Ron Paul
 

Issues

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Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas) is the leading advocate for freedom in our nation’s capital. As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Dr. Paul tirelessly works for limited constitutional government, low taxes, free markets, and a return to sound monetary policies. He is known among his congressional colleagues and his constituents for his consistent voting record. Dr. Paul never votes for legislation unless the proposed measure is expressly authorized by the Constitution.

Debt and Taxes
Working Americans like lower taxes. So do I. Lower taxes benefit all of us, creating jobs and allowing us to make more decisions for ourselves about our lives. (more...)

American Independence and Sovereignty
So called free trade deals and world governmental organizations like the International Criminal Court (ICC), NAFTA, GATT, WTO, and CAFTA are a threat to our independence as a nation.
(more...)

War and Foreign Policy
The war in Iraq was sold to us with false information. The area is more dangerous now than when we entered it. We destroyed a regime hated by our direct enemies, the jihadists, and created thousands of new recruits for them.
(more...)


Border Security and Immigration Reform
The talk must stop. We must secure our borders now. A nation without secure borders is no nation at all. It makes no sense to fight terrorists abroad when our own front door is left unlocked. (more...)

Privacy and Personal Liberty
The biggest threat to your privacy is the government. We must drastically limit the ability of government to collect and store data regarding citizens’ personal matters.
(more...)


Property Rights and Eminent Domain
We must stop special interests from violating property rights and literally driving families from their homes, farms and ranches. (more...)

Up for discussion...
 

Sunday, June 17, 2007 - Page updated at 02:03 AM


Ron Paul: nowhere in polls, but everywhere on the Web

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Among candidates, only Barack Obama gets more YouTube hits than Ron Paul, right.

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ORLIN WAGNER / AP
Ron Paul's MeetUp groups, with 11,924 members in 279 cities, are the biggest in the Republican field.



WASHINGTON — On Technorati, which offers a real-time glimpse of the blogosphere, the most frequently searched term last week was "YouTube."
Then came "Ron Paul."
The presence of the obscure Republican congressman from Texas on a list that includes terms such as "Sopranos," "Paris Hilton" and "iPhone" is a sign of the online buzz building around the long-shot Republican presidential hopeful — even as mainstream political pundits have written him off.
Rep. Ron Paul is more popular on Facebook than Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. Paul has more friends on MySpace than former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Paul's MeetUp groups, with 11,924 members in 279 cities, are the biggest in the Republican field. And his official YouTube videos, including clips of his three debate appearances, have been viewed nearly 1.1 million times — more than those of any other candidate, Republican or Democrat, except Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.
No one is more surprised at this robust Web presence than Paul, a self-described old-school, pen-and-paper guy who is serving his 10th congressional term and was the Libertarian Party nominee for president in 1988.
"To tell you the truth, I hadn't heard about this YouTube and all the other Internet sites until supporters started gathering in them," said Paul, 71, who noted that he raised about $100,000 after each of the three debates. Not bad considering that his campaign had less than $10,000 when his exploratory committee was formed in mid-February. "I tell you, I've never raised money as efficiently as that in all my years in Congress, and all I'm doing is speaking my mind."
That means saying again and again that the Republican Party, especially when it comes to government spending and foreign policy, is in "shambles."
However, while many Democrats have welcomed the young, fresh-faced Obama, who is trailing Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., in most public-opinion polls, Paul barely is making a dent in Republican polls.
Republican strategists note that libertarians, who make up a small but vocal portion of the Republican base, intrinsically gravitate toward the Web's anything-goes, leave-me-alone nature. They also say Paul's Web presence proves that the Internet can be a great equalizer in the race, giving a much-needed boost to a fringe candidate with little money and a shadow of the campaign staffs marshaled by Romney, McCain and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
An obstetrician and gynecologist, Paul is known as "Dr. No" in the House. No to big government. No to the Internal Revenue Service. No to the federal ban on same-sex marriage.

