Around 600 supporters crammed into an overflowing Hilton Hotel conference room in Kenner for the reception of the only Republican presidential hopeful to stake out a Louisiana campaign this year. Just moments after landing at Louis Armstrong Airport, candidate Ron Paul addressed a crowd, including Loyola and Tulane students.

“That’s one of the best welcomes I’ve ever had,” Paul said in response to his supporters’ welcoming chant of “Who dat say they gonna beat Ron Paul!”

Paul’s one-hour visit in Kenner was the last of three Louisiana stops (including Shreveport and Baton Rouge) he made on Jan. 21, one day before the Louisiana Republican Caucus. The highly organized campaign aims to take advantage of the lowly publicized caucus and has 160 nominees for delegacy on the ballot, supporters said.

Decentralized government and a strict rendering of the constitution were among the issues that Paul discussed in his 30-minute speech.

“If we can’t hold (Congress’) feet to the fire and make them listen to and obey the Constitution, there is nothing left between what we have today, and tyranny,” Paul said.

He spoke out against the current administration’s handling of foreign affairs, emphasizing that wars should be declared by the legislature as set forth in the Constitution. Paul said occupation provoked further terrorism and called for bringing home troops stationed worldwide. In disapproving of government initiatives like national identification cards and Internet regulation, Paul condemns what he believes to be government intervention in the personal freedoms of U.S. citizens.

Jessica Miller, religious studies junior, attended the debate with Reid Martin, general business studies junior, after hearing about it through Facebook and e-mails from a local Paul meet-up group. More than 1,500 Paul “meet-up groups,” formed and maintained on the Internet, have been a key ingredient to Paul’s strong grassroots campaign.

Miller became a Paul supporter after seeing him on an early debate in 2007. “I really like his policies on the Federal Reserve and economics – he ties in multiple problems into simple solutions,” Miller said. “And, I like the idea of actually following the Constitution.”

Paul’s libertarian economic policies, a clear dividing line between him and his fellow candidates, focus on his belief that the U.S. is headed into a “financial crisis” created by deficit spending and a currency backed by debt. “The best measurement of a financial crisis in a country is the value of the currency,” Paul said.

After the speech Paul met briefly with reporters. He told The Maroon that recent media recognition of the market recession has made it easier to campaign his message. He also said he is not thinking about a third party candidacy.

Loyola economics professor Walter Block attended the event and was applauded by Loyola students when he briefly addressed the crowd before Paul arrived. Paul, who has known Block since the 1960s, recently recruited the professor to his campaign as an economic adviser.

If no Republican wins the Louisiana primary election on Feb. 9 by more than a 50 percent majority, the brokered state convention will send the delegates elected at the caucuses. Paul is one of three Republican candidates yet to win a state caucus. He leads Rudy Giuliani and Duncan Hunter in the race for delegate.

“I think he’s going to stay for the long haul until the bitter end no matter how well he does,” Block said. “He’s trying to promote liberty.”

Steve Heath can be contacted at [email protected].