“Is there anybody here from the Leave Me Alone Coalition?” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) asked Monday afternoon at a rally in Des Moines, Iowa, where he thanked his staff, volunteers, and supporters for continuing to support his run for the presidency.
Paul’s remarks were preceded by a speech from his father, former Congressman Ron Paul, who honed in on his son’s pro-Liberty message. The Kentucky Senator was also joined by his wife Kelly, and his mother, Carol.
The Kentucky Senator also thanked his “thirteen family members” in Iowa for helping out his campaign.
According to the latest Opinion Savvy poll, Paul is expected to show well in Iowa, with 9% of the vote. Moreover, the Kentucky Senator finished first in the poll with respondents aged 30 and under.
“If we could just convince those older folks,” Sen. Paul joked, discussing the survey results. “Or if we could just hold the election on Twitter.”
“We’re going to do very well. We are going to beat a lot of people in the race. I think there is a chance we can win,” Paul said in his speech to supporters.
“It is depending on turnout… who shows up to vote. Your work getting people out today, getting to the caucus, helping us on the college campuses is incredible,” he added.
Sen. Paul said that 1,500 people showed up to his speech last night at the University of Iowa. His final stop before the votes are tallied will be at Iowa State University, he told supporters.
“When I look at this movement I have nothing but optimism for the future,” he said. “The amazing thing is, throughout history, man has dominated man with tyranny, but the experiment of freedom, the experiment of limited government, the experiment of a government restrained by our Constitution, that’s new in history.”
“But you don’t get it if you don’t fight for it. We’ve gotta keep fighting against the impulse, really the impulse of something for nothing. That’s why you’ve got Bernie [Sanders] out there and it is worrisome. Uncle Bernie is offering thousands of people… millions of people something for nothing,” he said of Bernie Sanders’ Socialist ideology.
“But there is no such thing as a free lunch,” Paul added. “Our message is more difficult. We’re selling opportunity. We’re not planning on giving people a cell phone or two cell phones. We’re trying to give people opportunity.”
The American people need to know that when they are being “offered something from government, government is really stealing it right back,” he explained. This forces people to get “stuck and remain in poverty,” Paul said. “There’s been a war on poverty and I think poverty’s winning.”
The American people should never send our money to “Washington in the first place,” he stated.