Ron Paul questions his own stamina in protracted nomination fight

Ron Paul questioned Wednesday whether he would be able to endure a protracted fight for the Republican presidential nomination, wondering to reporters if he would be able to "hold up" through a long primary battle.

"I'm not looking forward to anything being long and protracted. So I hope it ends rather quickly and we do real well in the beginning of the year," Paul said while campaigning in New Hampshire, according to CNN. "The organization is fantastic. The question is: am I going to hold up if I keep doing all this."

Paul's chance to make serious waves in the campaign could be predicated on a long primary process in which he can tap into his substantial war chest and organizational prowess. Unlike the insurgent Newt Gingrich, who has had little time to build a ground game or collect donations since catapulting to the top of the GOP race, Paul has steadily built his financial reserves.

But the Texas congressman, who one PPP poll found within a lone percentage point of Gingrich among likely caucus-goers in Iowa, said his campaign was peaking at the right time.

"The momentum is building up," Paul said. "A lot of the candidates so far in this past year would come and go. You know, they'd shoot to the top and then drop back rather rapidly. Ours has never been that way. Ours has been very, very steady growth. And this last week or two there's a sudden extra growth."

Paul's campaign manager, Jesse Benton, said that Paul was benefiting from voters getting a chance to evaluate each of the presumptive frontrunners.

“As the campaign process plays itself out, and voters learn more about Newt Gingrich, the more people who are tired of the status quo in Washington are looking for someone with the consistency of record to tackle the tough issues,” said Benton in a statement. “Ron Paul has always fought for constitutional principles, limited government, and balanced budgets, he has the only plan that cuts $1 trillion dollars in spending year one and gets our country back on track. These are things that resonate with voters everywhere.”

Paul has been aggressively attacking Gingrich, airing ads in early primary states that question the former House Speaker's ties to troubled mortgage giant Freddie Mac and the healthcare industry.

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