theseus51
10-11-2007, 04:30 PM
I went to the library today to look up this article, and thought you might want to read it. It's from the American Spectator, Nov. 1999, talking about our hero =) It's quite long, but an interesting read. I posted the full thing on my journal, in hopes that the search engines pick it up, cause I couldn't find this anywhere when I went to search for it online (hence my trip to the library).
A PRINCIPLED MAVERICK
Can an exception rule? The case of Rep. Ron Paul.
In Congress party discipline is vital. Leadership craves a tight ship where all hands can be counted on to row in the same direction. So many congressmen bridled when, after stressing the need for everyone to pull together to get a conference bill through, then-Speaker Newt Gingrich invoked a "Ron Paul exemption," granting the gentleman from Texas's sprawling 14th District a hassle-free bye on the vote.
This story is part of the growing legend of Ron Paul, the Exceptional Republican. Though his name rarely appears in the national press, and his face almost never on Sunday morning news shows, in 1996 he was third only to Gingrich and Bob Dornan in individual contributions to Republican House candidates. While he hasn't managed to get any of his own bills out of committee since re-entering the House in January 1997, he's considered a vital asset by a large national constituency of libertarians, goldbugs, and constitutionalists. He's defied one of the holy shibboleths of electoral politics--Thou Must Bring Home the Bacon--by being a consistent opponent of agricultural subsidies in a largely agricultural district, and he's still won twice in a row.
Continued . . .
http://www.xanga.com/theseus51/620986783/item.html
A PRINCIPLED MAVERICK
Can an exception rule? The case of Rep. Ron Paul.
In Congress party discipline is vital. Leadership craves a tight ship where all hands can be counted on to row in the same direction. So many congressmen bridled when, after stressing the need for everyone to pull together to get a conference bill through, then-Speaker Newt Gingrich invoked a "Ron Paul exemption," granting the gentleman from Texas's sprawling 14th District a hassle-free bye on the vote.
This story is part of the growing legend of Ron Paul, the Exceptional Republican. Though his name rarely appears in the national press, and his face almost never on Sunday morning news shows, in 1996 he was third only to Gingrich and Bob Dornan in individual contributions to Republican House candidates. While he hasn't managed to get any of his own bills out of committee since re-entering the House in January 1997, he's considered a vital asset by a large national constituency of libertarians, goldbugs, and constitutionalists. He's defied one of the holy shibboleths of electoral politics--Thou Must Bring Home the Bacon--by being a consistent opponent of agricultural subsidies in a largely agricultural district, and he's still won twice in a row.
Continued . . .
http://www.xanga.com/theseus51/620986783/item.html