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Is Rand Paul really 鈥渢he most intriguing man in today鈥檚 Republican Party?鈥�

That鈥檚 the assertion Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus made the other day, going beyond that to declare the US Senator from Kentucky 鈥渇or Democrats, perhaps the most frightening鈥� potential presidential candidate in 2016.

That election is light years away in political time, of course. Sen. Paul could trip over something, like the evidence of sloppy plagiarism in his past speeches and writings he was forced to acknowledge last year.

But really, compared with the other Republicans mentioned these days 鈥� Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Paul Ryan, Chris Christie, Jeb Bush, etc. (plus such 2012 also-rans as Rick Perry and Rick Santorum, both sniffing the presidential winds again) 鈥� he鈥檚 positively sparkly.

Paul鈥檚 attraction is two-fold.

He鈥檚 with most Americans aghast at government domestic spying and resistant of anything that suggests even the possibility of costly adventures abroad. The 鈥渨ar on terror鈥� waged from 9/11 through the 2000鈥檚 brought both of those trends, and Paul鈥檚 thinking is very much in line with that 鈥� and would be, one senses, even if it didn't comprise popular thought as shown in the polls.

Also, his persona and demeanor doesn't say 鈥渃onservative Republican鈥� 鈥� the jeans, mussy hair, and what Marcus observed was a 鈥渓aconic delivery and soft bluegrass accent that lent a certain stoner quality to his speech鈥� 鈥� which is why (along with his message) he did well at the University of California at Berkeley the other day.

鈥淗e does not look like, act like, or talk like a conventional politician," Stephen Voss, a political science professor at the University of Kentucky, told This Week magazine. 鈥淰oters are extremely unhappy with the political system, and Paul's awkward sincerity status clearly taps into the disillusionment.鈥澛�

Even those who may oppose him on issues give him grudging praise on performance.

Parsing Paul鈥檚 appearance at Berkeley, Huffington Post writer Peter Watts concludes that it amounted to 鈥渁 masterful assessment of the audience, and a message fine-tuned to their viewpoint.鈥�

Like his father before him 鈥� US Rep. Ron Paul, an icon of libertarian thought within the GOP who ran for president three times 鈥� Rand Paul doesn't hold back when he sees the need to criticize his own party.

Speaking to the county Republican organization in Houston聽last month, he warned that Texas 鈥� Texas! 鈥� "will be a Democratic state within 10 years if you don't change."

鈥淲e have to welcome people of all races. We need to welcome people of all classes,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e need to have people with ties and without ties, with tattoos and without tattoos; with earrings, without earrings.... We need a more diverse party. We need a party that looks like聽America.鈥�

More to the point, Paul said, that means attracting more Hispanics, who make up nearly 40 percent of voters in the Lone Star state.

Since then, Paul has won two presidential straw poll votes: at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) and at the Northeast Republican Leadership Conference in聽New Hampshire a week ago. It was Paul鈥檚 second win in a row at CPAC, where he raked in 31 percent of the vote and nobody else got more than 11 percent.

Rand Paul wins at CPAC for essentially the same reason his father did in 2010 and 2011: He has an enthusiastic following of young libertarian conservatives. Forty-six percent of the 2,459 people who participated in the straw poll were ages 18 to 25, and 42 percent were students.

But Sen. Paul needs to get beyond his father鈥檚 legacy if he is to succeed. Ron Paul did better than many of his party rivals in GOP primaries and caucuses, but never enough to win the love of establishment Republicans.

Paul says he鈥檚 鈥減retty much quit answering鈥� questions about his father鈥檚 positions.

鈥淚鈥檝e been in the Senate three years, and I have created a record of myself,鈥� he told the Daily Caller.

Referencing George W. Bush鈥檚 campaign for president in 2000 Paul said: 鈥淒id he get tons of questions about his dad? I don鈥檛 know that he did, to tell you the truth.鈥