Here with us now is Republican Presidential Candidate and Texas Congressman, Ron Paul. Congressman, thanks for being with us.

Ron Paul: Thank you. It's nice to be with you.

MSNBC: Explain this whole phenomena. Why are you so popular with college students and yet when it comes to these polls, you're just not registering.

RP: You know, I can't explain it. I'm bewildered but surprised and pleased as anybody else but all I can say is maybe the message of liberty is very popular with young people, and I think there may be some truth to that.

MSNBC: What would you do as far as suppose somebody came in and said okay Ron Paul you've got $40 million dollars that you too can spend on Iowa, New Hampshire, what would you do with something like that, if you had that kind of boost like say a Romney or Giuliani?

RP: Of course I would advertise my message. My message on foreign policy is that we should follow the founding father's advice and the Constitution and have a non-interventions foreign policy, which means that we ought to home from the Middle East and from Korea and Europe and save a lot of money and put that money back into our economy. I would emphasize personal liberty. I'd be emphasizing the reason why we don't need the Patriot Act and we don't need warrantless searches and we don't need secret prisons and emphasize personal liberty. At the same time I would emphasize getting rid of the income tax and cutting back on spending where we don't need an income tax and making sure young people can get out of social security. All these things are achievable if we would only change our foreign policy,

MSNBC: Congressman Paul, if you were not the nominee will you support the Republican nominee who is?

RP: If I can find one that will take the same position I have on the war that we ought to end it and come home. And--

MSNBC: But you can't find one--

RP: that follow the traditional Republican platform. All I wanted to do is follow George Bush's platform of the year 2000. A humble foreign policy, don't be the policeman of the world and don't get into nation building. That shouldn't be too much to ask.

MSNBC: All right but that sounds like a no to my question. So what are you going to do with this support if you are not the Republican nominee? What do you do with all these 30,000 MySpace friends and YouTube videos once your campaign ends? What do you do as far as the general election?

RP: Well I guess the question is, what are they going to do with me? They've sort of joined me spontaneously and I'm delighted, but I would work hard to keep them together and to continue the process if we're not victorious now. There's every reason in the world that this group of people now can be very influential, demanding liberty and the Constitution and limited taxation. And I don't think this is going to be, ah, just put away. I don't think we can close these ideas off. I think this is what's the American spirit.

MSNBC: I just want to follow up before we get to a viewer question here. Does that mean you're taking about a possible third party candidacy in the general election?

RP: No, I have no intention of doing that. I've tried it before and the laws are also biased against third parties. That would, that is not on my agenda.

MSNBC: Okay, I want to ask a viewer question. This comes from Jeff in Mokena, Illinois. He says, I'm sorry, he's on the phone so let's let him ask his question. Go ahead Jeff.

Viewer Jeff: Hi Dr. Paul just wanted to call and ask you regarding the third party candidates going on right now. You're generally considered a Libertarian candidate as a Republican and I just want to know what differentiates you from the slate of candidates that the Libertarian Party is running for President?

RP: Well, probably not a whole lot of difference because they're sound Constitutionalists and they believe in liberty and limited government. It's a probably a difference of my personal opinions somewhat different that the Libertarian Party platform on right to life, I believe states have an authority to regulate the abortion issue not the federal government. And also I probably take a somewhat different position on the borders-I believe that's a legitimate federal function to protect our borders. I'm much more interested in protecting our borders here at home than pretending that we should or could or can regulate and control the borders over in Iraq, and Syria and Iran. So I think I'd be bringing our troops home as well as our border guards home from Iraq so I differ somewhat from the Libertarian Party on that.

MSNBC: Congressman you have such a different view of course as you've mentioned from some of the other Republicans in the field. But want to ask you a little about sort of the atmospherics of these debates. We've got the Democratic debate tomorrow night, a lot of people would suggest that the Democratic challenger like Dennis Kucinich is perhaps most like you on terms of how he relates to the rest of the Democratic field. But on a personal level, how have the Republicans have been treating you, sort away from the cameras when you're off stage? Which Republican candidates have been interacting with you and which have just been ignoring you?

RP: Well I think in the past they've always treated me with, with respect but also thinking that there was nobody that agreed with me. Now that there's a large number, very present and they're aware of, they, every, not every, but many many members of Congress comes to me constantly and say 'I see more of your signs than anybody else's'. They're spontaneous and you know, if you have a following it gets the attention of other members of Congress so everyday, I think that they are paying much more attention and believe that there is more than just a few of us who believe in liberty.

MSNBC: Congressman Ron Paul is a Republican Presidential Candidate who has created quite a following on the Internet, some would say an Internet sensation. Thanks for joining us, I appreciate it.

RP: Thank you very much.