"I'm for the individual," Paul said. "I'm not for the government."
If he had his way, the Homeland Security and Education departments, among other agencies, would not exist. In his view, the USA Patriot Act, which allows the government to search personal data, including private Internet use, is unconstitutional, and trade deals such as the North American Free Trade Agreement are a threat to American independence.
But perhaps what most notably separates Paul from the crowded Republican field, headed by what former Virginia Gov. James Gilmore calls "Rudy McRomney," is his stance on the Iraq war. He has opposed it from the beginning.
After the second Republican presidential debate last month, when Paul implied that U.S. foreign policy has contributed to anti-Americanism in the Middle East — "They attack us because we're over there. We've been bombing Iraq for 10 years," Paul said — he was attacked by Giuliani on stage, and conservatives such as Saul Anuzis were livid.
Anuzis, chairman of the Michigan GOP, threatened to circulate a petition to bar Paul from future Republican presidential debates. Although the petition never materialized, Anuzis' BlackBerry was flooded with e-mails and his office was inundated with calls for days. "It was a distraction, no doubt," he said.
The culprits: Paul's growing number of supporters, some of whom posted Anuzis' e-mail address and office phone number on their blogs.
"At first I was skeptical of his increasing online presence, thinking that it's probably just a small cadre of dedicated Ron Paul fans," said Matt Lewis, a blogger and director of operations at Townhall, a popular conservative site. "But if you think about it, the No. 1 issue in the country today is Iraq. If you're a conservative who supports the president's war, you have nine candidates to choose from. But if you're a conservative who believes that going into Iraq was a mistake, Ron Paul is the only game in town."
Added Terry Jeffrey, the syndicated newspaper columnist who ran Pat Buchanan's failed White House bid in 1996: "On domestic issues like spending and taxation and the role of government, Ron Paul is saying exactly what traditional conservatives have historically thought, and he's pointing out that the Bush administration has walked away from these principles. That's a very attractive argument."
Especially to someone such as Brad Porter, who obsessively writes about Paul on his blog, subscribes to Paul's YouTube channel and attended a Ron Paul MeetUp event in Pittsburgh last week.
The 28-year-old Carnegie Mellon student donated $50 to Paul's coffers after the first debate, and an additional $50 after the third debate.
"For a poor college student, that's a lot," said Porter, a lifelong Republican. "But I'm not supporting him because I think he could get the nomination. I'm supporting him because I think he can influence the national conversation about what the role of government is, how much power should government have over our lives, how much liberty should we give up for security. These are important issues, and frankly, no one's thinking about them as seriously and sincerely as Ron Paul."

I like Ron Paul. Doesn't seem like the Libertarians plan to nominate anyone this election...

Wonder if it's too late to change party affiliation so I can vote for him in the primary?

I need to check on that.

That's a good idea.

I saw him on the Colbert Report. He's a pretty funny guy. I really like his ideas and his view on government.

danny

I registered to vote almost 30 years ago, but I never registered as anything, for any party.

I've always heard the expressions "registered democrat" or "registered republican", but never knew what they are talking about. How do you register as anything?

It depends on the state. Some states use a "closed primary" system. If one wishes to vote in the Democratic primary, then one must be registered as a Democrat.

There are other systems, including "semi-closed" and "open" primaries.

Register to vote, vote in the GOP primary, and contribute to the campaign: https://www.ronpaul2008.com/donate/

In my state we have a graveyard vote.

are you sure it isn't the graveyboat vote...

Perhaps.
Results indistinguishable.

Ron Paul is not afraid to tell it like it is. Too many politicians out there can't even get the talk right, let alone the walk.

No one else would ever talk about the fiat economy. If you get a chance, watch this clip on Ron Paul on Federal Reserve:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji_G0MqAqq8

Hope he gets a chance to show us he can walk, too. He's got my vote.

Interesting how so many of us "different" types here on the Mercedesshop like him. I only hope he gets a real chance at a run.

Ron Paul is awesome! He is really big in Austin. He's been on Colbert, The Daily Show, and Bill Mahr (repeatedly). Bill Mahr says he is the only Republican he would ever vote for.

He stomped Rudy in the debates and then several times on each of those shows afterward. It's like how does the 9/11 Mayor of New York know so little about terrorism when it is his running platform.

Yet the mainstream media have never heard of him. Sad, really.