In a sign of confidence about today’s results, Rand Paul is already talking about becoming a thorn in the Republican leadership’s side:

Rand Paul, the Republican Senate nominee in Kentucky, says that if he’s elected he would not be an automatic vote for the state’s senior senator, Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who did not back him in the primary but supports him now.

“We will challenge him from day to day, but there will be many areas in which we agree,” Paul said during an appearance Tuesday on CNN’s “American Morning.”

“Most Republicans think we’re spending too much, the deficit’s too high. But sometimes when we’ve gotten in power we’ve gone along and not really stayed the course,” he added. “I will be one who will say to Republicans in my party, ‘We do need to stay the course and go ahead and balance our budget.’ “

Contextually, it’s not clear whether that means he’d back a challenger to McConnell for the top leadership position. It has been speculated that Jim DeMint could be one possibility.