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One of the best single articles on RP and his candidacy and our grassroots yet.
Posted on 08/11/2007 5:46:42 AM PDT by George W. Bush
On Eve of Straw Poll, Ron Paul Says GOP Has Lost its Way
by: T.M. Lindsey
Friday (08/10) at 17:16 PM
GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul will be the first to admit that he's still trying to catch up with the "Ron Paul Revolution." During a telephone interview before a rally in Cedar Rapids on Thursday, the congressman from Texas confessed: "In many ways, I joined the group of people who started the Ron Paul Revolution, because I also wanted to see significant changes in this country."Paul added, "I, kiddingly but somewhat seriously, say thanks for inviting me to the revolution, because it seem like it's a grassroots revolt against the status quo. This movement has spread so quickly that we now feel obligated to compete in more than the first few primary and caucus states."
This past week marks only the second extended visit Paul has made to Iowa. The Ron Paul campaign has set its sights on the Ames Straw Poll fund-raiser on Saturday and sees the event as a kickoff to his campaign in Iowa. The campaign officially opened its Iowa headquarters this week, then held town hall meetings across the state, a rally in Cedar Rapids, and "Ronstock" in Ames on Friday. Regardless of Saturday's outcome, Paul has no intention of dropping out of the race any time soon. In fact, Paul has seen a recent uptick in support, which has been reflected in his campaign's fund-raising efforts. "We just had our biggest day fund-raising yet on Wednesday," said Paul. "We're just getting started."
Iowa Independent: Your campaign has become somewhat of an internet phenomenon, drawing comparisons to Howard Dean's success using the internet in '03 and '04. What is it about you and your candidacy that is feeding this phenomenon?
Paul: People are attracted to my stand on the Constitution and the elimination of government. Also, the conditions are such that people are getting worried about which direction we are going financially, on the internet, and on foreign policy. So there seems to be a fertile field for people who are concerned and when we provide some answers through our message, there seems to be an explosion of interest. This has been especially the case with young people, which has surprised me and pleased me.
Iowa Independent: How will you transfer this enthusiasm into votes and building an organizational presence in Iowa and other states?
Paul: We're getting a bit of a test of that this week with the Ames Straw Poll. We need to do our best to organize and motivate people to participate in the poll, and this will be a test of our organization and their enthusiasm. The straw poll is not an all-or-nothing issue with us, but doing well will certainly help give us a boost. We just opened our main headquarters in Des Moines, although we've already had a lot of Meet-up groups started up in Iowa before we even arrived. It's our job now to organize these groups into a viable campaign organization.
Iowa Independent: What's your perception of the type of voters drawn to your candidacy?
Paul: There are a lot of young people, but we also have a lot of elderly people who have always been drawn to our freedom messaging but have dropped out for whatever reason. Our campaign is drawing these people back into politics, while the young people are just discovering our messages, and they're bringing a lot of people in by just talking to their parents. It's interesting to see how diverse our supporters are at the rallies. This is great. Freedom is popular, especially if it brings people together, rather than divide us.
Iowa Independent: You keep talking about freedom. What do you mean by freedom, and how does this differ from your GOP rivals' definition of freedom?
Paul: Oftentimes when they talk about freedom, they think you're only free? by the government growing. I think they confuse freedom with security, whether it be personal or financial, and they claim the government provides that and you can be free under these conditions. We believe just the opposite -- the government should get out of the way, and the people should make all the decisions that affect their own lives. We should certainly relieve ourselves of the great burden that the war has presented, both financially and the sagging morale it's placed upon us as it drags on.
Iowa Independent: What are your thoughts on the import placed on Saturday's Ames Straw Poll fund-raiser?
Paul: It's pretty important. Some candidates see this as a defining point in their campaign, meaning if they don't finish in the top tier they may drop out. We're not that intense about the straw poll. We're satisfied to see our campaign grow steadily. Just yesterday we had our biggest fund-raising day to date. We see the straw poll as more of a starting point for our campaign.
Iowa Independent: The process itself feels undemocratic, meaning the outcome is based on monetary factors and which candidates pour the most money into the event. How does this jibe with your thoughts about democracy and the electoral process?
Paul: It's a negative in a sense that it's hard to compete with candidates raising millions of dollars from special interests, while our campaign is focused on individuals in the grassroots movement. Regardless, this is still a test of our grassroots efforts and determination, and I tell our supporters we'll just have to work that much harder. Quite frankly, a few of the wealthier candidates wasted a lot of their money early on in the campaign. They spent a lot, but didn't get a whole lot in return, while we got more publicity hanging on to our money the second quarter. And the internet can be so spontaneous when it comes to fund-raising, that nobody can really measure what's going on there.
Iowa Independent: Speaking of the internet, what are your thoughts about the internet in regard to the democratic process?
Paul: The internet is a tremendous help. I call it a "political equalizer." I find it strange that we say, or pretend to go overseas to supposedly spread democracy, but here at home democracy is lacking. If you're not with one of the major parties, you have difficulty getting on the ballot, you don't get no media attention, the laws are biased against third-party candidates. Competing with wealthier candidates is an uphill struggle in the primaries, but you have to use the tools you have at your disposal, and the internet serves as such a tool.
