The Republican National Convention wasn't the only gathering of thousands Tuesday night in Minneapolis. We caught up with Bowling Green's Dr. Rand Paul to discuss the intention of last night's rally supporting his father, Congressman Ron Paul.

Rand tells us his father was not invited to speak at the National Republican Convention because of his decision not to endorse John Mccain. Rand says Ron Paul's still getting his message heard, and there's a reason why he continues to hold rallies.

"We had 12,000 people in Minneapolis," Rand says. "When he spoke here in Bowling Green, we had 800 people come out."

Speaking at his Bowling Green office, opthamologist Dr. Rand Paul says nationwide support for his father is still going strong.

"His people are organized because they believe in a long term goal," he explains. "That long term goal is they believe in limited government."

Rand says his father's hope is that by continuing these rallies, presidential candidates Barack Obama and John Mccain will take note of his positions and his supporters.

"In foreign policy, they both want to keep troops permanently in Iraq," says Rand. "Obama says he wants to end the war, but he's not really for removing the bases. We're now going to have permanent bases in Iraq, which is one of the key things that fuels the Jihadist movement. They don't like our bases in their countries."

"McCain has said he'd leave the troops in Iraq for a hundred years, and that's so diametrically opposed to everything my dad stands for. We think not only is it a bad idea, we can't afford to do it. We're spending ten to twelve billion dollars a month on the Iraq war. Still, everybody wants to say the surge is a great success. It's bankrupting us. We can't afford to do it."

Rand adds that doesn't necessarily mean Ron Paul won't be endorsing anyone this election season.

"I don't know," he says. "There's been some question as to if he'd endorse a third party candidate. He has run as a libertarian candidate before. This may be a big season for an independent candidate."

According to Rand, talks have taken place between John McCain's people and Ron Paul's. He says those talks had the intention of encouraging Ron Paul to come closer to the Republican party. Paul maintains that he wants John McCain's foreign policy to be more like his own.