Wanting to make sure no one thinks he's going away, Ron Paul's campaign says he's got plenty of cash to go the distance.

In a press release sent out this afternoon, NBC's Anthony Terrell reports that Paul's campaign says he raised $4.5 million in January "preparing candidate for long road ahead."

It also said with an ongoing "money bomb" fundraising campaign, the campaign is on pace to exceed the $13.3 million raised in the fourth quarter of last year.

It says it has $1.6 million cash on hand and has raised, so far, $1.7 million with the "money bomb."

Paul has an ardent and devoted following, but despite the accolades won for his "organization," Paul has yet to win a primary or caucus.

A Super PAC supporting Ron Paul was the only major presidential fundraising operation to miss Tuesday's federal deadline for disclosing its donors. The Revolution PAC blamed an error by its credit card company, msnbc.com's Open Channel blog reports.

Because of bad information provided by the company, the PAC told the Federal Election Commission, it didn't know who its donors were.

More on Open Channel.

NBC News has called that Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum are in a virtual tie for first place. Ron Paul will not finish in the top two.

ST. CLOUD, Minn. -- Ron Paul took his presidential campaign here yesterday to Michele Bachmann’s congressional district in Minnesota, a non-early nominating state. Paul got a big ovation from about 3,000 attendees on what was the first day of deer-hunting season.

“Boy, what a nice reception,” Paul told the crowd. “It got my attention. It sure identifies the fact the revolution is alive and well.”

It’s all part of Paul’s unorthodox focus on caucus states in an effort to rack up delegates in places other campaigns might not be focusing, a senior Paul campaign source says.

Raising money and organization were both part of the event, where Paul hit many of his usual talking points on foreign and domestic policy. Minnesota Campaign Chair Marianne Stebbins was on stage asking the crowd for donations -- each seat in the Convention Center had envelopes in a "goody bag" for supporters to mail donations. The bag also included Paul campaign literature and a bumper sticker.

Stebbins then asked for people to volunteer in district offices, to make phone calls, and to help get voters to attend the caucus on Election Day, Feb. 7. In 2008, Mitt Romney won the GOP Minnesota caucus with 41% of the vote, followed by John McCain with 22%, Mike Huckabee with 20% and Ron Paul with 16%. 

This is the third time in the last six weeks (in three different states), where more than 1,000 supporters have attended a Ron Paul campaign rally -- on Sept. 23 in Baton Rouge, LA, where the campaign says “more than 1,300 Louisiana State University students, supporters, and community members” attended; and on Oct. 21 in Iowa City, IA, where more than 1,200 “members of the University of Iowa and general community” attended an event during homecoming weekend.

Paul once again seemed to sympathize with Anwar al-Awlaki -- an al Qaeda-linked, but American-born Muslim cleric -- killed in a Drone strike in Yemen, calling his death an assassination.

“We have so little respect for the rule of law, whether it’s domestically or internationally,” Paul charged. “We have become known as a country that endorses torture, don’t pay attention to habeas corpus, we have secret prisons around the world.  … We now have an announced policy by this president that this is legitimate policy to assassinate American citizens. No charges made no trial, the president himself becomes the prosecution, the judge the jury and the executioner.”

Paul went further, telling the crowd about Awlaki’s 16-year-old son Abdulrahm al-Awlaki, who was also killed in a separate Drone attack.

“That wasn’t enough,” Paul said of killing the elder al-Awlaki. “They thought his son was much involved and therefore a week or so later they sent another cruise missile, drone attack, they bombed and killed his son, Awlaki’s son. … They don’t talk about this case…. The kid was 16-years-old, was in the backyard barbequing with a friend of his. He was never charged. … What we must worry about is the rule of law, because it protects us and that has to be protected.”

Paul ended his speech by citing one of the Founding Fathers, Samuel Adams, and his belief that it does not take a majority to prevail.

