Ron Paul's South Carolina stop was essentially a layover on the way to Texas. Paul brings anti-war message to S.C.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Ron Paul sought Wednesday to seize on momentum from his strong second-place finish in New Hampshire.

“We sent a pretty positive message out of Iowa. We sent out a pretty positive message last night in New Hampshire. And South Carolina is next on the list,” the Texas congressman told more than 200 enthusiastic supporters crowded into an airport hangar on a rainy afternoon.


Though Paul joined the other GOP candidates in rushing to South Carolina following the New Hampshire primary, his stop was essentially a layover on the way to Texas, where he is taking a respite until Sunday. Once he returns, he plans to stay through the primary on Jan. 21.

Unlike its operations in Iowa and New Hampshire, the Paul campaign does not have a deep organization here. But Paul said after his speech Wednesday that he will finish “in the top tier.” He’s currently fourth in the most recent polling, trailing Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum.

“The numbers grew exponentially in New Hampshire, and the numbers are going to grow continuously here in South Carolina,” Paul said during his speech.

The Palmetto State is not a natural fit for Paul’s brand of libertarian politics. There will be fewer independent voters than in New Hampshire, and the state is more closely tied to the military than the first two states — meaning voters might be less receptive to his anti-intervention foreign policy and calls to completely withdraw from Afghanistan. Four years ago, Paul finished a distant fifth in the state — garnering less than 4 percent of the vote.

Paul thanked his supporters Wednesday for “spontaneous” grass-roots activity not associated with the formal campaign. He told them that success here would require “a lot of work.”

“We are going to be very, very busy and involved and we’re getting ready to send this message because it’s becoming a national message. Because we have to change what is happening,” he said, calling himself a “dangerous” challenge to the status quo. “They ought to be looking out because we’re coming. And we’re going to deliver this message [of] … peace and prosperity.”

Paul’s campaign continued to frame the nominating contest as a two-man race between Paul and Romney.

“Right now, Romney’s poised to walk away with South Carolina, and we’ve got to do everything we can to prevent that from happening,” said Paul Moore, 42, a newspaper carrier from Aiken. “That’s why I’m here.”

Paul delivered his standard stump speech, focusing on foreign policy and monetary policy. Late into his 25-minute address, he told the audience that there is an international conspiracy afoot to replace the dollar with a global currency.

“We have a financial crisis. They know it as much as we do, and they’re planning an international answer to this,” he said. “You just can’t keep printing them forever. … They’re going to have to attempt to restore confidence, but they’re going to come up with another paper currency controlled and ruled by the United Nations and the IMF.”

Paul said that should motivate his supporters to mobilize. “So I would suggest very strongly that we need to send a powerful message to those … in charge by showing them that we are not a small minority any longer,” he said, “and we’re constantly growing, and we are going to have a lot of influence in the future of this country.”

Jennifer Sharpe, a 35-year-old attorney in Columbia, said she has close to 500 Facebook friends and many she’d never expect to be Paul supporters have commented positively on her Paul-related posts recently.

“I’m just very excited about Ron Paul, especially with the victory yesterday,” she said. “It shows we’re here, and we need to be reckoned with.”

Paul said his showing in New Hampshire had forced the mainstream media to take him seriously — and his supporters agreed.

“I pray it’s true what they say: First they ignore you, then they attack you, but then you win,” Paul’s South Carolina state chairman, Mike Vasovski, said as he introduced the candidate at the noontime rally.

Paul was in unusually high spirits, and stopped to shake hands for more than 20 minutes after he finished his speech.

A local TV reporter asked whether it was a “problem” that South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is campaigning for Romney.

“I hope it is for Mr. Romney,” he joked.