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TAMPA, Fla. Rep. Ron Paul rewarded thousands of his presidential campaign supporters with a rally here Sunday, vowing that with their help, his small government, anti-war libertarian message will continue after he retires no matter who occupies the White House come January.

Introduced by Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, his son and the would-be heir apparent to the political movement headed by the 77-year-old congressman from Texas, Mr. Paul took the stage at the Sun Dome at the University of South Florida to an ovation so long and so thunderous that he was temporarily at a loss for words.

Is there anything left for me to say? he asked the crowd wryly.

But he went on to tell them that his cause of liberty was bigger than any convention, or even any election and that the Republican big tent eventually wouldnt matter.

We will get into the tent, believe me, he said. Because we will become the tent, eventually.

Mr. Paul trotted out his various policy emphases abolishing the Federal Reserve, scaling back the countrys military spending and repealing the provision in the National Defense Authorization Act allowing for the indefinite detention of terrorist suspects without trial, for example before sending off his supporters with both gratitude and a call to arms.

The worst thing we can do is remain silent, he said. I have been taught, and Ive been convinced, that patriotism is that [loyalty] that permits us as a free society to criticize our own government when theyre wrong.

Mr. Paul noted that he visited more than 30 college campuses during the campaign a testament to his popularity among young people as well as old.

Weve come so far in this fight for liberty, said Ashley Ryan, 21, a Republican National Committee member from Maine and the youngest delegate to this years GOP convention. You can truly say this is a revolution.

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