James R. Carroll

WASHINGTON - Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is working on a new book that will come out early next year - about the same time he will decide whether to run for president.

"Just coincidence, probably just coincidence, yeah," the Republican said, chuckling in a recent interview with The Courier-Journal.

The publisher has not yet announced the upcoming book and Paul was reluctant to share the working title. But he said the possible subtitle was "Beyond Partisanship."

"Beyond the left-right paradigm kind of thing," the senator elaborated.

Paul told The Courier-Journal he would make a decision about a White House bid "in the beginning of 2015 sometime or the spring of 2015."

It has become customary in American politics for a would-be president to produce a book contemporaneously with a campaign.

Barack Obama, for example, wrote The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, ahead of his 2008 presidential campaign.

George W. Bush published A Charge to Keep in 1999, just before his 2000 campaign for president.

Paul is the author of two previous books: The Tea Party Goes to Washington (2011) and Government Bullies: How Everyday Americans Are Being Harassed, Abused, and Imprisoned by the Feds (2012).

Asked what the subject of his new book will be, Paul said "a lot of it is about policy and about my approach to a variety of issues, and maybe the uniqueness of that approach."

The idea is to appeal to people who are not entirely politically aligned with either the Republican Party or the Democratic Party, he said.

"I've sided with some of the most liberal members of the Senate on criminal justice reform and NSA (National Security Agency) and surveillance reform and the right to privacy," Paul said. "And I've sided with some of the most conservative members of the Senate on areas of regulation and fiscal responsibility and taxation."

You will recall that there was controversy last year over instances of alleged plagiarism in Government Bullies, as well as in speeches the senator gave and articles he wrote. Paul initially said he was being targeted by "haters" and wished he could have challenged his attackers to a duel.

The senator later said the questionable passages were the result of "sloppy" work and that it was "my fault." He said he had instituted new checks to avoid future problems.