WATERVILLE – With Maine’s Republican caucuses set to start in less than two weeks, the state is getting attention from the presidential candidate who vows to cut $1 trillion in federal spending in his first year in office.

Ron Paul is scheduled to speak at 2 p.m. Friday at Colby College, in Ostrove Auditorium in the Diamond Building.

The Texas congressman’s speech will be open to the public, said Ruth Jacobs, Colby’s associate director of communications. Ostrove Auditorium seats 182 people.

The caucuses must be held by March 20. The state’s Republican Party is urging local committees to hold them in the period from Feb. 4 to Feb. 11.

After his stop at Colby, Paul is scheduled to speak at the Ramada Inn in Lewiston at 6:30 p.m. Friday and in Hastings Hall on the University of Southern Maine’s Gorham campus at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Paul, 76, is known for advocating individual liberty, limited constitutional government, low taxes and free markets. In 1988, he was the presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party, and in 2008 he was a candidate for the Republican nomination.

Joseph Reisert, a faculty sponsor for Paul’s appearance at Colby, said Paul’s views distinguish him from other Republican presidential candidates.

“He advocates for a foreign policy that involves much less overseas engagement,” Reisert said. “He’s a vocal defender of libertarian policies and he’s a much sharper critic of the Federal Reserve than other Republicans.”

Visits by presidential candidates can inspire people to attend caucuses, said Reisert, who is chairman of the government department at Colby.

“In a caucus state like Maine, you could imagine Ron Paul winning,” he said.

Rick Santorum won the Iowa caucuses, Mitt Romney was victorious in the New Hampshire Republican primary and Newt Gingrich finished first in last weekend’s South Carolina Republican primary. Reisert said that if Paul were to capture the Maine caucus, “it would really mean something.”

Adam Thompson, a Colby student, encouraged people to “come hear the man himself and learn about him.”

Thompson helped connect Paul’s campaign staffers with college administrators so the visit could be arranged. Paul will participate in a question-and-answer session, said Thompson.

An attempt to contact Paul’s campaign Wednesday was not successful.

Morning Sentinel Staff Writer Beth Staples can be contacted at 861-9252 or at:

bstaples@centralmaine.com