Paul: New Hampshire Primary is “Wide Open”

Updated: January 4, 2012 | 9:58 a.m.
January 4, 2012 | 9:39 a.m.

Texas Rep. Ron Paul came in third in Tuesday's Iowa caucuses, but it will be anyone's game in New Hampshire's primary next week, he says.

“The primary is wide open,” a tired-looking Paul said on CNN’s American Morning Wednesday. “It’s a 'live free or die' state. They are very freedom-oriented and... I’m confident we’ll do quite well.”

Paul captured almost half of the 17- to 29-year-old vote in Iowa, according to CNN. He compared that support to young voters’ enthusiasm for President Obama in the 2008 presidential race.

“If you say I have an attraction to young people, that’s what you need. That’s what Obama had,” he said.

Paul sees potential strength for his campaign next week in the Granite State's sizeable population of independents. “The message of liberty is appealing to everybody across the board,” including Democrats, he said.

But the Republican congressman dismissed the notion he would consider running as a Democrat. “Right now I’m doing pretty well and I think I’ll go to New Hampshire and try to gain a little bit on Mitt Romney,” he said. “I think that’s what I ought to be doing.”

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