DisabledVet
07-25-2007, 07:08 PM
(Geez...I keep getting flashes of Top Gun.... what Ron's call sigh this week...lol)
LINK TO STORY (http://people.monstersandcritics.com/features/article_1334860.php/GOP_dark_horse_candidate_Ron_Paul_gains_momentum)
GOP dark horse candidate Ron Paul gains momentum
Texas Congressman Ron Paul arrives for a walk-through for the South Carolina Republican Party presidential debate at the Koger Center for the Arts in Columbia, South Carolina, 15 May 2007. EPA/ERIK S. LESSER
Texas Congressman Ron Paul arrives for a walk-through for the South Carolina Republican Party presidential debate at the Koger Center for the Arts in Columbia, South Carolina, 15 May 2007. EPA/ERIK S. LESSER
By Stone Martindale Jul 25, 2007, 22:20 GMT
It is always the quiet ones you have to watch for, and in politics, the "quiet ones" who speak softly and carry a big stick seem to be gaining in popularity with voters weary of sound bites, celebrity "endorsements" and stump platitudes.
Enter Republican Ron Paul. He is not your dad's Republican, but more like your grandad's, when the GOP stood for small government, fiscal responsibility and live and let live attitudes about highly personal matters of religion, abortion and gay marriage.
NBC now reports GOP dark horse candidate Ron Paul now has more cash on hand than the once frontrunning John McCain.
The Texas congressman has developed a grassroots group of people that harkens the passion and drive of the earlier Howard Dean campaign.
I have noticed it too, in traditionally Democratic and liberal Los Angeles, on street corners and odd places, handwritten signs everywhere that say "Vote for Ron Paul" and "Check out Ron."
The NBC Political Unit has picked up on the “The Ron Paul Revolution” -- and they attended an organizational meeting in Washington to see how his group operates.
"Meeting on a rooftop deck of a downtown Washington apartment building, about 50 Paul supporters -- relying heavily on the internet for their organizational and social networking -- got together Friday evening to discuss campaign volunteering activities, make a YouTube video, and of course, raise some money for their candidate (bringing in $2,500 that night).
Jeff Frazee, the 24-year-old organizer of the event, who will soon be starting as a youth coordinator for the official campaign, said that spreading name recognition is a primary goal of the group, and that this meeting served mainly as a meet-and-greet for members and to plan future activities, such as handing out Paul pamphlets at subway stops and baseball games. 'The more people learn about Ron Paul, the higher his polling numbers go,' said Frazee, adding that the inverse is true Republican front-runner Giuliani."
NBC reports that the growth of voter confidence in Paul is for several reasons.
Paul promises to end and revamp the personal income tax as it stands today, and has a butt-out approach on most foreign affairs.
Paul’s “live and let live philosophy,” has attracted a wide swath of younger voters and older voters jaded and blase over the career politicians currently vying for the brass ring.
“A lot of young people are disillusioned with things and think they aren’t going to change,” says Lauren Drew, a college student to NBC, adding, “But people our age are starting to get jobs and realize how much they’re paying in taxes,” indicating that Paul’s tax policies may resonate with young voters."
NBC reports that the "loose network" of grassroots support by 20-something college students and young professionals across the country is an asset, the strength of his volunteers has not yet translated into first-tier poll numbers in early primary states.
But I don't know about that. I speak to people every day who tell me, unprompted and with real excitement, "have you checked out Ron Paul?" They are older, suburban, college-aged, urban, gay, straight, and generally starved for a candidate of substance and intelligence.
Ron Paul is accessible, and recently posted a press release he wrote that detailed his visit through the south, a place he feared he would not be welcomed: "What a great trip to South Carolina! On Saturday, I talked to the Spartanburg County GOP. About 350 people attended from all over the South, and the local party made $5000 out of it. Originally, this had seemed to be unfriendly territory, but everyone couldn’t have been nicer or more welcoming. And we all learned something."
"Then I spoke to a rally in Greenville. The local papers were less biased than most, but they still estimated the crowd at 500. We had set the room with 1100 chairs, and almost all of them were taken. In addition, people stood in ranks at the back and sides. In other words, there were more than 1000 people there."
Paul describes the crowd as being from all over, and diverse in its make-up.
Paul said: " Lots of young people, but also lots of families with children. And seniors too. I talked about foreign and domestic policy, and noted that those concerned about pollution must support private property. Government property is never well cared for. Just look at the environmental problems left over from the USSR!"
Fiscal responsibility is high on his list of mandatory tasks to accomplish: "I also talked about sound money and the Federal Reserve, about the inflation it is inflicting on us, and about the recessions it causes, and the unjust redistribution of wealth it brings about. A young man who drove up from Auburn, Alabama, said he’d never thought he’d see the day when a call to abolish the central bank would receive a long standing ovation in American politics."
Paul has figured out that people have had enough of incompetence, arrogance and mendacious ways of politics as usual, Democrat or Republican: "But if there is one thing we know, people are hungry for the truth. And that is especially true of this moment. I found the same concerns at a picnic of local political activists I attended."
The bottom line seems to be educating voters to read between the lines of the candidates that the political leaders of both parties are putting their money on, as they groom and winnow their "best of show" to win the Presidency.
