Rand Paul pins his presidential hopes on America's youth

Rand Paul, a Republican senator from Kentucky, said he would run for the White House, promising to return the US "to the principles of liberty and limited government".

Mr Paul, who made the declaration on his website on Tuesday ahead of an official campaign launch in his home state, will be hoping that his libertarian message can energise young voters enough to propel him beyond more mainstream potential GOP candidates such as Jeb Bush and Scott Walker.

Pointing to his strategy during a visit to Iowa this year, Mr Paul said that "the energy in any political movement is the youth". In trying to move two steps further than his father Ron Paul - who failed to win the GOP nomination in 2008 - the former eye doctor is trying to woo a group that will become increasingly important in the 2016 race for the White House and beyond.

Mr Paul and his baby boom generation will be overtaken as the biggest age cohort by the millennials - the group born after 1980 that was critical in sending Barack Obama to the White House. According to Pew, millennials will reach 75.3m this year compared with 74.9m baby boomers (ages 51 to 69). They are expected to grow until 2036 when they will peak at 81.1m.

Whit Ayres, a political strategist advising Marco Rubio, the Cuban-American Republican who is expected to run for president, says the GOP has to do better courting millennials, particularly because they include a larger proportion of non-white voters who have traditionally supported Democrats.

In the 2012 election, 60 per cent of 18-29 year-old voters chose Mr Obama over Mitt Romney. "Republicans cannot afford to lose the young by that kind of margin," says Larry Sabato, a politics expert at the University of Virginia.

John Weaver, a Republican strategist, says the GOP also cannot afford to keep losing first-time voters at the same rate as it has in successive recent presidential elections. "Once a person votes Democrat once, twice, three times, it's very hard to bring them back," says Mr Weaver.

In selling his brand of anti-establishment libertarianism - which advocates fewer barriers to the use of medical marijuana, relaxed prison sentences for non-violent crimes, and dialling back government surveillance - Mr Paul wants to set himself apart from his rival Republicans.

"It's going to take someone who can unite the country," the Tea Party darling told CNN in Iowa. "Republican. Democrat. Working class. Business class. Rich. Poor. Black. White. You name it. When our party looks like the rest of America, we're going to win."

Although Mr Rand has clear appeal with some young Republicans, he may have trouble winning over the 51 per cent of millennials who, says Jocelyn Kiley of Pew Research, either back or lean towards supporting Democrats.

Ms Kiley says that while millennials' top concerns - such as the economy - mirror those of previous generations, "once you scratch beneath the top, you start to see some differences" including on environmental issues. They are also more supportive of government, which could pose problems for Mr Paul, the author of "Government Bullies" who is a big proponent of reducing the role of government in people's lives.

But while most experts agree Democrats have fared better with millennials, some say this does not guarantee future success - particularly as the age group has a poor record when it comes to turnout on election day.

"The key is capturing their excitement in the presidential election," says William Frey, an expert on demographics at the Brookings Institution.

One reason Republicans won control of the Senate and secured their best House result since 1928 in November was that fewer millennials turned up at polling stations than in the 2012 presidential election. Mr Ayres says that while 18-29 year olds voted 54 to 43 per cent in favour of Democrats, they only accounted for 13 per cent of voters, down from 19 per cent in 2012.

"You have to motivate them to vote . . . both sides will be fighting hard particularly in states that have large youth populations," says John Halpin of the Center for American Progress.

Mr Halpin argues that Democrats cannot take the youth vote for granted, and adds that he can see "Rubio doing well and Paul doing well" with millennials.

According to Pew, millennials prioritise scientific research, education and the environment more than older groups. And even though most came of age after the 9/11 terror attacks, they tend to see terrorism as a less important issue than their elders. But they are generally in agreement with older age groups on the need for a stronger economy and more jobs.

Bryon Fisher, vice-chairman of the Kentucky Federation of Young Republicans, says the "overriding concern" of millennials is the economy, particularly as they struggle to repay student debt, and because of a sense that they are the most disadvantaged group economically since the Great Depression. He says some of the young people who helped Mr Obama win the White House in 2008 are disillusioned that his policies have not created a better economy.

"These things affect us more than anyone else because we are starting out," says Mr Byron. "We are going back home (and) living in our parents' basements. That is not the American dream."

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