bobbyw24
04-26-2011, 12:45 PM
It seems pretty clear that Barbour wasn't exactly building up an army of dedicated grassroots supporters, but the same isn't true of Ron Paul. The Texas congressman's campaigns for higher office are longshots, but they're the direct product of the agitation of thousands of fanatical devotees, who have become pretty good at getting to the right place and time to lend voice to the causes Paul holds dear -- radically reduced government and an end to militarism and the Federal Reserve.
In 2008, those supporters were some starry-eyed types with a blimp and a dream. Flash forward to 2012, and they can lay a solid claim to having been the protoplasm from whence the Tea Party congealed. The positions of the Paul supporters aren't completely in sync with everything you might hear at a Tea Party rally, but thanks to the successful Senate campaign of Ron's son Rand, the elder Paul can walk in that world.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/26/2012-elections-haley-barbour-out-ron-paul-in_n_853801.html
In 2008, those supporters were some starry-eyed types with a blimp and a dream. Flash forward to 2012, and they can lay a solid claim to having been the protoplasm from whence the Tea Party congealed. The positions of the Paul supporters aren't completely in sync with everything you might hear at a Tea Party rally, but thanks to the successful Senate campaign of Ron's son Rand, the elder Paul can walk in that world.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/26/2012-elections-haley-barbour-out-ron-paul-in_n_853801.html