The Son Also Rises? Rand Paul 2012?

Tea party favorite U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., was elected to the Senate in November and said he is open to running for the Republican presidential nomination. The Charleston Post and Courier is reporting that Paul spoke in South Carolina, the first Southern state to hold a primary, and expressed interest in running, provided his father, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, is not in the race. The elder Paul pulled 3.6 percent in South Carolina when he ran for the GOP nod back in 2008.

This is not the first time that two members of the same family were considered to be possible presidential candidates at the same time. Both Democratic icon William Jennings Bryan and his brother Charlie were mentioned as possible candidates in 1924, though only Charlie ran (and ended up as the party vice presidential candidate).

Look for the Rand Paul buzz to last awhile. He's headed to Iowa and New Hampshire.