Opening a door to hedge his political bets, Sen. Rand Paul has asked the leader of the Kentucky Senate for legislation to ensure that Mr. Paul can run both for the White House and for re-election to the U.S. Senate in 2016, The Washington Times has learned. “Yes, I am working on clarifying an ambiguous state law that Rand Paul believes is unconstitutional if it is interpreted to bar running for re-election to the Senate and for president at the same time,” Kentucky Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer told The Times on Monday. I hope he does.” 
 
 Thayer denied that the caucus’ consideration of the idea was in exchange for Senate GOP support of House Bill 70, which would automatically restore voting rights for some felons -- an issue that has become a cornerstone as of late in Paul’s remodeling of the GOP brand in an effort to broaden the party’s base. Perhaps not so excited at the prospect are Kentucky's House of Representatives, which is (a very slight) majority Democrat. A veteran Republican Party operative in Kentucky said privately that House Speaker Greg Stumbo, a Democrat, has told colleagues there is no way he would allow such a bill to go through his chamber. “I’ve not spoken to the speaker about this and not heard publicly or privately what the Democrats in the House would do if Republicans passed it in the Senate,” Mr. Thayer said.
– Oh, the difficulties faced by Rand Paul: He's considering running for president in 2016 but would like to run for re-election to the US Senate at the same time, just in case, and he's not sure Kentucky law currently allows him to do so. So he's asked the state Senate majority leader to pass a law ensuring he can conduct both campaigns simultaneously, the Washington Times reports. Current state law says a candidate's name cannot appear on a ballot more than once, the Wire explains. "Yes, I am working on clarifying an ambiguous state law that Rand Paul believes is unconstitutional if it is interpreted to bar running for re-election to the Senate and for president at the same time," the majority leader, Damon Thayer, confirms. "The purpose of the bill will be to make clear that Rand Paul or anyone in a similar situation in Kentucky can run for both offices in the same year." But the Kentucky state House speaker, Greg Stumbo, is a Democrat, and an anonymous Republican Party operative tells the Times that Stumbo has said he wouldn't allow such a bill through the Democrat-controlled House. (How serious is Paul about a presidential run? Thayer tells WFPL that Paul "is strongly considering seeking the Republican nomination for president.")