Rand Paul's New Confidant

Shane Goldmacher of the National Journal fills us in:

Nate Morris, a Kentucky resident, did not hail from an early-primary state. Nor was he a religious leader. Nor was he particularly vocal about Israel. Nor did he even know Paul all that well...

Back in 2004, he was, at 23, by all accounts the country's youngest bundler for George W. Bush, raising at least $50,000 and becoming a "Bush Maverick." His list of contacts had only grown in the years since. "People in politics know who raises money," Morris says. "That's not a secret." In short, Morris was just the kind of moneyman Paul needed if he was going to pursue his presidential ambitions.

But in the 18 months since they rode around Israel together, Nate Morris has become much more than just a fundraiser for Paul. He is today an integral part of the Kentucky senator's political infrastructure: one of Paul's most trusted advisers and—perhaps most important for a politician with a cloistered reputation—a friend....He's a mainstream Republican with no major ties to Paul's father but plenty of links to the GOP establishment. His moneyed connections span from coast to coast, and his mainstream pedigree even includes his wife, the granddaughter of a legendary Republican fundraiser...

In Texas, Morris set up a February meeting between Paul and George P. Bush, the candidate for state lands commissioner and the son of a potential 2016 opponent, Jeb Bush. This spring, Morris helped arrange a Manhattan sit-down with wealthy investor Herb Allen III. It was a success not just because Allen wrote Paul a $1,000 check but, more importantly, because he subsequently invited Paul to attend his annual summit of the wealthy and powerful in Sun Valley, Idaho...

"With people like Nate Morris, he appeals to your Romney donors, which is something his father could never do, ever," says [ James Comer, the Kentucky agriculture commissioner widely viewed as the front-runner for the GOP gubernatorial nomination in 2015]. Paul, he continues, wants to appeal to those donors "because you have to do that to win. Rand is running to win. He's not running to make a statement or to prove a point. He's running to win."