Until 8 p.m. includes Twin Cities area

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More than 2,500 people attended a rally for Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul in St. Cloud today.

The event, which is Paul's first trip to the state during his 2012 campaign for president, featured an energetic and vocal crowd.

At one point, Paul even joked he didn't even need to give the speech, because the audience already knew what he was going to say. Not deviating from his platform, Paul called for more individual rights and a smaller federal government before an enthusiastic crowd at the Rivers Edge Convention Center in downtown St. Cloud.

"The country and the world is in a mess today," Paul said.  "And I'm quite convinced that we know exactly how we got here, and we know exactly what to do, and one thing for sure is that we don't need more government."

Paul spoke out against the Wall Street bailouts, called for a repeal of President Obama's health care law, an end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, while also promoting the rights of the individual.

"All we need to do is to send people to Washington who understand and are determined to follow the rule of law and respect our Constitution," Paul said.

Paul is currently running behind GOP frontrunners Mitt Romney and Herman Cain in national polling.  He also delivered the speech in Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann's district.  Bachmann is also running for president.

The event marked the official start of Paul's presidential campaign in Minnesota.

You can listen to Paul's full speech here:

Ron Paul rocks St. Cloud

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