[NavyCanDo]

Real or not, they are spending money early and often. Driving around I see Ron Paul yard signs at street corners everywhere, and even banners hanging from bridges and fences. A year out from the election and the only 2008 candidate signs I see are the Ron Paul signs. Despite all of this he still is not going to come close to getting the GOP nomination or even moving up to a 2nd tier GOP spot.
This money they are spending could be better spent on someone that has a chance - then again, it would probably not go to a GOP candidate anyway being most of his supporters are anti-war activist or hard-core Libertarians who would vote third party.

[George W. Bush]

Sorry, I almost forgot to "spam" your thread with the official FR Ron Paul Banner. Here you go.

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[green iguana]

I know I’m in Texas, and Austin at that, but I see more Ron Paul yard signs and bumper stickers than those for any other candidate, by far. I’d almost go so far as to say I see as many for Dr. Paul as for all others combined - Republican and Democrat.

[goodnesswins]

Dr. Mercola - a very popular doc on the web, supports Paul.....just crazy.

[longtermmemmory]

Mr. Hsu has proven the number of supporters and actual amount of dollars are irrelevant.

Hsu funnelled chinese money to Hillary’s campaign (until the media blackout stopped the story) and it was very apparent it was not about bundling but about “dividing” contributions among shell names.

Paul supporters have been exposed using fake email originations. No reason not to believe fake dollar originations are not the same.

[april15Bendovr]

Ron Paul is another Puppet

[MWS]

I like Ron Paul. I believe that he is honest in his beliefs and might have made a decent president at one time.

Unfortunately, Ron Paul is behind with the times. His candidacy seems to be based on the notion that 9/11 never happened, which really has quite dangerous ramifications in this day and age.

9/11 didn’t refute the ideas that Ron Paul is running on. It would probably be sound policy in normal times, were we living in them.

Unfortunately, times are not sound. We are in the midst of war with a dangerous enemy which ultimately wants us to convert or die. We are at war with an enemy who will go to any length and means necessary to cause as much destruction as possible in order to obtain its goals. For a while I myself thought this was hyperbole, but reflection on the facts reminded me that it is quite true

Our enemies want us out of the Middle East so that they can seize control of the governments there. They want control over the world’s oil, as it will give them tremendous leverage in dealing with the rest of us. If they are allowed to progress to these stages, they WILL wage a “convert or die” jihad against the rest of us, and will most likely have the means to do it. Terrorism is just about implementing the first stages of their operation.

Ron Paul does not understand this. He spoke of “blow back” in a debate a few months ago, but failed to note that the reason we’ve been active in the Middle East for so long is the fact that a very vital resource is at stake which cannot be allowed to fall into unaccountable hands. We push for representative governments and free markets in the Middle East because they ultimately benefit us and everyone else. The terrorists don’t like us there because we stand in the way of their own goals.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - Ron Paul, if somehow elected, may very well be successful in dismantling the structures set up amidst our War on Terror. If he does so, there will most likely be another catastrophic event and it will be on his head. He will be a lame duck as he tries to scramble to reinstate the policies that President Bush has wisely implemented, as he was the one who imprudently took them apart in the first place.

The last thing we’ll need in that situation is a lame duck president.

[M203M4]

They are real:

(1) they are mostly younger (18-40)
(2) a portion are traditionally non-voters, some are third party (Constitution, Libertarian), some are Democrats, a lot are independents, and some are Republicans (the last category is growing the fastest, and the Democrat supporters are shrinking in number, with most headed to the Obama camp - Kucinich is not on the radar).
(3) all have libertarian leanings (shock!)
(4) they universally hate Hillary's guts, and most have a seething hatred of Giuliani as well
(5) most ignore network news, and get their news from internet sources
(6) many of the older Republican supporters have been Ron Paul fans since the 1990's, their politics not having changed an iota since then
(7) they are all extremely motivated

The last point is critical, and I cannot stress it enough. They are in this for Paul to win, and I know many who are making a significant personal financial sacrifice to donate money to the campaign. Every supporter I know is operating independently from the official campaign. They deluge small local papers with letters, slap Ron Paul fliers under windshield wipers in parking lots, and run mini-campaigns (on campuses for example) to get folks to register as Republicans so they can vote in the primaries. Ron Paul is seriously their hobby, and it is not even close to simply being only an online exercise.