“We need an irate, tireless minority willing to stand up and spread the brushfires of freedom in the minds and hearts of the American people,” Paul thundered. “And I believe that is what is happening; our time has arrived.”

DES MOINES, IA -- The two current Iowa front-runners were conspicuously absent, but five other GOP presidential candidates were on hand to promote their conservative bona fides to about a thousand Iowa Republicans Friday night in Des Moines.
 
With Mitt Romney and Herman Cain giving the state Republican Party's annual Ronald Reagan Dinner a pass, the remaining candidates refrained from taking shots at each other, focusing their fire squarely on President Barack Obama.
 
“Sixty days. Sixty days from right now we start the process of choosing Barack Obama’s Republican successor, and it starts here in Iowa," state GOP Chairman Matt Strawn told attendees just before the candidates spoke.
 
For the third Iowa candidate confab in a row, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich won one of the strongest responses from the conservative audience. (He was equally well received at the National Association of Manufacturers Forum this week and at an Iowa Faith and Freedom forum two weeks ago.)
 
Gingrich spent much of his speech praising the four other rivals with whom he shared the stage. "This is a great group. There are a couple I wish were here tonight. I would have said nice things about them. But we'll skip over that,” he said. “I am here with very fine competitors, but no opponents. We only have one opponent, that's Barack Obama.”
 
Gingrich also brought up his idea of Lincoln-Douglas style debates, promising he will hold President Obama to them if he is the nominee.
 
“If I end up as the nominee, in my acceptance speech if the president has not yet agreed, I will announce that from that day forward for the rest of the campaign, the White House will be my scheduler,” Gingrich told the crowd to cheers. “Wherever the president appears, I will appear four hours later.”

Texas Gov. Rick Perry won laughs for joking that the Republican field is "involved in a project called Operation Occupy the White House," going on to describe his anti-Washington credentials.
 
In a speech heavily themed around having the "courage" to address tough issues like spending cuts and entitlement reform, Perry declared that "the future of America is too important to be left to the Washington politicians."
 
He promised to freeze salaries for members of Congress and non-military federal employees, and he criticized the ongoing congressional "Super Committee", addressing competitor Newt Gingrich directly by asking "we've had 20 different committees over 30 years?" to address the debt.
 
"It's easier to people to put studies together than it is to have the courage to stand up say here's what needs to be done and do what needs to be done," Perry said in an energetic speech that received just polite applause from the crowd.
 
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum was quick to tout his recent achievement in the Hawkeye State.
 
“I am proud to announce that I did a Grassley –- I have been to all 99 counties in the State of Iowa,” Santorum said as he started, referring to Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley. “I have had a wonderful experience.”
 
Later, Santorum, who is still trailing in the polls despite his constant presence in Iowa, talked about the Faith, Family, & Freedom Tour he launched today.
 
“Everybody else has put up an economic plan; I’ve put up an economic plan. But no one has put up a plan to strengthen the American family, to make sure we have strong marriages in our country, to defend the institutions of marriages,” he said. “I did."
 
Perry, Santorum, and Ron Paul worked the crowd before the event started, posing for photos and taking questions from some famously inquisitive Iowa voters, while Michele Bachmann and Gingrich lingered in the VIP room until the dinner began.
 
During her address, Bachmann sounded themes familiar to Iowans who visited her high-energy stump events of July and August, during the run-up to her win at the Ames Straw Poll.
 
Reprising her message from this summer’s fight over the debt ceiling, Bachmann also voiced concerns about events in Europe, where Greece at one point this week deferred a bailout package from the European Union, setting off panic in world markets.
 
“Maybe they just didn’t want to cut back on their spending,” Bachmann said. “The rest of the world looked at Greece and said, ‘Are you out of your mind? Take the deal or you go down the drain.’”
 
Reiterating a message she introduced during an economic policy address earlier this week, Bachmann used Greece’s story as a warning.
 
“What we need to do right now in the United States is take a real good look in the mirror,” she said.
 
