Ron Paul: Utah turnout wows candidate (1000+ people at rally)

The Salt Lake Tribune ^ | 9/16/07 | Sheena McFarland

[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.

[George W. Bush]

Most people who can afford $1,000 a plate dinners are in favor of keeping the status quo. Many people in the meetup groups are contributing more than $1,000 in time, materials, and effort. E.g., I started a meetup group and a person offered me a prime spot on a busy road for a bill board supporting RP. All we have to do is make the sign.

Estimates generally are around $750 to make a professional vinyl sign to apply to a medium to large billboard.

We've never heard for certain how much the Ron Paul folk in KC spent on this one.

Ron Paul KC Blog » Blog Archive » Ron Paul Billboard is Up!

[George W. Bush]

Video of RP's Salt Lake rally. Very excited crowd!

YouTube - Ron Paul on KUTV2 Salt Lake City

[traviskicks]

I wouldn’t say that... :

http://www.house.gov/paul/legis/106/hr1146.htm

[traviskicks]

yea, it was an admittedly unfair comparison; I still couldn’t resit making it tho :)

[DugwayDuke]

“Because earmarks are funded from spending levels that have been determined before a single earmark is agreed to, with or without earmarks the spending levels remain the same.”

BS! The maximum spending levels are determined by the Authorization Committees. Actual spending levels are determined by the Authorization Committees who take the spending requested by the Federal Agencies and add the spending requested by members of Congress (earmarks). Eliminate the earmarks and you reduce actual spending.

“Now, will you explain why you believe that Congress should just appropriate our money and hand it over to unelected bureaucrats who cannot be fired without directing how it should be spent?”

Perhaps you might wish to explain why you believe members of Congress should just appropriate our money to bribe voters to vote for them or others to donate campaign funds to them which is eactly what an earmark is?

[traviskicks]

heh heh... well, freedom is exciting! :)

Glad to see the positive local news coverage there.
nice KC banner too.

[KDD]

Time to help Ron Paul spread his message of freedom.

[JTN]

[JTN]

Sure, with 2% of popular suport, and by whopping 20 person turn outs at $1,000 a plate dinners. With such a huge ground swell of support like that, how can he loose? /s

Success in L.A.

Los Angeles enthusiastically received Ron Paul yesterday!

The fundraising reception in the morning was a great success. It was held at the Ritz Carlton in Pasadena and tickets were $500 per person. Sold out!

After the breakfast, Dr. Paul went to the University of Southern California. He met with a group of students and press. He then spoke at a rally outside on campus. A police officer estimated the crowd to be between 700-900 people. They cheered Dr. Paul time and time again. Students and professors in the surrounding buildings had windows opened and listened too.

After the rally, Dr. Paul attended a fundraising reception on campus. Tickets were $500 per person for the event. Sold out!

Yesterday evening, Dr. Paul attended a fundraising dinner at the home of Bill Johnson. Tickets were $2,000 per person. Sold out!

Dr. Paul and staff then traveled to San Francisco arriving about 1:00 am this morning. It will be another busy day.

Kent Snyder
Chairman, Ron Paul 2008

[Iwo Jima]

I saw this thread and immediately thought about you.

[Captain Kirk]

This is great. No other candidate can generate such sincere enthusiasm. If the GOP hopes to beat Hillary, Ron is the best hope to pull it off.

[cmsgop]

LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!

[George W. Bush]

Aw, Captain, I’m just glad to see you back among the land of the living! I searched for you for days and thought we’d lost you. Hopefully, we’ll see a few others resurrected as well.

[Lovebloggers]

Did that pass and I missed a memo?

When I said he has accomplished nothing what I meant is that HE HAS ACCOMPLISHED NOTHING.

[Sonora]

I’m thinking that same posters posted this one. Why?

[montag813]

Some of the Paulestinians who turned out...

[april15Bendovr]

Reality for Ron Paul

"I’ve told them a hundred times: put ‘Spinal Tap’ first and ‘Puppet Show’ last."

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

How is your boy doing in the polls, my friend?

You know these polls are garbage just like the polls that show Rudy is leading the other GOP candidates.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Really pathetic numbers considering that 900 of the 1000 are probably Moveon.org stooges hoping to "fracture the Conservative base" by backing a Trojan Horse candidate Paul all the while knowing they would NEVER actually vote for Paul in a General Election

You don't know jack, Johnnie-boy. You're just a stooge. All you do is repeat the same talking points faxed over to you from the RNC.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Care to put money on who will win the GOP nomination re Thompson or RuPaul?

Probably Thompson, but a lot of Paul supporters won't support the GOP nominee. If it's Thompson, he'll win because Thompson is a federalist and his views are consistent with Paul's principles except for foreign policy, so he's the only Republican candidate who'll benefit the most from Paul supporters.

If the GOP establishment keeps treating Paul like dirt, a lot of his supporters are going to stay home or write in Paul's name in the general, and if the nominee's not Thompson, the Republican will easily lose to Hillary.