Their enthusiasm is infectious as well, though there is obviously a point at which support will saturate (IMO, the support among Democrats is above the saturation point, so we are going to see most of the lightweight scum float to the top; Republican and independent support however are far below potential saturation). The comparisons to the "Dean phenomenon" are hollow (though the end result could be the same - with an effet pro-abort anti-gun pro-gay North-Easterner winning the nomination).

I see this all in a positive light, and don't think that this represents any enhancement of the likelihood Hillary will be elected (Paul pledged to NOT run third party - if he does, I take this all back and will join the anti-Paul brigade).

On my part, I'm simply explaining to Ron Paul supporters that Fred Thompson, through his support of Federalism, is the best alternative to bring to fruition the majority of Ron Paul's domestic agenda. If and when the Ron Paul campaign comes to an end, we either position ourselves to adopt some of the political refugees or lose them to the ether or opposition.

[oneamericanvoice]

We had a Ron Paul supporter at our meeting last night, and she was a real “howling-at-the-moon” type. I don’t know why these people come to Republican meetings. Don’t they have their own?

[incindiary]

I haven't read the whole thread yet, but I want to say I think it's hilarious that many people here still don't think that Ron Paul has any real supporters. LOL!!!

I love you guys, but some of you need to step outside of FR once in a while, instead of always preaching to the choir and not getting exposed to other people. Ron Paul most definitely has LOTS of supporters, and not just the usual, apathetic, "I'll vote for the lesser of two evils" type, but people who are passionate, determined and devoted to the cause of taking back our republic from corrupt, duplicitous, unconstitutional, big-government politicians in what appears to be a one-party system. You can laugh and scoff all you want, but it is real, I've been on lots of sites and there are tons of people who support Paul, contrary to what the MSM wants you to believe.

And from what I have seen, contrary to some lies told here, they are not "all liberals" - the liberals who like him for his position on the war DON'T like most of his other positions so they're most likely not going to vote on one issue and go against everything else they believe (that the government should take care of us cradle to grave). No, they are patriots, conservative independents, old-school Republicans, libertarians or young people who have never even participated in political activism before but who can see that we're heading in the wrong direction with globalism, the NAU, open borders, corruption, etc.

And if Paul continues to be ignored and downplayed by the MSM, it's not going to be over so easily. Even if you don't agree with him on foreign policy or other issues, and even if you don't support him, he HAS done something very good already - he has energized many people to the cause of liberty and to what this country is SUPPOSED to be about. It's not about him, it's about the message. People are finally waking up to the fact that our government and media are not honest, they don't care about the constitution, our sovereignty and the people, they have their own agenda that is bad news for everyone. It's a GOOD thing that people are starting to wake up, not a bad thing. And it's not going to go away, so get used to it.

[A CA Guy]

There is possibly lots of drug money to be given to libertarian leaning candidates.
They tend to support no laws against recreational drugs and that might be impressive to the drug lords and drug abusers.

That right there gets you millions IMO.

[abigailsmybaby]

I think, for the most part, they are looney lefties trying desperately to screw up the primary which will, in turn, screw up the general election.

[mountainfolk]

Having read many of the posts regarding Ron Paul it is obvious to me that the one thing he and his supporters will accomplish is, as elizabetty says, to shore up the Hillary Clinton Presidential election campaign. I know several Paul supporters and I respect their fervor for libertarian views up to the point of a reality check in the event they succeed in putting a socialist RAT in the White House. These Paul supporters believe in any number of conspiracy theories but are reluctant to include the most likely one pertaining to the current Presidential race. No way have the RATS not factored in a Perot type third party to give them the extra points needed to win. It worked for them before. And no way are they leaving anything so crucial to chance. Sorros money is unlimited and buying a third party amounts to CHUMP change for him. I think the Paul supporters need to explain what they have done to actually change those conditions of government they find wanting. Are they just spoilers who use the Republican party as a platform to criticize the achievers in office and expound on the evils of big government? Seems to me that putting this Republic at danger of morphing into a socialist, one world government is short sighted. And lazy. Their concerns will all be moot if the Clinton grifters move back into their command center at the White House. Socialism does not cater to concerns about big government, the federal reserve system, etc. Quite the opposite.