Paul rejects speculation his campaign underperforming

IOWA CITY - He may be in single digits in the polls and far behind the new kids on the GOP campaign trail, but Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul believes his organization is leading the field.

'What other Republican can get 500 students here?” he said after a rally was at the University of Iowa Monday evening for a rally with a crowd he estimated at 500. His campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination is 'doing well on every level of organization.”

The Paul campaign is banking on his libertarian message - criticizing the imprisonment of people for non-violent drug crimes, avoiding military action not directly related to U.S. security and lowering the cost of higher education - resonating with college students.

Paul, 52, who has children in college, warned that unless federal spending is reined in, the students' generation will not enjoy the same standard of living as their parents.

'I think it's an open question. School is getting more expensive, tuition is going up, loans are going up,” he said.

He has an 'ambitious goal” of recruiting 10,000 college students to caucus for him - 'more than anyone has ever gotten.” To that end, he's touring Iowa college campuses and has organized Students for Rand chapters on 15 of them.

There's some evidence his plan is working.

'I absolutely plan to caucus for him,” said Anton Wazlawik, a Cornell College student who attended the Iowa City rally. He strongly identifies with Paul's libertarian philosophy and believes it marks a 'fresh start for the Republican Party.”

Alondra Flores, a Cornell student from Monmouth, Ill., agreed with Paul that the nation needs to have a discussion about drug laws. However, Flores, who attended Hillary Clinton's recent visit to Cornell, is trying to attend events with all candidates before making a commitment.

However, it's not just college students that Paul is recruiting. He has announced 99 county chairs and is set to announce several hundred precinct chairs, which he referred to as a 'feat of organization.”

Greg Happel, a Cedar Rapids engineer, who said he started his political activism while in third grade, agrees with Paul that the infrastructure of a winning caucus campaign is being built.

'I've never seen so much organization and support,” he said as he joined the students lined up at Paul's selfie station for picture with the candidate.

Despite that, Paul in seventh place nationally at 3.6 percent - well behind Donald Trump at 27.7 percent in the HuffPost.com poll average. In Iowa, he's at 1.8 percent in the poll average or 10th in the 15-candidate field. Trump has predicted Paul will be the next candidate to drop out and political observers say he's not raising enough money to be competitive.

'I see no evidence that we're not doing well,” Paul said. 'I hate to start with a thesis that we aren't doing well because if I weren't reading that I would have no idea. Our crowds are bigger, more organized and I think we have a more advanced organization in Iowa than any other Republican candidate. I really do.”

He chalks up the 'underperforming” speculation to being 'trapped in a news cycle where people have assumptions based on polls of 200 people.”

'We actually think we're doing pretty well,” he said.

Wednesday, Paul will be at Morningside College in Sioux City at 8:45 a.m., Buena Vista in Storm Lake at 11:15 a.m. and Drake University in Des Moines at 3 p.m.

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