Presidential hopeful Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) told conservatives gathered here on Thursday that the Republican Party is "acting too much like Democrats," especially the party's frontrunner Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

"We have drifted a long way from the positions we used to hold on limited government," said Paul at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), sponsored by the American Conservative Union.

Paul also said McCain is "the top Republican candidate running for president who is leading the charge" against limited government. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney dropped out of the race earlier on Thursday at the same conference.

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"If you think he can lead this country back to conservative principles, fiscal soundness, and a decent sized government, you've got another thing coming, because it's not going to happen," he said.

"If we continue to do what we have been doing, we are going to run into a financial crisis," Paul added. "We spend too much money everywhere. The only answer is to be conservative."

"Today we allow big government to grow, whether it's the conservative side or the liberal side," he said. "We are acting too much like Democrats."

Though Paul was greeted by cheering crowds, many political analysts say he is unlikely to get the Republican Party nomination.

"Ron Paul has absolutely no chance of winning the Republican nomination," Thomas Mann, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told Cybercast News Service.

"He has a fanatical group of libertarians who stand behind him that account for the success he's had against all of the mainstream positions," added Herb London, president of the conservative Hudson Institute.

London told Cybercast News Service that Paul's views on domestic policy, especially his position on limited government, draws supporters, "including those who are fairly mainstream Republican supporters. When it comes to foreign policy his position is similar to Robert Taft's in the 1950s and somewhat inconsistent with present realities."

James Hedtke, chair of the political science department at Cabrini College, said, "It would be best if he got out of the race and cut his losses."

"He demonstrated that he was not able to tap into either the conservative or moderate wings of the Republican Party," Hedtke told Cybercast News Service.

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