Texas Rep. Paul advocated for the elimination of the income tax, saying that the idea of liberty means that Americans should be able to keep what they make.
 
“Shouldn’t it also follow that we have a right to the fruits of our labor? Which implies that there should be no income tax!"
 
Paul offered a typically passionate pitch to slash spending, end wars aboard, and eliminate numerous federal agencies -- including the Education Department.

CARROLL, Iowa -- Ron Paul outlined what he believed was the difference between “Occupy Wall Street” and the “Tea Party.”

“Some are demonstrating, because they’re scared to death they won’t get their handouts,” Paul said yesterday. “And the other half are demonstrating, because they’re sick and tired of paying for it. I’m on the side of sick and tired of paying for it.”

Paul's popularity has risen since 2008 largely because of the Tea Party. He doesn't lead in polling in any state, but he is routinely in the top three in states like Iowa and New Hampshire.

Congressman Ron Paul won yet another straw poll today, receiving an astounding 82% of the Iowan-only vote at National Federation of Republican Assemblies first ever-presidential straw poll. 

The Paul campaign has showed a tendency to make an effort above and beyond other campaigns to organize around straw polls. For this event, his campaign bought a large number of straw-poll tickets and sold them to supporters for half off the price, just $10.

Alex Moe/NBC News

Rep. Ron Paul speaks to a crowd of hundreds at the NFRA convention. Paul's supporters left when he concluded speech, leaving many empty chairs for other speakers, including Mrs. Anita Perry.

When Paul spoke just after 9:00 am CT, the room was packed with several hundred people. As soon as the Texas representative finished his remarks, there was a mass exodus from the ballroom at the Polk County Convention Complex.

“He has a pretty loyal following and he brought a lot of people in and that’s what they were here for,” Herman Cain supporter and Monroe, Iowa resident Chris Holub told NBC News after the event.

Paul has won a fair share of these small straw polls across the country during the presidential cycle by using the same tactics witnessed today – providing tickets at reduced costs and encouraging people to turn out at events leading up to the poll. 

Cain, whose Iowa campaign also bought tickets for supporters but distributed fewer than the Paul campaign, placed second in the straw poll. Cain received 14% of the Iowan-only vote. NBC’s Anthony Terrell reports the Cain campaign bought 250 tickets and were selling them at the cost of $20, according to an email obtained by NBC News.

But Cain's campaign appeared unable to distribute all of the tickets. During the straw poll, an aide held an envelope with a large amount of free tickets.

Paul, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s wife, Anita, addressed the crowd while former speaker Newt Gingrich sent a video message. Organizers said Cain sent a video message later in the afternoon after voting had concluded to share with the audience.

After Paul and Cain, Santorum received 1% of the Iowan-only vote followed by Gingrich with 0.9%, Michele Bachmann and Perry with 0.5%, and Gary Johnson with .2%. Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman finished at 0%. 

”This country needs to wake up and quit lying to itself whether it’s on the economics or the foreign policy,” Paul told the crowd of roughly 300 people when the convention opened this morning. The crowd dwindled to about 100 after Paul spoke. “What we need is a healthy does of renewal of the spirit of liberty,” he said amidst loud cheers from supporters in the audience.

When Santorum took the stage, he told those who remained that the media was trying to “Huckabee” him and paint him as a social conservative.

“Well, as far as I’m concerned, bring it on,” he said. “I will take every single one of those. I am not ashamed to stand up for life, or family, or faith because they are the foundation of our society.”

It’s unclear, however, why being painted as “Huckabee,” if that were the case, would be a negative in Iowa. Entrance polls in 2008 indicated 60% of GOP caucus goers considered themselves evangelicals.

The First Lady of Texas wrapped up the list of speakers during the morning session. She focused her brief remarks on highlighting her husband’s record, calling him “the conservative leader that America needs.”

