Ron Paul appears at a rally in West Columbia, SC on Jan. 11, 2012. (Richard Ellis/Getty Images)
West Columbia, SC (USA TODAY, AP) - Ron Paul arrived in South Carolina Wednesday still buoyant about his second-place finish in New Hampshire, telling supporters he will continue to press their case "for the cause of liberty."
"We're on the move," Paul said at a rally in West Columbia. "We have a set of principles we will defend."
Paul also told the crowd at Eagle Aviation, located near the Columbia Metro Aiport, that the United States should end its current wars and stop meddling in other countries' affairs. He said active military personnel are sick of wars that drain the nation's resources and hurt families.
Paul said he receives more campaign donations from active-duty military than do any of his competitors.
In a round of morning show interviews earlier, Paul defended his ability to challenge President Obama and chastised his GOP rivals for criticizing front-runner Mitt Romney's work buying and selling companies while leading Bain Capital.
"I've been electable. I've won 12 elections already," the Texas congressman said on CBS' This Morning. "It's amazing that I do so much better than those other candidates that are all electable. They're in fourth, fifth and sixth place, but they're all electable. But I come in second or third and all of a sudden people say, 'Oh, he's not electable.' I don't know how that adds up."
On MSNBC's Morning Joe program, Paul said his rivals made a "serious mistake" in taking on Romney's record of buying and selling companies, which sometimes led to layoffs. Paul, who has criticized Romney as being against small government, contends Bain Capital was practicing free enterprise.
"I just wonder whether they're totally ignorant of economics or whether they're willing to demagogue just with the hopes of getting a vote or two," Paul said on MSNBC.
Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry have been among the most vocal in trying to portray Romney as a heartless corporate raider. Perry today in South Carolina did not back away from his charge that Romney was a "vulture" in business.
Romney defended himself in his own round of morning show appearances. "Every time we had a reduction in employment it was designed to try and make the business more successful and, ultimately, to grow it," he said on ABC's Good Morning America.