The Hill News

Ron Paul predicted he would do well in South Carolina because of his economic policies.

"Well, I'm pretty conservative. I'm the only one that's offered a real cut in the budget. Everybody else talks about cutting off those proposed increases which makes no dent in the debt at all," Paul said Wednesday on Fox News.

The Texas congressman's comments come a day after he placed second (with about 23 percent of the vote) in the New Hampshire primary, behind Mitt Romney (39 percent) and ahead of Jon Huntsman (about 17 percent). The South Carolina primary is Jan. 21.

"So when they understand that I'm willing to cut a trillion dollars out of the budget and change our ways and talk about things like monetary policy because that's what encourages politicians to spend money â€"no, I gotta think they're going to respond very favorably," Paul continued.

Economic issues and the economy will likely be a major topic of debate for the Republica! n presidential field in South Carolina. The state currently has a 9.9 percent unemployment rate and values for homes are exceptionally low while default rates are on the rise.

A recent Public Policy Polling survey found Paul in fourth place in the Palmetto state wit 8 percent, behind Mitt Romney (27 percent), Newt Gingrich (23 percent) and Rick Santorum (18 percent). Paul said that those numbers are likely to change.

"I imagine the polls have just gone up in the last 24 hours in South Carolina so we're pretty optimistic on how things will turn out in South Carolina," Paul added.