Ron Paul pushes back on ‘fringe’ label

GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul is selling his campaign as mainstream on the heels of his straw poll victory at a major conservative gathering this weekend.

Paul, the libertarian-leaning Texas congressman, on Monday rejected the notion that he is nothing more than an interesting fringe candidate due to his controversial positions on drug legalization and civil rights legislation. He said that voters should focus on the core of his small-government, anti-war message.

{mosads}”To not portray it like as you have just done,” he told NBC’s Matt Lauer when asked how he can convince people he’s more than a fringe candidate. “I want to legalize freedom. What’s so bad about that? What’s wrong about legalizing choices about your life and your liberty and your religious values? What’s wrong with like legalizing the Constitution?

“So why can you turn that around and say, well everything he’s doing is crazy? I don’t think it is,” he added. 

Paul is looking to build momentum for his campaign following his win at this weekend’s Republican Leadership Conference straw poll in New Orleans, where he had nearly twice as many votes as the second place finisher, Jon Huntsman.

But Paul has performed well at past straw polls and he continues to lag behind the field’s front-runner, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, in national polling.

But Paul claimed that such polls should be discounted at this point in the race.

“It is true that we’re not at the top of the national polls,” he said. “If you can go into a group like we did in New Orleans and organize and get people’s enthusiasm, I mean, you got to get at least a couple of points … You know, all the others [have] their names on the ballot.”

He also repeated his claim that his positions are becoming part of the mainstream, even as 2008 GOP presidential nominee  Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) warned the current field against adopting isolationist policies.

“I think a growing number of people are starting to realize what I’m talking about is pretty sound,” Paul said. “It’s very American and it produces prosperity and peace. And I’m always bewildered why anyone would reject it.”