***Its about time for a story like this!!***

[parke]

I didnt find this story in the thread.. Check out this story:

http://www.dailygate.com/articles/2007/12/26/news/06.txt

[Oliver]

http://www.dailygate.com/articles/2007/12/26/news/06.txt


dead ;)

[Sey.Naci]

Cute comment got me laughing:


Yet a short visit with five supporters of Congressman Ron Paul, R-Texas, revealed that any attempts to pigeon-hole his faithful will result in an odd-looking pigeon.

[nc4rp]

woot good article

[shasshas]

Supporters like Paul's stand on Constitution, ending war
By Chris Faulkner /MVM News Network
Wednesday, December 26, 2007 1:37 PM CST

These are supposed to be enlightened times.

We don't judge people or their gender or ethnicity, just the content of their character, as Dr. Martin Luther King once said.

But political analysts still do just that when they ask, “Will Hillary Clinton get the women's vote?” “Why are some blacks not siding with Barack Obama?” “And what do we make of Oprah's endorsement?” “Will the Baptists back Mike Huckabee?”

Yet a short visit with five supporters of Congressman Ron Paul, R-Texas, revealed that any attempts to pigeon-hole his faithful will result in an odd-looking pigeon.

In the group assembled on short notice at the home of Paul Hellman, three were former Republicans who, disgruntled by President Bush's attack on Iraq, switched to independent status. Two were people years past voting eligibility status who had not bothered to vote because they felt disheartened by the whole process.

So for those who say, “If Ron Paul is so great, why isn't he registering in the polls?” Hellman would say that his supporters aren't the type who are usually sought out by pollsters.

But he also submitted an e-mail press release that said Paul won a Zogby phone poll last month, garnering 33 percent of the vote. Respondents were provided with descriptions of four different candidates and asked to choose who they would vote for based on each one's attributes and political platform. 1,009 people took part in the poll taken from two different categories of age groups consisting of four and five different age ranges.

A true Republican?

Paul could be considered a libertarian, given his call for limited government and his desire to abolish the Internal Revenue Service.

But the group here said Paul is closer to being a true Republican than anyone in the field.

Hellman said, “He advocates self-responsibility, smaller federal government, more state's rights, a balanced budget, secure borders and liberty for all.”

Joel Wyrick of Middletown said, “My biggest turnoff” with Republicans in office these days “is the (so-called) fiscal conservatives. They were all talk. They can't name what department they want to cut.”

On top of that, “I'm more worried that we're borrowing - what, $2 billion a day? - for the war,” Wyrick said.

Hellman said the Republican Party has been about small government and non-intervention. President Dwight Eisenhower “got us out of the conflict in Korea, (Richard) Nixon started to get us out of Viet Nam, and President Bush in 2000 said we were not the world's police.”

Then there's the topic of health care, and every candidate has been asked what he or she would have the government do to provide everyone with affordable health care.

Jared Clark of Danville said they're asking for help from the wrong source.

“Universal health care, or getting the government more involved, won't help anything,” Clark said. It might even make it worse.

“With the FDA involved, you can't choose your options. There's only option for cancer: chemotherapy. So people go to different countries for health care,” he said.

One of things Clark likes about Paul is, “He cares about the people enough to let them make their own decisions.”

Clark and Wyrick also likes the fact that Paul would make it easier for people to home school their children. Wyrick said his wife was home-schooled.

But the biggest selling point for these and other Paul supporters is his commitment to abide by the Constitution.

“With the Patriot Act,” Hellman said, “we have had our rights reduced greatly.” He said Congress, not the president, is given the power to call for war, except when the country is under attack. Hellman said Bush should have sought Congress' approval for the war on terror in Iraq.

For Michael Hedrick and his girlfriend, Michelle Landis, of Fort Madison, “We never got involved in politics until we heard of Ron Paul,” Hedrick said.

“I've never voted before because I never seemed to get an honest answer,” he said. “There were too many pauses. They had to think about it. Ron Paul is straight forward. People stand behind him more than anyone. He's the taxpayer's best friend.”

For Landis, she never felt she could make a difference through the election process. “I always thought what was going to happen was going to happen,” she said.

But Paul's stance on going by the Constitution and his is desire to end the war has given her new hope.

Another supporter, Mark Kinney of Mount Pleasant, responded to some questions by e-mail. Kinney said that when he hears Paul speak, “I feel a sense of optimism and hope that I have never felt about a presidential candidate.

“The movement surrounding Ron Paul is bigger than one candidate. He's opening a lot of eyes to massive failings from both parties and the special interests who control them.”

Any skeletons?

Any candidate who is near the top has their entire life scrutinized. If Paul comes out on or near the top of the Jan. 3 caucuses, what dirt might his detractors dig up?

Not much, according to these five.

Hellman said, “He's been called the most honest and reputable politician in office. What's not to like?”

Hedrick said he's been looking for potential flaws but found nothing. “He has integrity all the way.”

Wyrick said so far only Paul's supporters have been maligned. The media “have trouble understanding where he's coming from.”

Hellman said would-be attackers need only to pay attention to Paul.

“He'll speak his conscience, and he'll stand by his principles.

“People should educated themselves,” Hellman said.

Many have, Hellman said, and that's why Paul is resonating with Democrats and independents as well as Republicans.

Clark summed up the type of change Paul would bring by saying, “We've been getting the same thing every four years, just in different ways.”

Hellman said anyone interested in learning more about the candidate should e-mail him at paul.hellman5@mchsi.com. Hellman said the number of people asking for yard signs has increased in the last few weeks, giving him hope for Jan. 3.

“We think he's a contender,” Hellman said.

[Meatwasp]

Now that is what we need to hear, is more positive things about Ron Paul. Not a lot of garbage about bad news coverage or those awful thread about assination plots.
Thank you park

[parke]

bump for bump sake