Remarks in Ankeny Following the Iowa Caucus

Thank you.

CROWD: Ron Paul. Ron Paul. Ron Paul.

PAUL: That's great.

CROWD: Ron Paul. Ron Paul.

PAUL: Thank you very much. Thank you. And I think you might recognize my wife. Her picture is on that cookbook. Anybody see that cookbook this year? Well -- well, thank you very much. What a delightful crowd. And you know, sometimes I say, boy, that was a good speech, and I say, no, that was a good crowd. That makes all the difference in the world.

You know, we talk about, and A.J. mentioned, you know, one of three tickets out, which is obviously true. And one of two that can actually run a national campaign and raise the money. But there's nobody else that have people like you working hard and enthusiastic and believe in something.

That is all the difference in the world. And before I continue with anymore comments, I do want to bring, at least step forward three -- three of our chairmen. You met already, A.J. Stryker and David Fisher, would step forward, as well as Drew Ivers, who's been the chairman, and they are on the central committee and they have led the charge all throughout Iowa.

But all I can think about in tough campaigns and all the hard work is the work you people do. It is unbelievable, the energy you have and the effort that you have made. But what makes me feel good about it is you're doing it because you believe in something. That is what's worthwhile.

But you -- but you also, also know that there's two good things. Some people say, well, you guys just do that because you believe in something to promote a cause. Certainly, but how's the best way to promote a cause? That is to win elections. That's way you promote it.

Now, the enthusiasm has been unbelievable. It's fantastic. It's national. Thousands of people now have been involved, and not only in Iowa, but around the country, and they're ready and raring to go.

But we have to look at wonderful changes that have occurred in our country in a positive way. The country has suffered a lot in a negative way. The economy's in trouble, our civil liberties are being trashed, our foreign policy has been a mess and drains us, both economically and our military forces. But at the same time, people are coming together and we had the task, which is where we are very successful is reintroducing some ideas the Republicans needed for a long time, and that is -- that is the conviction that freedom is popular.

But once again, we have had a fantastic showing for this cause and challenging people. Not the status quo that we have been putting up with for decades after decades, but challenging them and saying, you know, let's challenge him. Let's go back to this real old- fashioned idea, this very dangerous idea. Let's obey the Constitution.

And too -- too often, those who preach limited government and small government, they forget that invasion of your privacy is big government, and we have to emphasize protecting your personal rights and your economic rights are what the government's supposed to do. They're not supposed to run our lives or spend our money.

And also, along those lines, what we have introduced with so much enthusiasm, I hear it so often from so many volunteers. The other day somebody came up to me and he was refreshing my memory, because he knew I knew the statement, because I've said it. Back in the old days in the early '70s, Nixon said, we're all Keynesians now, which meant that even the Republicans, they've accepted liberal economics. He said I'm waiting for the day where we can say, we're all Austrians now.

But a biggest change, I think, in intellectual and political changes that we have brought about is the emphasis on a very important matter. Making sure we get to the bottom of the ultimate bail-outers and that is our Federal Reserve system. We need reforms there and we need a new monetary system and obey the Constitution.

This is -- this is something that we've made great progress. So the first and initial important step that we've worked so hard is on the table. Today there was a national poll that came out and they were talking about how many people supported the gold standard? How long has it been since they've taken a national poll on the gold standard?

And guess what, the majority of the American people believe we should have a gold standard and not a paper standard. But also, also the great strides that we have made has been really on the foreign policy. The fact that we can once again talk in Republican circles and make it credible, talking about what Eisenhower said that beware of the military industrial conflict. Talk about the old days when Robert Taft, Mr. Republican said that we shouldn't be engaged in these entangling alliance; he believed what the founders taught us.

He didn't want to be in NATO. We certainly don't need NATO and the U.N. to tell us when to go to war.

But we have -- we have seen a great difference. The majority of the American people are behind us on this whole war effort. They are tired of the war, costs too much -- too much money, too many people get killed, too many people get injured, too many people get sick. And the majority, maybe 70 percent or 80 percent of the American people now are saying it's time to get out of Afghanistan.

So those are the issues, those are the issues that we have brought front and center. They're out there. They're not going to go away. And we have -- and we have tremendous opportunity to continue this momentum. It won't be long that there's going to be an election up in New Hampshire and believe me, this momentum is going to continue. And this movement is going to continue, and we are going to keep scoring, just as we have tonight.

So -- so tonight we have come out -- out of an election that we're essentially three winners. Three top vote-getters. And we will go on, we will raise the money. I have no doubt about the volunteers. They're going to be there.

A lot of you have said, and you thank me and you compliment me and thank me for helping you along, but let me tell you, you help me along, you help my family along. All our workers, our supporters, because without your enthusiasm, we can't do it and this is where I feel most obligated, you know. We want to do the job, present the case, and if anything isn't perfect, I worry not about myself, I worry about you and making sure that you're satisfied.

I think there's nothing to be ashamed of, everything to be satisfied, and be ready and raring to move on, on to the next stop, which is New Hampshire.

PEOPLE: Ron Paul. Ron Paul. Ron Paul. Ron Paul. Ron Paul. Ron Paul. Ron Paul.

PAUL: Now, I have -- I have another speaker, a special guest tonight. He's been with us this evening; as a matter of fact he's been with us in our campaign for quite a few years. And you may have met him, because he's been around here this evening, but I would like him to come out and say a few words.

He's been serving in the military for ten years, and he's been overseas a lot. A lot of it was in Iraq and Afghanistan. And he was on TV tonight and he didn't quite get to finish his statement. So I've ask him if he would come out and make his comments about why he supports our foreign policy, and why he is fighting for the Constitution and what he thinks we should do.

But I would like to invite out now Jesse Thorsen to come out and say a few words to you. Thank you.

CPL. JESSE THORSEN, U.S. ARMY: How about Ron Paul? If there's any man out there that's had a vision for this country, it is definitely him. His foreign policy is by far, hands down, better than any candidate's out there. And I'm sure you all know that.

We don't need to be picking fights overseas, and I think everybody else knows that too. I'm flabbergasted right now. This is an incredible moment for me. I can't believe it. It's like meeting a rock star.

But you know what, we're going to go to New Hampshire, we're all going to get involved, we're going to keep getting online, we're going to keep talking to people and we are going to make sure this man is the next President of the United States.

PAUL: Thank you much, very much. And that is a powerful message.

And once again, we all know where the active military people send their money when they're campaigning. They send it to our campaign for liberty, our campaign for the Constitution, our campaign for limited government, our campaign for personal liberty and privacy and a wise foreign policy.

The most important thing we have to remember is we want to have influence in the world. That's very important. We want to be active in the world. We want to talk to people and work with people, trade with people, and be friends with people.

But what we need to realize is our ways, you know, there's people who say that we are an exceptional nation. And we certainly are and have been. But we're slipping. But this idea that our exceptionalism out of desperation say that we are so exceptional, what we must do is prove it to the world. We have to send our troops around the world and force it down their throats if they don't do it, we'll, you know, invade them and occupy them and force election on them.

I'll tell you the best way to spread our message. And that is, do our job at home. Preserve our liberties at home. Provide the free market. Have a sound currency. Balance the budget. Set an example and get them, the rest of the world, to emulate us. That is the road to peace and prosperity.

Thank you very much. Thank you.