Ron Paul may be a long-shot candidate to some, but the conservative congressman from Texas received more than twice as many rounds of applause as his opponents at Monday night's GOP debate.

According to our friends at the Baltimore Sun, Paul was applauded 11 times while Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty were applauded five times each. Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain were applauded four times each. Rick Santorum brought up the rear by only being applauded three times during the two-hour CNN debate.

Paul received one of the best reactions of any of the candidates after Romney said that if he were president, he would withdraw troops from Afghanistan only if his generals agreed that it was the right move.

"I wouldn’t wait for my generals," Paul responded.

"I’m the commander in chief. I make the decisions. I tell the generals what to do," Paul, 75, said. "I’d bring them home as quickly as possible. And I would get them out of Iraq as well. And I wouldn’t start a war in Libya. I’d quit bombing Yemen. And I’d quit bombing Pakistan. I’d start taking care of people here at home because we could save hundreds of billions of dollars."

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-- Tony Pierce

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Photo: Republican presidential hopeful former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, left, listens as Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) makes a point in New Hampshire at the first major debate of the 2012 presidential campaign. Credit: Reuters / Shannon Stapleton