Iowa Independent: When you talk about "blowback" and examining why we should look at the reasons we were attacked on 9/11 or why other people may not like us, why do you think your fellow Republicans don't want to talk about this? What are they afraid of? Why do you think (Rudy) Giuliani pounced upon you and your remarks at the debate?
Paul: They have to, because they don't want to admit that a mistake was made and they went in the wrong direction. Nobody wants to do that, and it would be embarrassing for them, and if they don't admit mistakes have been made, they can't possibly win next year. I think it's clear why there's blowback from other countries and why other countries don't like us. They want to be in denial, because they don't want to back away from the foreign policy of being engaged, occupying these countries, and protecting the oil and other interests in these countries.
They have to twist it by saying they attack us because they're jealous of our wealth and freedoms, but if that was the case, they would attack Switzerland and Sweden as well. They attack us precisely because we support dictators in Arab countries and fundamentalists resent it. Then we occupy their countries with troops and this causes even more resentment. To think that we could do all that we do over there and they would totally ignore us is even more bizarre than understanding why they attacked us on 9/11.
Iowa Independent: Some people argue that the Republican Party is at a crossroads, while some go as far to say that it's on the brink of a civil war. Do you think your candidacy poses a threat to the GOP? Does it force other candidates to reassess themselves and what the Republican Party stands for?
Paul: The real threat is for the Republicans to continue doing what they've been doing the last six years. They've become the party of entitlements, war, huge deficits, and the party used to be the party that picked up the pieces when the Democrats got us into war. We used to be the fiscal conservatives and the party that argued for personal freedoms, and now we're not. Last year we lost a lot of ground in the elections, and we'll continue to lose ground if we don't return to our fundamental conservative ideals. We've lost our way and if they want to regain that, they have to become fiscal conservatives and champions of limited government again.
Iowa Independent: If you were to win the straw poll in Ames on Saturday, do you think the GOP establishment will embrace your candidacy?
Paul: No, they won't. They'll become very harsh and will try to destroy the messenger, so I would expect all kinds of problems we would have to face up to. But at the same time, I think they would soften their message.. I think they've already softened their message on the war in Iraq to some degree. They haven't accepted my message but they're saying mistakes have been made in the war's execution, but they won't ever admit the war was wrong in the first place.
Iowa Independent: Should you not win your party's nomination, hypothetically speaking of course, would you consider running on the Libertarian ticket or as an independent?
Paul: I'm about 99.9 percent certain that the answer is no. If the movement and my support continues to steadily grow, and people are willing to stand out in the rain and campaign for me, I would have to keep moving on. I owe a great deal to these folks and they believe in the message, and I hope I succeed in being their messenger.
.....and Ron Paul has lost his mind..................
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He’s got the wrong party.
So you're saying the GOP shouldn't be concerned with the Constitution, the erosion of our sovereignty, border security and our 2nd Amendment rights?
Other than his call for an immediate withdrawal from Iraq, Dr. Paul is spot on for all the other issues. Why haven't the GOP limited government? Do you realize why people are attracted to Paul when they see the GOP abandon most of its core principles?
And comparing his Internet campaign to Dean is ludicrous, because Paul has genuine grassroot support from folks of all walks of life, where Dean had anti-war moonbats and MoveOn types.
When he switched from Libertarian to GOP should have been a clue to everyone....................
paul is a surrender monkey... isolationist... anti-war “also ran”. If by some weird alignment of the stars, this buchananite were to get the Republican nomination... I would either not vote or would vote dim for the first time in my life. I figure if I am going to elect a cut and run, blame America first, anti-War isolationist dim... I will just vote for the real thing... and hell would freeze over before I voted for a dim!
LLS
Uh, no, from Bobby Eberly at GOP USA.
That's true, but he'll go deep in the primaries, and whoever is the nominee will have to court his legions of supporters. Paul's supporters are not going to hold their nose for the GOP nominee, especially if the nominee and the GOP establishment continue to treat Paul like dirt. You guys need Paul more than he needs the establishment.
but his nomination to the TX14th Congressional District is also at risk.
Yeah, and you guys keep saying this ever since Dr. Paul returned to Congress in 1997. The GOP establishment even went so far as to support the Rat candidates against him. Paul still won, and I predict that he'll easily win his Congressional seat again.
Unintended humor of the day.
Predict away. I live in TX14, and he's in trouble in my community.
So what, most Libertarian principles are similiar to the GOP, if not even more superior.
Would you rather have Dr. Paul remain a Libertarian, run in the general and split the conservative vote so Hillary would win? You should thank your lucky stars Paul is not running as an independent or 3rd party candidate.
Gee, now there's a big shocker. (Actually, I was shocked when I first started seeing this a few years ago, up close and personally.) Party over principle is the establishment!
Ron Paul will also be hosting a one-on-one for top supporters at lunchtime at his tent. Price of admission: $1000 per person, payable in dirty fiat money or gold bullion.
To listen, Click Here (RonPaulRadio.com), then click on the "Listen" tab at the top. You will be able to hear the streaming broadcast, live from the Ron Paul tent at Ames!Also - see the two TV spots, and listen to the three official radio ads that are running now in Iowa at http://ronpaul2008.com/.
And you must see the full page ad, produced and payed for by us, We the People, in the Ames Tribune.
HE did.....and lost, and there was no split, at least not from him.........Perot was bad enough......
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