WATERVILLE – Ron Paul braved snow and ice Friday in a quest for delegates for his campaign, vowing that he and his loyal band of supporters will be a factor in the Republican presidential race for weeks to come.

The Texas congressman attracted a packed house in Bangor despite a winter storm that closed schools and brought traffic to a virtual standstill.

Feisty and defiant, he said he had watched a television segment Friday morning in which pundits debated how Republicans should try to manage Paul and his fervent backers.

“They want us to go away, but they don’t want to offend us. How are they going to manage that?” Paul said to boos. “I’ll tell you what — we’ll just hang around for a while longer.”

Paul is all but skipping Florida, whose primary will be held Tuesday, to focus on Maine and other states that are holding caucuses.

He is due to speak today on the Gorham campus of the University of Southern Maine.

Paul’s campaign is following Barack Obama’s 2008 model, hoping that a similarly young, Internet-savvy fan base will organize and attend caucuses for Paul.

The caucus states yield a large number of delegates for far less money than many primary states.

Paul is spending two days in Maine, campaigning on or near college campuses, which have typically been receptive to his libertarian-leaning message.

At Colby College in Waterville, he emphasized his support for bringing U.S. troops home from overseas engagements and railed against what he called government’s efforts to regulate lifestyle choices.

“When it comes to putting anything into your body, or in your mouth, or in your lungs, you can’t do it without permission of the government,” Paul said.

Most of Maine’s caucuses will be held in the period from Feb. 4-11, when the GOP will announce the results of what is essentially a nonbinding straw poll.

The gatherings in schools, Grange halls, fire stations and town halls are the first step to selecting 24 delegates from the state to the Republican National Convention in Tampa this summer.

Charles Welles, 34, of Waterville, a Navy veteran, said he supports Paul’s views on ending military engagements and wants to vote for him.

Maine, often an afterthought compared to its next-door neighbor, New Hampshire, tends to reward candidates who are organized and make an effort to show up to court voters, said Sandy Maisel, a political science professor at Colby.

Maisel noted that Gov. Jerry Brown of California, who was out of office at the time, won Maine’s Democratic caucuses in 1992 after making frequent trips to the state.

The enthusiasm among Paul’s supporters could help him prevail in Maine, Maisel said.

“The GOP has a very low turnout and it tends to be the most ideological people, which favors Ron Paul,” he said.

Paul state Chairman Paul Madore was guarded about setting expectations, saying GOP officials in the state would press for a more traditional candidate like Romney.

“We have a rank-and-file Republican leadership in Maine, and they don’t budge easily,” Madore said. “We have to get in there and make our presence heard.”