DOUBLE DOSE OF LIBERTY

DES MOINES — It’s never too early to start thinking about 2016.

As Rep. Ron Paul, the oldest candidate in the Republican field, heads into what could be his final Iowa caucuses, his motley band of supporters is buzzing about a second coming — Sen. Rand Paul.

Rand Paul, 48, rode the wave of voter discontent in 2010, winning a U.S. Senate seat in Kentucky and promptly claiming the title of tea party senator. Ron Paul, 76, campaigned for his son, and his son is returning the favor.

At five well-attended whistle-stop rallies across the state, Paul the younger joined Paul the elder, showing that the septuagenarian congressman not only has been able to expand his support but also has the capacity to extend his brand.

While it’s not uncommon for the children of presidential candidates to stump for their parents, there is perhaps no more effective surrogate than Sen. Paul, who has voted in lock step with his father on issues that are key to fiscal conservatives and who is proof to tea party voters that the movement has moved to Washington.

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