( CNN ) Sen. Rand Paul , who is expected to announce on April 7 that he will be running for the presidency , is garnering a great deal of attention as he travels around the country promoting his brand of libertarian conservatism . The Kentucky senator 's widely publicized appearance this month at the South by Southwest festival at Austin , Texas , was one opportunity he used to appeal to a tech-savvy audience . His particular blend of ideas -- a combination of libertarianism and Republican conservatism -- stands out from the rest of the pack . Younger Republicans , the much-desired millennial vote , seem attracted by what they are hearing . What accounts for his appeal ? In an era when so many Americans seem frustrated with shallow , personality-based politics , there seems to be genuine interest in a candidate who is fighting for a set of ideas . For many disaffected younger Republicans , Paul offers a version of the conservative agenda that seems foreign to the modern GOP . For almost half a century , `` big government conservatism '' has ruled the party . Although conservatism is theoretically about limited government , the historical reality has been much different . On national defense , the hawks of the GOP have been victorious . Even while railing against the dangers of a big federal government , Republicans have lined up to support higher defense spending and a massive military-industrial complex . Though the GOP has little tolerance for many social safety net programs , the party has accepted sizable government support to industry , such as the financial bailout known as TARP in 2008 and subsidies for certain economic interests . Paul has been a vocal critic of the neoconservative turn that the GOP has embraced in recent decades , during which the party moved beyond support for high national security spending and toward a bolder vision of aggressive nation-building and regime change . For some Republicans , including Paul , these policies were at the heart of the failures of George W. Bush 's presidency and a sharp departure from the party 's principles . Similarly , Paul has been one of the few Republican voices to argue that post 9/11 surveillance policies have dangerously curtailed civil liberties . At the local level , he has criticized the militarization of police forces and the treatment of African Americans by law enforcement officers . Paul has also backed away from some tenets of social conservatism that do n't sit well with a growing number of Republican voters . He has been an outspoken advocate of giving states the right to legalize marijuana . He has been attuned to the ways in which younger generations of Republicans are not on board with the evangelical fervor of the 1970s conservative movement and want to move in a different direction . While many Republicans have talked about the need for their party to tackle issues involving race and inequality in ways that are different from Democrats , most have been unwilling to offer any substantive ideas . Indeed , the recent budget blueprint from congressional Republicans exposed how thin discussions of a Republican anti-poverty program are . Their budget centers around cuts to key social safety net programs such as Medicare and regressive supply side tax cuts . But Paul , who has appeared to be supportive of a stringent budget , has also been willing to put forward bolder ideas , including criminal justice reform , that deal directly with the conditions that have devastated African American communities . Can Paul really win ? That is unclear . Republican strategist Matthew Dowd told The New York Times : `` It 's one thing to be interesting ; it 's another thing to be compelling . They 've got to see him sitting in the Oval Office . And I do not think Rand has crossed that threshold yet . '' There are many skeptics who do n't think that he has what it takes and that he has a controversial record . Paul 's extremely critical remarks about key aspects of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 will certainly come back to bite him , as will some of his blistering attacks on the Federal Reserve . Paul is also trying to make the case for a libertarian conservatism that is not pure . Paul is still a Republican , so he will continue to fit his ideas within the broader agenda of the GOP . He is also a politician at heart and will make compromises that he believes are essential to survive . While Paul argues that he is trying to take some of the ideas that libertarians liked about his father and make them politically viable , some of his supporters smell a sellout . Arguably , we have seen this recently when he signed the controversial letter to Iran led by Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas ( a neoconservative mentored by the hawkish Bill Kristol ) , switched his approach to the issue of same-sex marriage and gave support to an aggressive war against ISIS . `` This is more than a flip-flop . This is a backflip , '' the editor of an anti-war website told the Daily Beast . `` This was the last straw . I 've put up with a lot from that guy ! I 've had to defend him like a Jesuit . I 'm done . Let somebody else do it . '' But if Rand Paul can sell primary voters that his blend of ideas still offers something distinct from the rest of the Republican candidates , at a minimum he can help reshape the debate within the GOP by raising questions about some of the party 's core positions .
Julian Zelizer : Rand Paul , due to announce for presidency , has attracted a lot of attention . He says the Kentucky senator can appeal to younger Americans with a libertarian brand of conservatism .