Care To Join Us On The Bandwagon?
Greetings from the Ron Paul bandwagon. Last week, we were pretty much the only media-type people who openly admired the Texan’s huge fundraising bonanza and his commitment to fiscal conservatism. Today, we’ve noticed it’s getting a little crowded up here.
The Globe’s Scot Lehigh is amazed that the candidate appealed to high schoolers in New Hampshire.
. . . [T]he kids flock around him, seeking autographs. Later that afternoon, Paul earns another enthusiastic reception from a capacity crowd at the University of New Hampshire.
So what explains Paul’s appeal?
It’s almost as if Lehigh is having the epiphany the Grinch has when the Whos start singing in Whoville. “His appeal came without consultants! It came without polls! It came without endorsements, kissed babies, or selling his soul!”
After a painful reference to the 2003 hit “Stacy’s Mom,” Lehigh points out that Paul’s curmudgeonly stance on issues that are important to the young voters could eventually be his undoing.
On Darfur, his noninterventionism takes on hues of hard-hearted realism. He is unwilling to spend tax dollars “on the pretense that we are going to help people in Darfur,” he says at UNH. . .
Queried on global warming, Paul makes it clear that he is agnostic on the issue. Afterward, Erin Thesing, a UNH sophomore, presses him on the matter, telling him she lies awake at night worrying about climate change.
“If you want to lay awake at night worrying about something, worry about the value of the dollar,” replies Paul.
This is why we love Ron Paul. Had Hillary Clinton or Mitt Romney been on the receiving end of that question, there would have been equivocation and talking points. With Paul, you get what he honestly thinks. And he sounds like our grandpa when he talks about the gold standard and the value of the dollar. It’s comforting.
The Internet continues to embrace him, as well. The Baltimore Sun reports that “Ron Paul” was the most searched political term in October, and that his website got the same amount of traffic as Hillary Clinton’s. A recent college graduate in Texas created a spoof Ron Paul/Stephen Colbert 2008 MySpace page, while pollster John Zogby thinks Paul could pull in about 15 percent of the primary vote in New Hampshire. And we’ll continue to follow our fringe candidate’s progress as we get closer to the primaries.
November 14th, 2007 at 11:20 am
Yea man, when i first heard Ron speak in the first debates i was hooked and began to tell my friends and family about him some said not enough people would vote for him and thin what is the point. Being a amateur sociologist of sorts i knew it would take enough hard core followers to get the ball rolling enough to make the bandwagoners interested enough to want to hitch a ride on the Ron mobile. Although that day has not arrived it is hastily approaching and may be upon us by the end of next month! Hoping and praying, GO Git’m RON I GOT YOUR BACK!
November 14th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
The US military is the largest user of oil in the world. If Ron Paul downsizes this juggernaut, greenhouse emissions will be drastically cut. Also, the monetary debate is the key to global warming. After all, it is the exponentially growing economies and populations of the world that affect energy demand and thus greenhouse emissions. If Ron Paul were to suggest money should be backed by energy rather than Gold, we would have a true global warming action plan rather than lip-service.
November 14th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
Ron Paul can no longer be labeled a “long shot” candidate. He has clearly surpassed John McCain and is now a “top tier” candidate. I have created a website to support this statement.
Please visit www.thecaseforronpaul.com and judge for yourself.
November 14th, 2007 at 1:11 pm
Ron Paul’s honesty is completely antithetical to current-day politicians running for the presidency. Why that isn’t more compelling to the mainstream media says more about the mainstream media than it does about the good Doctor. Remember when character mattered? Just 10 years that was an consuming issue on the election trail. But I’m guessing that’s a debate RP’s competitors in both parties don’t want to have. He would win by a mile. Thanks for the article Boston Daily.
November 14th, 2007 at 3:34 pm
I, like the young lady from UNH, am concerned about climate change. I think Ron Paul’s position of property rights and the idea that no one is permitted to pollute your land, air, or water should be stated. (Air and water being fluid should present a reasonable amount of government responsibility to enforce such property rights.)
None of his positions are sound byte variety anyway, so he should expand on it. It is a top issue not far behind the war, the economy, and health care. The free market CAN solve the problem and he needs to find a way to express that. Companies are doing things to curb emissions and pollution because the market demands that, people want that. He should embrace that and watch the greenies jump on the bandwagon. They probably already agree with him on the war and civil liberties. It’s not a stretch for them to listen to his ideas on other things if he presents them in his usual way.
November 14th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
Regarding Darfur, wouldn’t it be a reasonable position for people who want to end the genocide there to come together to finance a company like Blackwater who would lose business under a Paul adminsitration? They are an independent military group who contracts with whomever to do battle. I want the suffering to end, but I don’t want the government deciding where my charity goes. I would contribute to a fund for independent peacekeepers/peacemakers. Or, this is a scenario where the UN should have some cajones. But, they are too corrupt. Blackwater made a mistake in Iraq, to be sure, but they can serve a purpose. Just throwing that out there. Thoughts?
November 15th, 2007 at 12:44 pm
If we were to begin meddling in Darfur, I believe the result would be the same as when we meddled in the middle-east. We should not go anywhere near another country’s internal affairs. When we put economic sanctions on a country, the people are the ones that suffer. When we lend economic aide, very little if any of it reaches the people. We need to mind our own business and realize that we can not fix every situation in the world by throwing money or military at it. These things have been going on since the beginning of time and we are neither obligated or able to change them.
November 15th, 2007 at 10:49 pm
I never thought that I would want to be an American. For a long time I have held a grudge against you people but now I say, go, hang on to what you’ve got and don’t let go.
Vote Ron Paul
from a disgruntled Englishman
PS. Have a cup of tea for me before you push it all overboard on the 16th.