Lucille
04-28-2011, 02:46 PM
Ron Paul Explores the 2012 Presidential Race
An interview with the libertarian congressman on the cusp of another GOP presidential run (http://reason.com/archives/2011/04/28/t)
Reason: Is there anything about the political landscape since your 2008 run that makes you more confident you’ll do better in 2012?
Ron Paul: The one thing I’ve already noticed is the numbers of people supporting these views [of mine] have grown by leaps and bounds. When I visit college campuses the crowds are getting bigger and more enthusiastic. What’s also great is that other politicians are using lots of our language, though they still wouldn’t address subjects in the exact same manner. But you now hear others talking about printing press money; more people are now wondering why we are still in those wars overseas, now up to 70 percent want us home from Afghanistan.
The economy is a much bigger issue now than when I started [my 2008 run] in 2007. When we started talking about the economy and the housing bubble people didn’t believe it at first, but now everyone believes it was a problem. Unemployment is a bigger problem. And probably the most significant change [that’s a positive for me] is the Federal Reserve is not getting a free ride anymore. This very day it’s holding its first press conference, which is symbolic of them in a defensive mode rather than in the secretive mode they’ve always been in.
[...]
Reason: Are there things that have to happen now that you’ve launched the exploratory committee in order to make a full run for president?
Paul: There are a couple of things we’ll be watching. The potential for raising money is important, and my belief is it’s going to be there. I’ve been to quite a few universities, I’ll be up in Reno at the University of Nevada tomorrow, [and the reception at] all those events have influence. But I really wasn’t going to do much campaigning until I made a final decision but because of the debate [in South Carolina] coming up [on May 5] there was a technical requirement that I had to at least have applied for an exploratory committee.
[...]
But I do want to be in that debate. It would help if there was less booing. That might influence my decision [to really run or not].
An interview with the libertarian congressman on the cusp of another GOP presidential run (http://reason.com/archives/2011/04/28/t)
Reason: Is there anything about the political landscape since your 2008 run that makes you more confident you’ll do better in 2012?
Ron Paul: The one thing I’ve already noticed is the numbers of people supporting these views [of mine] have grown by leaps and bounds. When I visit college campuses the crowds are getting bigger and more enthusiastic. What’s also great is that other politicians are using lots of our language, though they still wouldn’t address subjects in the exact same manner. But you now hear others talking about printing press money; more people are now wondering why we are still in those wars overseas, now up to 70 percent want us home from Afghanistan.
The economy is a much bigger issue now than when I started [my 2008 run] in 2007. When we started talking about the economy and the housing bubble people didn’t believe it at first, but now everyone believes it was a problem. Unemployment is a bigger problem. And probably the most significant change [that’s a positive for me] is the Federal Reserve is not getting a free ride anymore. This very day it’s holding its first press conference, which is symbolic of them in a defensive mode rather than in the secretive mode they’ve always been in.
[...]
Reason: Are there things that have to happen now that you’ve launched the exploratory committee in order to make a full run for president?
Paul: There are a couple of things we’ll be watching. The potential for raising money is important, and my belief is it’s going to be there. I’ve been to quite a few universities, I’ll be up in Reno at the University of Nevada tomorrow, [and the reception at] all those events have influence. But I really wasn’t going to do much campaigning until I made a final decision but because of the debate [in South Carolina] coming up [on May 5] there was a technical requirement that I had to at least have applied for an exploratory committee.
[...]
But I do want to be in that debate. It would help if there was less booing. That might influence my decision [to really run or not].