Rand Paul to visit Reagan Library, Silicon Valley

Catalina Camia | USA TODAY

Sen. Rand Paul sure is making the rounds to some very high-profile places as he considers a 2016 presidential bid.

The Kentucky senator, a Tea Party favorite, has sold out a forum being held this Friday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Paul will start his California swing on Thursday in Silicon Valley, where he'll visit with executives at Google, Facebook and eBay, and deliver a speech at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

Paul will hawk his book, Government Bullies: How Everyday Americans are Being Harassed, Abused, and Imprisoned by the Feds, at the Reagan Library event May 31. (Don't forget: Paul is a libertarian in the mold of his father, former Texas congressman Ron Paul, and frequently criticizes what he views as the overreach of the federal government.)

His free-market ideas play well in the tech world. Paul wrote The Technology Revolution, a four-page manifesto that argues the Internet works best without government intrusion. Paul's senior strategist, Doug Stafford, told Mashable that the senator believes "a healthy and vibrant tech sector is vital to U.S. competitiveness in the global economy."

There's no mistaking that potential White House hopefuls see Silicon Valley as a place to cultivate new friends and raise campaign cash. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican who might also run in 2016, held a fundraiser this year for his state re-election campaign at the home of Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook co-founder and CEO.

Paul already has visited the early presidential states of Iowa and New Hampshire as he introduces himself to key conservatives and potential campaign donors outside Kentucky.

Follow Catalina Camia on Twitter at @ccamia.