Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker fueled speculation about his presidential aspirations with a speech in Iowa tonight.

AUDIO of Walker’s speech, runs 40:00

Walker spoke of his childhood years in Iowa: “Between July 1st of 1970 and March 15th of 1977 I lived in Plainfield, Iowa.”

Made sure the audience knew he is among nation’s younger governors: ”I remember coming in after the November 2nd election, which just incidentally happened to be my 43rd birthday.”

Touted his victory in that contentious recall election: ”We not only won, we won by a bigger margin, by a larger number of votes on the fifth of June in 2012 versus what we got November 2nd of 2010.”

Offered a “pathway” for his party in 2014 and beyond: ”I think we need to be more optimistic. I think we need to speak in terms that are more relevant and I think we need to be more courageous.”

And suggested the “long-term structural reforms” he’s implementing in Wisconsin should be tried out on a bigger stage: ”We’ve laid a positive foundation to move Wisconsin forward and people wanted to continue down that path. We need to do that nationally as well.”

After the speech, Mary Whisenand of Des Moines said Walker is “absolutely” presidential material.

“I think he knows what he’s doing. He’s been through so much,” she said. “He’s been tested.”

And he signed the “I Stand with Scott Walker” yard sign Whisenand picked up last year in Wisconsin.

US Senator Rand Paul

The Kentucky Senator who won his race in 2010 with the support of Tea Party activists is speaking tonight at an Iowa GOP fundraising banquet.

During an afternoon news conference in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Senator Rand Paul told reporters he is “offended” by today’s IRS admission. The agency announced tax documents from tea party groups had been flagged for additional review during the 2012 campaign and IRS officials offered an apology.

“I’m offended when any kind of government entity targets people for their political or religious beliefs,” Paul said, “so it’s, you know, particularly offensive, since I’m one of the groups they were targeting. They didn’t audit me personally, but, you know, government should never be used to bully people.”

IRS officials say the Tea Party investigations were instigated by low-level staff in Ohio and the agency’s top management in Washington were not involved. Paul said he doesn’t know the details yet to determine if that’s where it ends, or whether congress should launch an investigation.

“I haven’t seen the investigation or the report, but I would think that you would go until you can’t go beyond a level, to find out where the orders came from,” Paul told reporters.

Earlier today White House spokesman Jay Carney said the Obama Administration expects an internal IRS Inspector General investigation “to be thorough and for corrections to be made.” 

Senator Paul spoke with reporters for more than half an hour, answering questions about his presidential ambitions and his appeal to those who supported his father’s bids for the White House.  Paul also described himself as “the bridge between the House and Senate” in the current immigration reform debate.

AUDIO of Rand Paul’s news conference in Cedar Rapids, runs 36:00

Paul said he’ll make a decison next year about running for the White House.

“I don’t feel a time constraint, necessarily,” Paul told reporters. “We’ve said that it’ll be at least 2014, sometime, before I make a decision, but in all likelihood I will be on the ballot in Kentucky, so we haven’t really looked beyond that.”

Paul was elected to the U,.S,. Senate in 2010 and his term is up in 2016. He spent this afternoon in meetings with Evangelical pastors and Republican activists in the Cedar Rapids area before he spoke to more than 500 people at tonight’s GOP fundraiser. And Paul sent a warning shot to other Republicans who might consider skipping Iowa’s first-in-the-nation Caucuses.

“I tell ‘em good luck, you know. I mean, I don’t think it works,” Paul said during his afternoon news conference. “…There’s a great deal of momentum that comes out of Iowa. The winner in Iowa becomes a contender. Even if they weren’t a contender going into it, if they win Iowa they automatically become a contender, because is buoys them going into New Hampshire and the other states.”

Paul conceded people are trying to compare his views with his father’s — former Texas Congressman Ron Paul, the three-time presidential candidate. But Rand Paul suggested being related to Ron Paul isn’t his entre to the White House.

“After a while, if it isn’t about what I stand for and if it’s always about a comparison, that means I’m not doing a very good job and I’m not going to be able to be a significant player on the national scene,” Paul told reporters.

During his speech this evening Paul argued Republicans could become the “dominant national party” if Republicans allow people who don’t agree on every issue into the GOP tent. He also repeated his criticism of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, accusing her of “dereliction of duty” for failing to shore up security at the statement department mission in Benghazi, Libya that was attacked last September 11th.

(This story was updated at 8:30 p.m. with additional information.)

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul says he’ll decide in “about a year” whether to run for president in 2016. Paul is scheduled to be the keynote speaker at an Iowa Republican Party fundraiser in Cedar Rapids Friday evening.

“I am traveling to a lot of states that just coincidentally have early primaries,” Paul says. “But part of that is to grow the Republican Party as well.”

Paul suggests Republicans can “learn a lesson” from Democrats and make room in the GOP for “disagreement” on social issues.

“The Democrats probably have a thousand different special interest groups who don’t always get along with each other, but they stay under the tent of the Democrat Party,” Paul says. “That’s what Republicans need to do is when we create a big tent, we need to understand we will not agree on every issue and that doesn’t mean we give up on what we believe in. It just means that we acknowledge there will be some people in the party who don’t agree on every social issue and maybe what unifies the party as a whole is we believe in small government, less taxation, less regulation.”

Paul suggests the G-O-P needs to be a “more diverse party” that reaches out to groups like Hispanics and African-Americans who’ve traditionally aligned with Democrats.

“You know, I’m pro-life. I believe in traditional marriage, but I don’t have to beat you up about it,” Paul says. “….You might have a different opinion and still be a fiscal conservative and say, ‘Well, gosh, my home is much closer to the Republican Party. I just disagree with Rand Paul on these issues, but he’s a reasonable fellow and he’s not beating me up about it, so I think I can be in the same party as him.’”

Rand Paul made his comments during an interview on Iowa Public Radio.

Senator Paul was working as an eye doctor in Bowling Green, Kentucky, when he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010. His father, former Texas Congressman Ron Paul, ran for president three times and finished third in the 2012 Iowa Caucuses.