“He has taken an unwavering stand in defense of life,” Perry told the crowd just before she listed various bills he signed into law as governor. “For Rick, being pro-life is not a matter of campaign convenience” -- a veiled swipe at Romney -- “it is a core conviction.”

The group’s President Rod Martin told NBC News it wanted to hold this straw poll in Iowa to help retain the state’s importance.

“Not every good candidate starts with a lot of money,” Martin said, “and we want them to be able to be vetted by the people of Iowa.”

Calling the coverage of his presidential campaign “distorted,” Congressman Ron Paul used a series of four television interviews as an opportunity to detail his path to the Republican nomination, distinguish his positions from his rivals, and explain his support in the polls.

“We keep going up. We don’t surge, but we never drop,” Paul said on FOX Tuesday. “Others have surged in the polls and they will be top of the pack and all of a sudden they are dropping off quickly. So, ours is very, very steady. And we haven’t lost ground, but we do need to prove ourselves. And that’s why we’re working very hard in the early stage. And I think January is a big month for us.”

He said Wednesday, “A lot of individuals come and go in the polls, up and down. And my support has been pretty steady and continues to grow.”

Paul went on to describe specifically where his campaign must win and how serious he takes the early voting states.

“We have directed most of our attention to New Hampshire and Iowa and Nevada, you know, the early states," he said. "But I would say, come January, it will be make or break for us. There's no doubt.”

In the online edition of a FOX show Wednesday, Paul was asked if he needs to win Iowa, and where he needs to finish.

“In the top," he said. "I would be disappointed with third, but … if I come in third, I’m still alive. But I think I better do first or second in a couple of those. I have to do well in January.”

Trying to stay in the top of the Republican pack, Paul tried to separate himself from GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney telling NBC’s David Gregory on Sunday’s “Meet the Press” there would not be much difference between President Obama and the GOP “establishment” candidate.

“Would there be a change in foreign policy?" Paul asked rhetorically. "No, there would not. Would either one of them work on a true audit of the Fed and a change in monetary policy that the Federal Reserve can't monetize debt? No. … There would not be a significant difference between the two.”

Paul also put President Obama’s campaign promises alongside that of Republicans and then highlighted what they did once elected.

“Obama was elected as a peace candidate and he expanded the war. And he goes into war without any congressional approval. … When the Republicans get in … they give you No Child Left Behind, prescription drug programs.”

Paul went on to say the "Occupy" movement and the Tea Party have the same interest -- change.

“Whether it's the occupiers or whether it's the tea party people, they're saying, ‘Enough is enough,’" Paul said. "They want some changes, and that's what they're looking for.”

Looking back to positions the 76-year-old candidate has held since first getting elected to public office in the 1970’s, Paul said the other candidates don’t share his longstanding concern on the debt.

“I think the question is how serious do the other candidates and the people of this country think this debt is? I happen to think it is very serious," Paul said on FOX Tuesday. "I was concerned in the '70’s because I thought the situation was set-up because of the change of the monetary system that it would lead to endless spending and endless debt and that's where we are. So, I think we have to take this very seriously. … I'm not bashful about cutting spending. But it's just that I see this sovereign debt crisis worldwide is much more serious than anybody wants to admit. The other candidates aren't offering really any cuts.”

The round of interviews followed his campaign’s “Black This Out” fundraiser, what his campaign calls a "money bomb." It raised more than $2.75 million in five days from more than 40,000 donors, according to the campaign.

NASHUA, N.H. -- Ron Paul says don't blame the rich for income inequity.

"When you do you destroy jobs, you destroy the middle class, the transfer of wealth from the poor to the middle class to the very wealthy and we see that," Paul said at a speech before the Chamber of Commerce here. "The danger of this, though, is to blame those who are earning money and have a good living for all the problems. See, there's a big difference if you earn money because you produce a good product and you didn't receive any benefits from the government, you shouldn't be penalized."

