Rand Paul gears up for 2016

POLITICO’s Morning Score scoops:

Rand Paul has confirmed that he will speak at CPAC. The Kentucky senator, seen as a likely 2016 Republican candidate for president, has just returned from a trip to Israel. His father, Ron, won the CPAC presidential straw poll in 2010 and 2011. The annual conservative confab takes place in mid-March at National Harbor this year.

The Kentucky senator's speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference follows on the heels of his first trip to Israel — two prerequisites for any GOP White House hopeful.

(PHOTOS: Rand Paul’s career)

Among those on Paul’s Israel trip last week? Some key evangelical and early primary state leaders including South Carolina GOP Chairman Chad Connelly, Iowa GOP chairman A.J. Spiker, and Iowa Republican National Committeewoman Tamara Scott.