Dozens of media outlets, hundreds of voters swarm Ron Paul's Newton stop

Texas Congressman Ron Paul's GOP presidential bid is getting a bit more attention since his rise to the top of the polls early last week, and at a noon rally today at the Iowa Speedway the Republican, usually cast as a party outlier, gave a modest kick to his media naysayers.

"It does look there are more cameras than there used to be," Paul joked as he took a podium in the raceway's media center.

Paul supporters have long accused the media of ignoring their libertarian leaning candidate. But arriving at the Newton Municipal Airport today, entering and exiting the venue in a flurry of photographers, Paul did not take questions from his new media followers and stuck to a speech and town-hall style question and answer session.

Nearly 200 supporters, potential caucus voters and a horde of state and national media packed the center south of Newton, as Paul was given a spotlight to speak about his strict constitutionalists views that many in his own party, including GOP presidential rival Newt Gingrich in an interview Tuesday with CNN, consider "outside the mainstream."

A new poll released this week by Public Policy Polling has Paul leading with 24 percent of likely Iowa Caucus goers, followed by former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney at 20 percent and former U.S. House Speaker Gingrich falling to 13 percent. This new moment in the polls mixed with the size of today's crowd show a republican electorate that appears willing to give the congressman's libertarian leanings are more critical look.

"Instead of wealth in this county we have apparent wealth and it's all based on debt," Paul claimed. "We owe foreigners now. We owe more than any other country in the history of the world – over $3 trillion plus our $15 trillion nation debt. ... Rather than putting the pressure on government to protect our freedoms, we put pressure on governments to see what we can get from government. But the government has nothing. All they can do is take from one group and give it to another until they come up to the dead end."

The congressman emphasized his platform of personal liberties, limited government and free market regulation today. Paul has become well known throughout the 2012 campaign for proposing the abolition of several large agencies within the federal government including the Federal Reserve and the departments of energy and education – a position which many of his rivals have adopted.

Paul said in Newton that he wants to make college tuition affordable for middle class Americans, limit the size of the education department's loan program and let free markets determine costs.

"But it hasn't been too many decades ago that education was cheap because there was no inflation," Paul said. "But now it's $10- $20-, $30,000 a year, and you can't get a job, so the government coming in and say 'Well, we'll give you the money. You'll be an indentured servant to us forever.' The educational levels have gone down, and you still have jobs begging because they are not well trained."

Even amongst Paul's supporters, who polls show as some of the most loyal in the GOP race, some of his ideas raise questions. Several younger supporters asked the presidential hopeful if the elimination of certain agencies would have too drastic of an effect on people and safety measures dependent on the current system.

One audience member questioned who would supervise the U.S nuclear arsenal after the National Nuclear Security Administration was removed. Even Paul conceded that the abolition of large government agencies could not be done all at once.

"I'd put it (nuclear weapons) under the department of defense. But there would be a transition and I don't ignore that, but what I want to get rid of is this management of energy — subsidizing one group and not the other, punishing one group but not the other. I want a free market to work," Paul answered.

Another question about dissolving government agencies came in the form of health care. Paul is a staunch detractor of the Affordable Care Act passed by the democratically controlled congress in 2009 and proposed by president Obama. But Paul fell short of advocating the elimination of all government health initiatives saying that he would support the retention of Medicare, Medicaid and coverage plans for children.

Although some GOP candidates have jumped on the agency bashing band wagon, many Republicans don't agree with Paul foreign policy. Accusing the congressman of being an isolationist, pundits say some party faithful might have trouble backing Paul because of his opposition to the war in Iraq, removing all foreign aid and closing down U.S. military bases around the globe.

But Paul's campaign likes to boast that they have received three times as many donations from military veterans than all of his GOP rivals, according to campaign co-chair and Republican Party of Iowa Central Committee member David Fischer.

Newton Vietnam veteran and retired Army soldier Bob Colby is one of those how supports Paul's more defensive military posture. A career soldier from 1969-1990, Colby will be a precinct captain during the Jan. 3 caucus.

"I absolutely agree with his policy," Colby said at today's event. "I said this a long time ago, 'We have all these countries throwing mud and spitting back at us, and we're the ones that's been there and actually putting more money in their economies.' Right now it's time to come back home, take a big deep breath, and then help ourselves for a while."

Paul will hold two additional campaign events today in Des Moines, ending with a "Salute to Veterans Rally" at 7 p.m. at the Iowa State Fairground's Knapp Learning Center.