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1 of 10Senator Rand Paul talks to voters at the Horry County Republican Party in Myrtle Beach, S.C. on Sept. 30th, 2014.Charles Ommanney for TIME -
2 of 10Senator Rand Paul talks with students at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, S.C. on Sept. 30th, 2014.Charles Ommanney for TIME -
3 of 10Senator Rand Paul's boots are seen as he talks with students at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, S.C. on Sept. 30th, 2014.Charles Ommanney for TIME -
4 of 10Senator Rand Paul bows his head in prayer before talking to voters at the Horry County Republican Party in Myrtle Beach, S.C. on Sept. 30th, 2014.Charles Ommanney for TIME -
5 of 10Senator Rand Paul and GOP Senatorial candidate Thom Tillis meet with diners at Big Ed's restaurant in Raleigh, N.C. on Oct. 1st, 2014.Charles Ommanney for TIME -
6 of 10Senator Rand Paul attends a BBQ event at the Donnelly Barn in Bowling Green, Ky. on Oct. 12th, 2014.Charles Ommanney for TIME -
7 of 10In a back tent, Senator Paul manages to have five minutes alone to go over his speech at the Donnelly Barn in Bowling Green, Ky. on Oct. 12, 2014.Charles Ommanney for TIME -
8 of 10Senator Rand Paul and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell attend a BBQ event at the Donnelly Barn in Bowling Green, Ky. on Oct. 12th, 2014.Charles Ommanney for TIME -
9 of 10Senator Rand Paul speaks at a BBQ event at the Donnelly Barn in Bowling Green, Ky. on Oct. 12th, 2014.Charles Ommanney for TIME -
10 of 10The BBQ event's band at the Donnelly Barn in Bowling Green, Ky. on Oct. 12, 2014.Charles Ommanney for TIME
The tattooed and pierced longhairs never showed up to see Senator Rand Paul speak with students at the University of South Carolina in Columbia last month. Those in attendance drew instead from the preppy set, with brushed bangs, blue blazers and proper hemlines, some wearing sunglasses on neck straps like jock jewelry. They mostly hailed from college Republican circles, and the room where they gathered, a wood-stained memorial to the state’s old power structure, was named for the politician who led the fight to protect school segregation in the 1960s.
You could call them activists, even rebels in their way. But this was not a gathering of losers and outcasts. Paul knew this. And that was the whole point…
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