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.
No legal pot!
Republicans are a bunch of fascist!
e. Get so stoned you forget to vote and instead sit in mom’s basement eating twinkies and burritos to cure the raving munchies.
That’s like a pretty big number there dude...
Damn, I was thinking that as well...
Oh, please. The only reason they have any interest whatsoever in Ron is because of his anti-war, blame America first talking points.
LOL - - I actually had an “e” question that was very close to that, but to be nice, deleted it before posting.
Its facinating that a man that couldn’t tell the difference between Gore and Bush, or Kerry and Bush, claims to be a ‘conservative’ isn’t it?
Most conservatives I know make that choice easily, for Bush, without a second thought.
Whats really amazing is the MSM hasn’t made a big deal out of Ron Paul voting AGAINST a Senate resolution honoring Rosa Parks.
If it was any other Republican, the screeching of RACISM would have already ‘echo’ed out’ Paul from the Congress.
PA-THET-IC
Thats the best way to deal with this professional ‘contrarian’.
He’s never ‘lied’ about his libertarianism. He votes on it and he’s running on it. There are many ares where he is quite different from the ‘libertarian party platform’, but they are mostly willing to forgive him on these things it seems.
Thanks for that photo...
Either remember to post a sarcasm tag or lay off of the Saurian brandy, Jimmy boy.
LOL
Any seasoned LEO that has wasted tax paid dollars kicking down doors for a living would agree in private it should be legalized. Selling mass killers like Jack Daniels and Wild Turkey while outlawing pot is ludicrous and most all in law enforcement would agree. Why you or anyone would be surprised is curious. Making it illegal, forcing the prices up to thousands of dollars a pound, for a *weed* is 100 percent utter stupidity.
You know some mighty strange Law Enforcement Officers then.
I count some very seasoned officers among my friends and none of them feel that way. Indeed quite the opposite, they would like the liquor gone as well.
Hey pal, ask them how many dead bodies they’ve encountered on the highways due to pot. Then ask them about the carnage caused by alcohol, the shootings, 415s, the spousal beatings, smashed marriages, etc, etc, etc, etc. I hope your LEO friends have more sense than you.
a. vote for the GOP candidate
b. Don’t Vote
c. Vote for 3rd party (throw your vote away)
d. Vote for Hillary
Vote for the GOP candidate. (I pray it’s not rudi)
How about you, would you vote for Paul if he were the GOP candidate (by some miracle)?
Whatever dude...
Two wrongs must make a right in your world, huh...
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