Ron Paul speaks at O'Connell Center to crowd of about 3,000

[randpaul2016]

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[sailingaway]

Thank you!!

What was the set up? I see two podiums. Was there a discussion?

[sailingaway]

And this is why the man needs a central calendar, so people know where to go to see him:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BH7mAoKCIAEPGmc.jpg:large

https://twitter.com/HarryGibs/status/323949121662754817/photo/1

[sailingaway]

From John Yowan:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BH7oQ5PCAAAsgnl.jpg

[sailingaway]

John Yowan ‏@Yowan now
Ron Paul fans were asked to get in a line. This is the result. pic.twitter.com/miNmCb422U

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BH7TCTeCAAAaioV.jpg

[sailingaway]

John Yowan ‏@Yowan 21m
There's a guy here claiming to be part of anonymous holding a sign saying Ron Paul is a Nazi. pic.twitter.com/8uTa09yufp

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BH7K9I0CAAEdxXt.jpg

David Heflin ‏@DavidHef now
@Yowan Yes, because nothing says 'Nazi' quite like individual rights and a non-interventionist foreign policy.
from San Jose, CA

sailing ‏@usernamenuse now
@Yowan I think I saw him tweeting trying to get people to join him there. I tried to give him evidence he was wrong but u can't talk 2 some

[sailingaway]

http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=GS&Date=20130415&Category=ARTICLES&ArtNo=130419694&Ref=AR&MaxW=445&border=0
Ron Paul, former U.S. Representative, presidential candidate and physician, speaks during a UF ACCENT event at the O'Connell Center in Gainesville Monday April 15, 2013.


Ron Paul brought his revolution to the Gator Nation Monday night, delivering a well-burnished message of expanding individual liberty and restricting government intrusion to about 3,000 fans at the O’Connell Center.

Paul, 77, a 12-term congressman from Texas and a veteran of three presidential campaigns, plied his craft like the political pro he is, hitting familiar themes and delivering a string of folksy, populist slogans. The event was sponsored by Accent Speaker’s Bureau, which paid Paul $55,000 to come. The event was free to the public.

“I am delighted so many young people are interested in the cause of liberty,” he said to thunderous applause. “It’s not that complicated to defend liberty. The goal is to seek peace and prosperity with limited government intrusion in our lives and the affairs of other nations.”

Paul would return to those themes, repeating them throughout his hour-long speech, offering simple solutions for complex problems. War? Stay out of it. Drugs? Let people be responsible for themselves. The economy? Let the free market do its thing.

“This country was the freest and wealthiest nation. That is not the case anymore,” he said, citing a $5.7 trillion debt to foreign nations, eliciting loud boos.

The fact that he gave his speech on April 15, the filing deadline for federal income tax returns, was not lost on Paul, who called it Bad News Day. “We should get rid of the income tax,” he said to cheers.

Noting that North Korea is in the news, he said that he was in high school in 1950 the first time the U.S. got involved in the Korean conflict, “and we never left.”

His solution: get out of Korea and let them resolve their differences and peace would come before you knew it.

Two more pages at link. I love University media! http://www.gainesville.com/article/20130415/ARTICLES/130419694

[Paulatized]

delivering a string of folksy, populist slogans
That doesn't sound like any Ron Paul speech I ever heard...

[sailingaway]

That doesn't sound like any Ron Paul speech I ever heard...

I think the writer wasn't particularly a fan, or didn't want to sound as if he supported ALL of Ron's positions, likely coming from the left with that bit about not solving the world's problems sufficiently during the course of the evening. Ron should just give handouts of his budget or something....

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I moved the pictures to this thread

[FSP-Rebel]

I wonder how Accent can just drop 55k and offer a free speech to these students. And if they are loaded, why let Ron do the speech. I'm thoroughly delighted to see him give these speeches obviously and I'm not hating on the money, I just wonder how this whole thing works out. Like what is Accent's vested interest in funding a Paul speech?

[sailingaway]

I wonder how Accent can just drop 55k and offer a free speech to these students. And if they are loaded, why let Ron do the speech. I'm thoroughly delighted to see him give these speeches obviously and I'm not hating on the money, I just wonder how this whole thing works out. Like what is Accent's vested interest in funding a Paul speech?

I think they are a campus group, and that one thing universities do to enhance their reputation is bring in interesting speakers to spur debate. I remember at Washington and Lee they were saying the venue was so small (500-600 people) because it was sparsely attended when Gingrich and Guiliani had lectures there. I don't think it is 'Ron' per se, but 'speakers' they bring in. I remember when our guys petitioned campus groups for funding for Tom Woods speeches etc and couldn't get the fee, and felt they were politically being discriminated against (I have no idea if that was the case.) Ron is clearly a thought leader, and I think Universities are responding to that. Ron is speaking at Brown, tonight.

In Brown's case, that was set up right after the Oberlin appearance and is limited to Brown students only, I think (unless overflow will be allowed but I haven't seen anything suggesting that.) I suspect someone from Brown went to that speech to check Ron out, and his invitation was confirmed after seeing it. They might have been waiting to see what he does in these speeches in order to determine if it fit their profile for speakers.

As for costs, most of these were free for students, some charged a small fee ($15 or something) for general public to help recoup some costs, or be able to afford more speakers, I would think. There is competition for who is invited between groups that want to bring speakers to campus. Most universities have a fixed budget for that.

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bump to go with other thread

[randpaul2016]

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[sailingaway]

Thanks for the pictures! I put some I got off twitter earlier in the thread

[Krzysztof Lesiak]

Only 3,000? That's not nearly as good as it should be :/

[sailingaway]

Only 3,000? That's not nearly as good as it should be :/

Lol!

I would like him to have a central calendar so people can check where he is speaking but our sticky thread is the best I know of. But this is a lot more than most campus speakers get

This is the first time they haven't run out of tickets, since they put him in a stadium. However had they done eventbrite events as the did in the campaign with an updated calendar, I'd like to think there would have been more

[randpaul2016]

Only 3,000? That's not nearly as good as it should be :/

Facebook event had 900 going so I was surprised when I read 3000!

[unknown]

Little background please, where is the Oconnell Center?

[MelissaWV]

Little background please, where is the Oconnell Center?

Gainesville, FL. It is most notably where the Gator basketball games are held, though the place is converted for all kinds of other events.

I didn't attend, as I'd already been up since 5am and had work today, which probably accounts for the numbers being a little low. Despite the rumors, not every Ron Paul supporter is so jobless or young that they can afford to be out late (and yes, by the time you got back to your car and left and drove an hour to get home, you would consider that late) on a Monday night. :>

[MelissaWV]

http://www.gatorzone.com/facilities/images/oconnell/gymna1.jpg

The Stephen C. O'Connell Center, also known as the O'Dome, is an 11,548-seat multi-purpose arena located on the University of Florida campus in Gainesville, Florida.

[sailingaway]

http://www.gatorzone.com/facilities/images/oconnell/gymna1.jpg

The Stephen C. O'Connell Center, also known as the O'Dome, is an 11,548-seat multi-purpose arena located on the University of Florida campus in Gainesville, Florida.

Yeah, but it was about half full diagonally, a bit less:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BH7mAoKCIAEPGmc.jpg:large

It is the first one where they didn't run out of tickets, so far, though.

[Tod]

We need to get him to talk at the Ashbrook Center at Ashland University. A lot of big name people have spoken here, including Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. And besides, it is in my little town!

http://ashbrook.org/