ROCK HILL, S.C. – Some had Mohawks, others had tattoos, one dressed as an American Revolutionary.

They wore Hollister. They chanted his name loudly. This was Ron Paul’s revolution.

“Ron Paul is everything to me,” said Jevona Livingston, 37, of Charlotte, N.C..

Saturday morning, about 500 devotees showed up at the Freedom Center to hear Paul, a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. More than half stayed to get a picture and an autograph.

“This can definitely happen,” said Jared Phillips, 19, sporting a Mohawk. “It’s going to happen.”

Paul believes the U.S. shouldn’t be in Iraq, the government shouldn’t interfere in its citizens’ lives, and the Constitution should be followed.

“People are starving for those ideas they’ve read about in history books,” said Douglas Huband, 33, an Air Force veteran.

The supporters call it a revolution, though it might not last past the Republican primary. Paul trails in the polls, and he said Saturday that he wouldn’t consider an independent run or another campaign for president in 2012.

But he has at least a few months left. He is raising more money than any other Republican candidate.

“The big question, is there enough time?” Paul said.

The S.C. Republican primary is Jan.19.

“The question really is, can we translate all of this support and the money we’ve raised into real, hard votes in about a month or so,” Paul said. “There’s reason to be optimistic, but we still have to prove ourselves.”

Paul is running in a party in which there is still substantial support for a war he opposes. But he has new fans because of his stance.

“He’s the one candidate among the others really vocal about ending the war, and he’s sincere,” said Scott Probst, 29, from Charlotte, who carried a poster saying, “War is over if you want it.”

Paul says his anti-Iraq war position will embolden conservatives who have toed the Republican party line.

“I think it’s a tremendous strength,” he said. ” I mean, a lot of people who support the war do it very reluctantly. They do it out of loyalty to the party and loyalty to the president, but deep down inside they know it’s not declared war, they know we don’t have the money and they know we’ve gone in there to enforce U.N. resolutions.”

Whether he wins the nomination or not, Paul said, he has changed the way people in Washington perceive him and his message.

“Members of Congress I think, if anything, treat me more respectfully than ever before,” he said, “but it might be the money we’ve raised.”

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(c) 2007, The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.).

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AP-NY-12-08-07 1817EST