Kentucky's junior senator, Rand Paul, finished third among a group of eight potential 2016 Republican presidential candidates, according to a poll released this week.
The Quinnipiac University poll showed among 712 voters who described themselves as Republicans Paul had 15 percent support for the GOP nomination, bested only by Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida (19 percent) and the 2012 vice presidential nominee, Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan (17 percent).
The only other potential GOP candidates with double-digit support were Chris Christie, the New Jersey governor, with 14 percent and former and former Florida governor Jeb Bush with 10 percent.
The margin of error among GOP voters in the poll was plus or minus 3.7 percent.
The same poll asked 1,711 registered voters from around the country whether or not they approve of President Obama's job performance - 49 percent said they approve while 45 percent said they disapprove.
The poll asked the larger group of voters whether they would support the Democrat running for president in 2016 or the Republican nominee; and 43 percent said they would choose the Democrat while 35 percent said they would support the Republican nominee.
