By DAVID ESPO AP Special Correspondent
NEWTON, Iowa (AP) — Texas Rep. Ron Paul received a welcome befitting a man with a suddenly serious chance to win next week’s Iowa Republican presidential caucuses as he arrived in the state Wednesday for a final burst of campaigning.
His rivals attacked him, one by one.
If the 76-year-old libertarian-leaning conservative was bothered, he didn’t let it show. He unleashed a television commercial that hit Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. In his remarks, he lumped all his rivals into one unappealing category.
“There’s a lot of status quo politicians out there,” Paul told a crowd of a few dozen potential caucus-goers who turned out to hear him on the grounds of the Iowa Speedway. “If you pick another status quo politician nothing’s going to change.”