Ron Paul Wouldn't Support Any Other Republican
After playing his usual punching bag role in last night's Republican debate, Ron Paul found himself surrounded by his most devoted and fervent friends on Sunday afternoon.
The occasion was Paul's keynote address at the annual convention of the Free State Project, a group of libertarians who are essentially trying to colonize New Hampshire. The group's goal is to convince 20,000 people to move to the state within five years. Others have pledged to follow the initial settlers if the 20,000 threshold is met.
Paul, who was preceded at the podium by the President of the John Birch Society, entered to a raucous standing ovation and spoke for about 45 minutes.
"You're a good crowd," he told the 400 or so Free Staters crammed into a conference room at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Nashua.
"You're a good candidate," one of them shouted back, sparking yet another standing ovation.
At another point, Paul began preaching his gospel of foreign policy non-intervention. When he paused, one of the Free Staters exclaimed, "The Prime Directive!"—an apparent reference to Star Trek.
After his speech, he exited the stage quickly and without working the audience, retreating to a conference room that was heavily fortified by a half-dozen bulky campaign volunteers—who, after a little persuasion, let me in to talk to the candidate.
Asked what would constitute success for him in Tuesday primary, Paul said, "Better than we did in Iowa," where he notched 10 percent and came in fifth place.
I asked whether he thinks he had an adequate chance to explain his views on Iraq and international affairs during last night's debate, where Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney routinely interrupted and castigated him. Paul shrugged it off.
"I'm not surprised that the status quo is defended by the party," he said. "They get locked in—even though when Clinton did the same thing in foreign policy, they condemned everything he did. And now all of a sudden they feel like they have to be blindly loyal to the party position and they can't use good judgment."
If he’s not the nominee, I asked, which of his fellow G.O.P. candidates would he prefer to see nominated?
None of them, he said—"not unless they change."
"They subtly change a little bit of their tone," Paul explained. "But a major change to convince me that they believe what George W. Bush believed in 2000? He talked about not [intervening overseas] and condemned Clinton. Somebody would have to talk like that and be believable."
thank you for this story!
I feel like this is a man, not a politian, he looks out for middle class . I am heartbroken over the candidates. My loved ones have no hope. We choose between a rock & a hard place. A woman dominatrix or a room full of stuffed shirts attempting to pull the wool over working class America!
Thanks for the news.
Thank you for the article, you are one of the few reporters that will think and speak for himself instead of following the mindless media.
Thank you Mr. Kornacki for this excellent and informative article!!
Ron Paul supporters are probably the most heterogeneous motivated support group in American politics. We come from all races, origins, ethnicities, religions, party affiliations, economic levels and regions. Everyone is welcome, for the most part the unifying thread is that we all value individual liberty and demand our government adhere to the U.S. Constitution.
I personally feel that the Ron Paul grassroots support movement is the most fascinating story in modern American political history and it is wonder to me why more members of the press are not exploring it in detail. Because of the national record breaking fund raising efforts by Dr. Paul’s supporters ($20 million in two days) many people are now speculating; “what is a Ron Paul supporter”? Most big media in all mediums are playing the line that Paul’s supporters are for the most part - dissatisfied youths, angry kooks and radicals, this is not factual. I for example am over fifty years old and have advanced degrees - having taught courses for years on American culture and globalization in our state university. I have a fine family of five, pay my taxes and try to be a good citizen – nothing strange in that.
Ron Paul has a tremendous following – obviously much larger than the major media would like the American public to know coming into the primaries. Ron Paul is not a “fringe” candidate. Up here in my homes state of Alaska he is number one in the official polls with 29%! He is the candidate of choice for the majority of us Alaskans who respect the U.S. Constitution and cherish our personal liberties.
Thanks again for the fine article on this great American statesman.
Dear Steve Kornacki,
While your chosen candidate was not stated in this article, it is quite clear that you do not support Dr. Ron Paul. Who do you support? Hillary, who keeps voting to fund the war? Obama, who votes "present" without taking a stance on anything? Maybe it's Thompson, he sure looks good on TV. Or maybe it's McCain, you know he could have won in 2000 if he didn't take Bush's money to step aside (they had big plans you see). No, maybe it's Romney with his slicked back hair and his two dollar smile. You know he voted against putting wind mills out in the ocean, yeah, the Europeans are all idiots. Just please don't tell me you support Huckabee, because if anyone is going to be preaching from the gospel, it's Mike. I just can't afford to pay any more taxes! Go write about your own candidate, we'll ensure your freedom too, don't worry. Vote Ron Paul 2008
I am a 54 year old professional in the medical field and a new Ron Paul supporter. I reside in Louisiana.
God moves mountains, and with the grassroots movement in support of a true American, Dr Ron Paul may just become our next president and shock the world!
We need our voices heard and this is the only candidate that hears us. The grassroots movement is bigger than the country knows because the new is purposely ignoring it.
Thank you Mr Komacki for your article.
Thanks Mr. Kornacki for an honest, straightforward article about Congressman Paul. What is sad is that many of us Paul supporters have gotten so used to hostile, slanted coverage from so many in the press, that when coverage is fair/unbiased, it's an event to be noted and appreciated.
It's not surprising really that Dr. Paul won't support men who support a warfare/empire/globalist mentality. And that's ALL the other current candidates for the GOP nomination. I watched much of the debate on ABC and noted how the other GOP candidates were trying to sound like Dr Paul ("Constitution" "10th Amendment", "limited government", etc.). If only their personal political histories weren't such a glaring contradiction to those sentiments.
The debts are climbing, the dollar is tanking, our international reputation and our national credit are in tatters, our infrastructure is falling apart, public faith in government is gone and businesses are fleeing overseas. We're running out of time. Supporting the status quo is insane.
SIMON #9 YOU ARE ABSOLUTLY ON TARGET, IT SO SAD THAT 80% OF AMERICANS THAT CAN VOTE, JUST DONT UNDERSTAND THE THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR NEW WORLD ECONOMY, FANKLY NIETHER DOES THE FED OR ANY ONE ELSE...FOR THAT MATTER.STOP THE MINDLESS VOTING OF WHO DOES THE BEST ADVERTIZING WINS. HOW LAZY CAN YOU BE PEOPLE!!! PLEASE WAKE UP BEFORE IT TO LATE!!! REMEMBER THE ROMAN EMPIRE, YA THATS RIGHT !!!!!! THE DOLLAR ,THE FIRST TO GO THEN WHAT!WE JOIN HANDS WITH MEX AND SO AMERICA AND ALL SO CANADA..
Thank you for writing about Ron Paul. I hope it doesn't cost you your job or cause you to be subjected to corporate ridicule. Seriously, I keep looking for media coverage on Ron Paul's platform and it is very difficult to find. Thank you for reporting the news as it is rather than as the major news syndications would like it to be.