Pacific] Senator Paul has reportedly announced on his website that he is indeed running for president. Stay tuned for video of his verbal announcement. We have ourselves a horse race.