Left Out Of Republican Debate, Rand Paul Takes Message Straight To Voters

Sen. Rand Paul wants to position himself as a different kind of Republican voice.

The Kentucky senator and Republican presidential candidate won't be on stage in Thursday evening's debate, but he was on the line Thursday morning with C4.

The debate hosted by Fox Business Network will only feature candidates who register in the top six based on an average of five national polls selected by Fox News. RealClearPolitics' average has Paul at 10th, statistically tied with Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Paul declined the chance to participate in an undercard debate and instead plans to host an online town hall. He told C4 he doesn't think the media or party establishment should be able to dictate who potential primary voters may hear.

Paul's platform includes criminal justice reform, something he says has attracted some interest from black voters he says feel taken for granted by the Democratic Party.

He also talked about the recent incident in Iran, where an American ship suffered engine trouble and drifted into Iranian waters. The incident came hours before President Barack Obama's State of the Union address and days ahead of the implementation date of Iran's nuclear agreement with the international community. Paul said the sailors' use as "pawns" in state media may constitute a violation of Geneva Convention obligations

"I will say, though, that I'm glad that the soldiers have been released and didn't lead to hostilities," he said. "I'm still hopeful that there will be a negotiated peace."

Though Paul voted for a bill that would have torn up the agreement, he said that was more due to problems with the speed of sanctions relief. If he were to be elected, he would not back out of the deal on his first day in office.

"What I would do is I would continue to verify and to keep a close eye on it." he said.