Posted on 09/16/2007 2:18:45 AM PDT by traviskicks
More than 1,000 people gathered Saturday at the Union Pacific Depot in Salt Lake City to rally behind U.S. Rep. Ron Paul in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination.
Paul, an obstetrician from Texas, was impressed with the turnout.
"Wow. If they only knew you existed over in Washington, they'd change things over there," he said as he greeted the cheering crowd.
Paul spoke fervently of his support of smaller government, including the abolition of agencies, such as the Internal Revenue Service, and of his support for strictly following the Constitution. He also spoke out against the war in Iraq and any pre-emptive military action.
"Because of our careless attitude about foreign policy and how we go to war, we have allowed our government to build an American world empire," he said. "We are not an empire. We're a republic."
Paul's stances on such topics are "clearly proven" in his voting record, which has earned him the nickname of "Dr. No" in the House of Representatives, said supporter Ronald Levine Saturday.
"I tell people not to listen to what a candidate says before an election or what he does," he said. "I tell them to look at what he has consistently done for the past 20 years."
That voting record is what drives his grass-roots supporters, said Mark Hudson of Syracuse. "He is the only candidate who attracts everyone from libertarians to constitutional conservatives to true conservatives," Hudson said.
Paul visited Utah for the free rally and for a $1,000-a-plate brunch that drew fewer than 20 supporters and a $2,000-per-plate dinner. He is the eighth presidential candidate to visit Utah, the fourth Republican. Paul had raised about $13,000 in Utah as of the June 30 filing, according to the Federal Elections Commission.
Though polls show Paul garnering an average of only 2 percent of potential voters, many of his supporters believe the polls don't accurately show how many people support him.
"He's the only candidate I've seen homemade signs for," said Tom Salt, who is studying mechanical engineering at Brigham Young University.
Salt sees many young people supporting Paul.
"We look at his principles and we're too young to be cynical about his chances," Salt said. The mainstream media has not treated Paul fairly, said Jed Hardman of Springville, and neither have some of the other Republicans in the race, pointing to Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney "openly mocking" Paul after debates.
"They're afraid because as soon as such a true conservative emerges, one who is anti-abortion and has conservative views on taxes, they're going to lose," he said.
lol
Its weird how this new Anti Ron Paul advert smearing him and Jesus Christ just showed up today:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXCRGXkkU0w
“How about you, would you vote for Paul if he were the GOP candidate (by some miracle)?”
I wouldnt call Ron Paul being the last man standing a “miracle”.
so you’d vote for him?
Not a chance. The war on terror is more important than all the other issues on the table. Pulling our troops out now when they have begun to turn the fight is wrong wrong wrong. Even the Hildabeast if elected will not go down that road despite of what she may say on a stump speech.
With Ron Paul being the only true ant-war candidate expect Cindy Sheehan to endorse him soon. Do you really want to support the same candidate as Sheehan?
No, wait that’s not on the Constitution...
****Based on what figures and from whom?****
It is my understanding that these numbers are generated by Meetup.
jme****The other story posted today about his talk in Seattle had a standing room only crowd. In the comments after the article, several people who were there said that the reported number of people attending (200+) was off by at least 50% (400+).****
*****Possibly, but since we know that Ron’s supporters have been actively trying to recruit from Code Pink and Moveon.org, how do we know how many of those people were conservatives?****
Just how do you know where his supporters have been trying to recruit people. From what I have seen most of his supporters have been having sign waves, passing out election tracts, etc. to the general public. I, as a Ron Paul supporter, believe that his message of a smaller government, lower taxes, a uniform (but not a protectionist) tariff and a non interventionist foreign policy would appeal to a wide range of the American public.
BTW, RP’s campaign puts the number at the Seattle meeting at 550.
In all truth I don’t see anyone in either party Cindy Sheehan could possibly endorse but Ron Paul. I’ll keep my eyes and ears open because I want to be the first Freeper to post the Cindy supports Ron Paul story. It’s gonna be a hoot.
After all she is just asking that we follow the Constitution...
As I recall, Ronald Reagan did not reject any Reagan Democrats.
There have been multiple articles about it on FR.
****There have been multiple articles about it on FR.*****
I have been here for a while now and all I have seen are accusations.
And why then is he running as a GOP candidate? He’s not a Repub, so why the charade?
He is a multiple term Republican Congressman. Republicanism and conservatism are not necessarily inclusive of each other however. Ron Paul is first and foremost a traditional Conservative. His views on nation building wars have always been in line with the view that traditional conservatives have embraced for decades. This "new conservatism"(neo)of exporting American democratic values abroad at gunpoint is doomed to failure. Most Americans do not want to sacrifice their sons and daughters lives to secure freedom for ignorant backward peoples in third world cesspools. If they want to be free then they must be willing to pay the price and bear the burden themselves. If they are not willing to do so then they do not deserve anything from us at all. Least of all the lives of our children.
William F. Buckley once remarked that the defining element of conservatism is realism--realism about the limits of state power, the nature of human beings and societies, the complexity of international life. Yet many conservatives who believe that the state can do nothing right at home think that it can do nothing wrong abroad. (If things go badly, why, more money, bigger bombs and ground troops will straighten it out.) Many who are scornful of social engineering at home seem sure it will work beyond our borders. They seem convinced that good intentions and a burst of state power can transform the world. How conservative is that?
Republicans used to be the party of liberty and small government and many still are.
well said
Then you haven't been visiting all the Ron Paul threads.
Sure, and the enemy who wants to destroy all things non-muslim will just sit back and leave us alone if we but withdraw to within our own borders. Yeah, history is repleat with examples of how these peace loving muslims only desire to live within their own borders. Burying your head in the sand isn’t going to fix the problems in this world either. Ignoring it until it blows up into your face is a great way to deal with the serious problems were facing. Perhaps you want to wait until death comes to you, but I prefer to take death to them first.
***Then you haven’t been visiting all the Ron Paul threads.****
Wrong, I get pinged into all the Ron Paul threads.
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