Ron Paul says he's 'flavor of the decade'

Don't call Ron Paul the vanilla candidate in the Republican presidential field.

"We've had the flavors of the month up and down ... I'd like to think of myself as the flavor of the decade," Paul said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union."

Paul pointed to favorable polling numbers in Iowa and New Hampshire as reasons to believe he's in a strong position to compete for the interests of voters in general.

"You have to have a candidate that will appeal across the political spectrum," he said.

But CNN host Candy Crowley pressed him on his electability among Republicans, saying that what Republican voters ultimately want is someone who can beat President Barack Obama - and other polls place Paul low in that category, below most other candidates in the Republican field.

Paul thanked Crowley for her election advice and vowed to keep working hard in order to make himself more appealing to a wider swath of GOP voters.