Everyone has their own pre-game routine, and that’s no different for the Republican presidential hopefuls squaring off at Wednesday’s CNN debate.
For Sen. Rand Paul, that meant going shooting — shooting the tax code, to be exact.
“Well, it’s better than sitting around all day and thinking of what crazy questions I’m going to be asked,” Paul said as he was switching rifles at an outdoor gun range here.
Paul fired holes into a stack of eight, paper-filled boxes, representing 70,000 pages of the U.S. tax code. Crunching beneath his feet were hundreds of shells that lay scattered about the ground from his rounds and those of previous shooters.
“Go get ’em tonight, senator,” one supporter shouted.
Blasting away the tax code wasn’t too far of a stretch for the Republican presidential candidate from Kentucky. In July, he chopped up the tax code with a chainsaw to promote his tax plan.
But it definitely stands out as a debate warm-up ahead of CNN’s showdown Wednesday night at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
Some of his rivals are taking a quieter approach.
Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina will play solitaire to stay relaxed and focused before having lunch with her husband, Frank, according to her campaign.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush went hiking with his son, Jeb, Jr., and was scheduled to go to church with his wife, Columba.
Meanwhile, Ohio Gov. John Kasich planned to fit in some policy discussions with advisers as well as a workout (we hear he likes the elliptical machine and lifting weights).
Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania may browse through the Reagan library again like he did before he was on the debate stage in the last presidential election. He’ll also do some more policy prep, but “he keeps it pretty low key on debate day,” said spokesman Matt Beynon.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is planning to hit the gym as well as dine on a lunchtime meal of slices of pizza and a Diet Coke.
Santorum and Jindal will both be featured in the 6 p.m. debate, before the prime-time one.
The candidates also do a walk-through of the debate venue during the day. All told, 15 presidential hopefuls will take part in two debates Wednesday night.
While many of them were gearing up privately, Paul invited reporters and donors to watch him shoot five different guns at the range. He admitted he wasn’t an expert, saying he had only shot 10 times before and urged his instructor to carefully guide him through the process.
“I’m a novice, so you’ll show me everything I need to do?”
“Everything,” replied Taran Butler, who owned the range.
Talking to reporters, Paul spoke with ease about his plans to go after Donald Trump at the debate and highlighted the real estate titan’s record of supporting Democratic policies, like universal health care.
“Some of these problems come back to roost on (Mitt) Romney because Romney had been for a single-payer system in Massachusetts,” Paul said, invoking the unsuccessful 2012 GOP nominee. “And ultimately that was a problem.”
Wearing sunglasses as the hills of Simi Valley towered behind him, Paul coolly brushed off concerns about any potential repercussions from going after the current GOP frontrunner.
“I think who leads the party and who becomes the presidential nominee is important enough to risk a little blow back,” he said.
And while he blasted Trump’s rise as nothing more than a surged fueled by “celebrity,” Paul had a Hollywood moment of his own. Butler, the range owner, called the senator over to a white door that was covered in signatures and dubbed the “celebrity wall.”
On it were autographs from Will Smith and Keanu Reeves, and now, Rand Paul.