Paul looks ahead to S.C., calls it "nice test"

MEREDITH, N.H. - Even as he seeks to further cut into Mitt Romney's double-digit lead in New Hampshire, Rep. Ron Paul is looking ahead to how he'll perform in South Carolina.

"South Carolina will be a nice test for us, because it's a bigger state and if we do well there, that will encourage the fundraising and it alerts other people to the message." Paul told reporters on Sunday after a town hall at the Inn at Church Landing. "They'll say, 'What is he talking about? Maybe we ought to look at that -- maybe he does have some answers.'"

Paul is a distant second to Romney in New Hampshire, but he has even more ground to gain in the Palmetto State. He's currently battling Rick Santorum for third place behind Romney and Newt Gingrich.

Venturing well beyond what any other GOP candidate would dare, the Texas congressman said he thinks his support can encompass followers in the Occupy Wall Street movement. He told a supporter in Meredith that his appeal extends to "independent people who are sick and tired of the two-party system. The people who are going out on Occupy Wall Street. They are sick and tired of it."

The libertarian Paul has offered some vastly different perspectives from his fellow Republican candidates, particularly on foreign affairs. During one exchange at Sunday's town hall, Paul was asked about his policy on Israel and told the supporter that Israel should defend its own borders without seeking the United States' help - a view that has brought him strong condemnation from Republicans.

"I do not believe I should take any money from here and send it to Israel," Paul said to a warm applause from supporters. "Some people would say, 'Oh, that means you are anti-Israel,' but I am pro American."

Santorum has gone as far as to say that Paul's views on Israel and Iran - he opposes economic sanctions on that country -- are dangerous. Paul seemed to revel in that description.

"One of the [criticisms] that's supposed to tear me apart is that I'm a dangerous person, and I admit it," Paul said. "I'm very dangerous to the status quo ... people who are getting the bailouts, the people in military-industrial complex, the people who benefit from the Federal Reserve system."