This is a rush transcript from "Your World," January 3, 2012. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN, R-MINN., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He is to the left of Barack Obama.
RICK SANTORUM, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Ron Paul is in the Dennis Kucinich wing of the Democratic Party.
NEWT GINGRICH, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Ron Paul's views are totally outside the mainstream of virtually every decent American.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
NEIL CAVUTO, HOST: Running against Ron does not seem to be getting old, because just today, with hours to go, a pro-Ron Paul robo-call had Rick Santorum calling Ron Paul -- and I quote -- "disgusting," a colorful adjective, to say the least.
Now to the man ticking off his competition, Ron Paul.
Congressman, how are you doing?
REP. RON PAUL, R-TEXAS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm doing fine, thank you.
CAVUTO: What did you make of that comment on the part of Rick Santorum, calling you disgusting?
PAUL: He called me that?
CAVUTO: Yes, he did.
PAUL: I would say that is not very nice, a nice thing to do.
(LAUGHTER)
PAUL: I think he wants to deflect away from some of the charges made against him, about having been a supporter of Arlen Specter, and he was a pretty liberal senator. He supported prescription drug programs and No Child Left Behind and voted for all the foreign aid
So I would say that he ought to be talking about that, rather than calling me names.
CAVUTO: All right, but, while you might refrain from calling people names outright, you are no stranger to being on the offense and running some fairly nasty ads yourself. Newt Gingrich knows it firsthand.
When I had the pleasure of being in Iowa for the debates, and you and I were chatting back then, your ads were everywhere and targeting everyone.
Are you part of the same process?
PAUL: I think we are all engaged in it, and it is probably the bad part of politics.
But I work real hard at using the evidence of -- if people are flip- floppers, I think that should be pointed out, like I'm talking right now about Santorum's voting record and why he supported people like Specter and No Child Left Behind.
CAVUTO: Do you think, Congressman, that this is part of a concerted effort to, because there are so many conservatives in the race, that they are dividing things up, that they might even deny you an outright win tonight -- it is way too early to tell, I understand -- but that that is what is hurting your chances here, that the field has not been cleared and that in this Whac-A-Mole nature of the race, where now the latest to emerge is Senator Santorum, you are the odd man out in a weird way?
What do you think of that?
PAUL: Well, I think that is what the name of the game is. I think that is what they are doing.
But, you know, to call me and label me a certain way because I believe in the Constitution and very principled -- no one tells me I am not a principled voter and that I'm not a strict constitutionalist. So every time they say something very negative about me, I say, they don't have a whole lot of respect for somebody that sticks to the Constitution.
And they never charge me and say, Ron, why did you do that because you have violated the Constitution? They just decide that my efforts to stick to the Constitution all of a sudden they don't like it, things like on the money issue, and the war issues and civil liberty issues.
There is so much going on where our freedoms are being attacked. And I want to defend the Fourth Amendment. I want to defend the Fifth Amendment, the Ninth and 10th Amendment. They will not talk about that principle. They talk about, oh, he supports something in here and they try to twist it around.
But they should look more at the real issue on whether or not I have lived up to my oath of office.
CAVUTO: But do you fear that what happens when people follow your train of thought, libertarian position on a lot of these issues, that you are -- it is a natural progression to say that no involvement in a lot of foreign conflicts, even when you are pushed on potential involvements against and with Iran, that people who are intrigued by you ultimately say, gee, I really like that guy, but he scares the you know what out of me when I take him to his full extreme, is that that is what you are fighting now, people who like you who say, well, I don't know?
PAUL: Well, I think that is how they like to portray it, but I would say exactly the opposite.
It's those very things that gets me supporters, because now, unlike four years ago, 70-80 percent of the people say we ought to come home from Afghanistan. And that is where they think we should cut first and we should try to take care of our people here at home.
CAVUTO: But do you have to win Iowa then, Congressman, just to prove that point?
PAUL: No, I don't think you have to do anything. Winning would be better than not winning. And second place is better than third place. You have to do your very best. But I don't think one or the other, doesn't close you out.
CAVUTO: All right. Well, you have a tough road here, Congressman. Be well. Continued good health. Thank you very much.
PAUL: Very good. Thank you.
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