Kim Norvell

The Des Moines Register

Placing fifth in the caucus, Sen. Rand Paul’s campaign says he still got a ticket out of Iowa.

Tradition dictates that the top three winners in Iowa are the candidates who will continue to fight for their party’s nomination. But, with such a crowded field this year, Paul’s campaign is comfortable with changing that old adage to five tickets out of Iowa, said Steve Grubbs, his chief Iowa strategist.

The Kentucky senator campaigned on the ideas of liberty and “a government so small, you can barely see it.” During a victory speech in downtown Des Moines, Paul said the liberty movement “is alive and well in Iowa,” though it “requires eternal vigilance” from a new generation of voters.

“It’s the remnant, it’s the few, it’s those who will stand up and say ‘We’re not trading our liberty. Not now, not ever. Hell no,’” he said. “Against all odds, against a little bit of bias here and there, tonight the liberty movement beat four governors from the establishment.”

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Paul spoke to a crowd of about 150 at the Scottish Rite Consistory building. Many were volunteers who contributed to the campaign’s 1.2 million phone calls to potential caucusgoers. They cheered wildly for Paul, who was joined by about 20 family members, and continued their campaign trail chant of “President Paul!”

“I think the idea of liberty lives on. In you, in us," he said. “We will continue to fight. Tonight is the beginning. Liberty will live on. We fight on.”

In a statement to the media later, Paul said the race for the White House is still wide open, and he called for ABC and the Republican National Convention to include him on the debate stage Saturday in New Hampshire.