Posted on 12/19/2011 8:38:13 AM PST by Grunthor
.....A new poll from Public Policy Polling shows that Ron Paul has taken the lead in the Iowa caucus race, while Newt Gingrich's support is fading fast. A different Gallup poll still shows Grinrich still holding the lead, but slipping, while The New York Times has Paul in the lead as well.
Gingrich has seen his numbers in the PPP poll drop from 27 percent to 14 percent in just three weeks, while his favorability rating is now split at 46 percent for to 47 percent against, the worst of any candidate not named Jon Huntsman. That's quite a fall for someone who looked to be running away with the state and taking charge on the national level.
Mitt Romney has also seen his tick up slightly, putting him just behind Paul for second place. The poll measured voters who are planning to vote in the Republican caucus.
Perhaps the most telling secondary question was, "Do you think Newt Gingrich has strong principles?" Only 36 percent say that he does, but for Paul that number was 73 percent.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Yeah, brilliant....yawn.
Ron Paul was never stationed in Vietnam. He was stationed elsewhere during the Vietnam era -- I think that I read it was in Egypt.
You can't compare the two men's service -- Rick Perry & Ron Paul's --other than to say that they both served honorably. But they did it for different reasons.
Rick Perry enlisted because military was Rick Perry's only real ticket out of poverty. He excelled at what he did and was promoted -- good for him -- but he was young & single and it was the sole focus of his life at the time. And the US was not at war when he was in.
Ron Paul was already a physician and married with kids when he went in, the war in Vietnam was ramping up & he had no idea where he'd be stationed, the military was never going to be his planned career or life-- this was just part of his life, not all of it. He was older and had other responsibilities.
Then again, you could also compare all of that next to the candidates who got out of military service altogether by hiding behind college deferments, but have no problem "bravely" sending others off to war at the drop of hat.
All of this military service was decades ago, so the details are relatively unimportant. But I think that a far more relevant question for a potential president should be: "How have they treated Veterans?". I mean we've had Hotdog McCain up on the Hill for decades and what has he done for Veterans? Nothing.
I don't know the record of other candidates on taking care of Veterans, but I do know that Ron Paul has an excellent record of defending Veterans benefits and rights all the way back to the Reagan era-- even going head to head with Obama on it recently. That is nothing to be ashamed of.
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