Paul on CNN poll rise: 'It's just part of my movement upwards'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}For the first time in several weeks, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is celebrating his position in a presidential poll as opposed to challenging the attention paid to it.
The Republican presidential hopeful rose to fifth place with 5 percent support in a CNN/ORC poll released Tuesday, putting him ahead of businesswoman Carly Fiorina, who was second behind GOP front-runner Donald Trump in the same poll just last month, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who has polled steadily in the middle of the field. Fiorina and Cruz now stand 1 percentage point behind Paul at 4 percent each.
At first glance, Paul's 1-point jump may appear insignificant. But the Kentucky senator says it's indicative of his unrivaled support among young voters and follows a positive trend he's seen since the second Republican debate.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We've seen movement upwards ever since the second debate in our fundraising and our organizational ability and now we're seeing a bit of it in this poll," Paul told the Washington Examiner Tuesday. He noted that most polls have "underappreciated" his support among independent voters and youth.
The latest CNN/ORC poll offers no breakdown in percentage of support among millennials or respondents age 35-49. However, Paul is shown earning just 1 percent support among the "50 and older" bracket, leading his campaign to believe he must have scored well among younger voters to have risen to fifth place.