LINK TO STORY (http://people.monstersandcritics.com/features/article_1334860.php/GOP_dark_horse_candidate_Ron_Paul_gains_momentum)
GOP dark horse candidate Ron Paul gains momentum
Texas Congressman Ron Paul arrives for a walk-through for the South Carolina Republican Party presidential debate at the Koger Center for the Arts in Columbia, South Carolina, 15 May 2007. EPA/ERIK S. LESSER
Texas Congressman Ron Paul arrives for a walk-through for the South Carolina Republican Party presidential debate at the Koger Center for the Arts in Columbia, South Carolina, 15 May 2007. EPA/ERIK S. LESSER
By Stone Martindale Jul 25, 2007, 22:20 GMT
It is always the quiet ones you have to watch for, and in politics, the "quiet ones" who speak softly and carry a big stick seem to be gaining in popularity with voters weary of sound bites, celebrity "endorsements" and stump platitudes.
Enter Republican Ron Paul. He is not your dad's Republican, but more like your grandad's, when the GOP stood for small government, fiscal responsibility and live and let live attitudes about highly personal matters of religion, abortion and gay marriage.
NBC now reports GOP dark horse candidate Ron Paul now has more cash on hand than the once frontrunning John McCain.
The Texas congressman has developed a grassroots group of people that harkens the passion and drive of the earlier Howard Dean campaign.
I have noticed it too, in traditionally Democratic and liberal Los Angeles, on street corners and odd places, handwritten signs everywhere that say "Vote for Ron Paul" and "Check out Ron."
The NBC Political Unit has picked up on the “The Ron Paul Revolution” -- and they attended an organizational meeting in Washington to see how his group operates.
"Meeting on a rooftop deck of a downtown Washington apartment building, about 50 Paul supporters -- relying heavily on the internet for their organizational and social networking -- got together Friday evening to discuss campaign volunteering activities, make a YouTube video, and of course, raise some money for their candidate (bringing in $2,500 that night).
Jeff Frazee, the 24-year-old organizer of the event, who will soon be starting as a youth coordinator for the official campaign, said that spreading name recognition is a primary goal of the group, and that this meeting served mainly as a meet-and-greet for members and to plan future activities, such as handing out Paul pamphlets at subway stops and baseball games. 'The more people learn about Ron Paul, the higher his polling numbers go,' said Frazee, adding that the inverse is true Republican front-runner Giuliani."
NBC reports that the growth of voter confidence in Paul is for several reasons.
Paul promises to end and revamp the personal income tax as it stands today, and has a butt-out approach on most foreign affairs.
Paul’s “live and let live philosophy,” has attracted a wide swath of younger voters and older voters jaded and blase over the career politicians currently vying for the brass ring.
“A lot of young people are disillusioned with things and think they aren’t going to change,” says Lauren Drew, a college student to NBC, adding, “But people our age are starting to get jobs and realize how much they’re paying in taxes,” indicating that Paul’s tax policies may resonate with young voters."
NBC reports that the "loose network" of grassroots support by 20-something college students and young professionals across the country is an asset, the strength of his volunteers has not yet translated into first-tier poll numbers in early primary states.
But I don't know about that. I speak to people every day who tell me, unprompted and with real excitement, "have you checked out Ron Paul?" They are older, suburban, college-aged, urban, gay, straight, and generally starved for a candidate of substance and intelligence.
Ron Paul is accessible, and recently posted a press release he wrote that detailed his visit through the south, a place he feared he would not be welcomed: "What a great trip to South Carolina! On Saturday, I talked to the Spartanburg County GOP. About 350 people attended from all over the South, and the local party made $5000 out of it. Originally, this had seemed to be unfriendly territory, but everyone couldn’t have been nicer or more welcoming. And we all learned something."
"Then I spoke to a rally in Greenville. The local papers were less biased than most, but they still estimated the crowd at 500. We had set the room with 1100 chairs, and almost all of them were taken. In addition, people stood in ranks at the back and sides. In other words, there were more than 1000 people there."
Paul describes the crowd as being from all over, and diverse in its make-up.
Paul said: " Lots of young people, but also lots of families with children. And seniors too. I talked about foreign and domestic policy, and noted that those concerned about pollution must support private property. Government property is never well cared for. Just look at the environmental problems left over from the USSR!"
Fiscal responsibility is high on his list of mandatory tasks to accomplish: "I also talked about sound money and the Federal Reserve, about the inflation it is inflicting on us, and about the recessions it causes, and the unjust redistribution of wealth it brings about. A young man who drove up from Auburn, Alabama, said he’d never thought he’d see the day when a call to abolish the central bank would receive a long standing ovation in American politics."
Paul has figured out that people have had enough of incompetence, arrogance and mendacious ways of politics as usual, Democrat or Republican: "But if there is one thing we know, people are hungry for the truth. And that is especially true of this moment. I found the same concerns at a picnic of local political activists I attended."
The bottom line seems to be educating voters to read between the lines of the candidates that the political leaders of both parties are putting their money on, as they groom and winnow their "best of show" to win the Presidency.