The stock market rise and new GDP growth numbers yesterday may have been a positive uptick for the economy, but the changes did not impress Paul. He described the economic growth marginal and superficial.

"At the same time, real income went down 1.7 percent," Paul said. "We are getting consumers to spend money and dig deeper holes for themselves. But the real income is down. That is what the real problem is when you destroy currency."

Consistent with his usual stump speech, Paul criticized the Federal Reserve Bank for what he calls "artificially low" interest rates that have created a "bubble" in the economy.

"When the bubble is formed, everybody is happy," he told about 90 businesspeople over breakfast. "Looks like a perpetual wealth machine, but it's nothing more than a bubble. There's plenty of bubbles that we have depended on. First it was a NASDAQ bubble, then it was a housing bubble; right now I think we have a bond bubble."

For conservatives who haven't warmed to Mitt Romney the most likely place that a Romney alternate will emerge is Iowa.

But remember, only two of the last five Iowa winners have gone on to become the GOP nominee.

DES MOINES, Iowa – In a parade of speeches heavy on social issues and punctuated by a notable barb against Herman Cain on abortion policy, six Republican candidates made their presidential pitches to an audience of influential Iowa conservatives Saturday.

All but two of the major White House contenders -  Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman were absent -- appeared at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition’s annual fall forum, attended by more than a thousand Republicans in the first-in-the-nation caucus state.

Without mentioning the pizza magnate by name, Gov. Rick Perry used his remarks to ding the recently ascendent Herman Cain for a remark suggesting Cain supports a hands-off attitude towards government curtailing of abortion rights.

"It is a liberal canard to say I am personally pro-life, but government should stay out of that decision," Perry said.  "If that is your view, you are not pro-life, you are pro having-your-cake-and-eating-it-too."

Cain, who spoke before Perry, only briefly mentioned abortion in his opening remarks, declaring unequivocally that life is a fundamental right: "No abortions, no exceptions."

The field's only black Republican candidate also recalled growing up in Atlanta riding on segregated buses, but added to thunderous applause that “because of America's ability to change, I stand here today and I own the bus with my picture on the side."

Michele Bachmann also spoke at length about abortion as well as her personal relationship with faith.  “I believe the government must intervene and I stand for a constitutional amendment to protect life from conception to natural death,” she said.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich received one of the most enthusiastic responses of the evening, repeating his oft-used call for Lincoln-Douglass style presidential debates and lambasting "activist" judges who have ruled in favor of abortion rights.

Libertarian champion Ron Paul began to speak after Gingrich and some in the crowd departed.  The Texas congressman recited biblical references and told the crowd the Bible is filled with “dozens of quotations… telling us to have honest weights and honest measures.”

During the question and answer session, a moderator asked him what would he do to prevent “abortion on demand.” Paul responded, “As an OB doctor, I know when life begins. If I do harm to a fetus, I can be sued!”

Former Sen. Rick Santorum, who spoke last, described the family as the building block of recovery from the nation's fiscal woes. "If we don’t have strong families in America, we will not have a strong economy in this country," he said.

Santorum related the emotional story of the death of his newborn son and his struggle with faith afterwards, earning pin-drop silence from a supportive audience. "You want to know why I'm pro-life? Because God showed me if you're faithful, he will be faithful," he said.

Perry, Gingrich, Paul, and Santorum all spent time greeting voters at the Iowa State Fairgrounds before or after their remarks; Bachmann arrived late and Cain declined to spend much time with voters as he was ushered in and out of the room.

Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition President Steve Scheffler told NBC News before the event that the heavy focus on faith and family issues demonstrated social conservatives' eagerness to replace the current administration.

“It is indicative of the fact that this pro-family constituency is engaged and they want to stop the socialist policies of the Obama Administration,” he said. “They are ready to nominate someone who is going to carry the banner and win the election next fall.”

Despite the influence an endorsement from the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition would have, Scheffler said the organization would not choose a candidate. “We are just going to keep their feet to the fire,” he said.