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Concord Monitor
Campaign 2008
Many awakenings
Ron Paul is as surprised as anyone at the near messianic zeal he inspires
By SARAH LIEBOWITZ
Monitor staff
Sep 30, 2007
Ron Paul greets a crowd of supporters yesterday, speaking in front of his
own image.
Ron Paul doesn't understand his own success. He didn't know his calls for
an end to the Federal Reserve and the Department of Education would draw
cheers, that his anti-income tax, anti-foreign intervention and libertarian
message would resonate. He was reluctant to run for the Republican
presidential nomination, he said yesterday: He was convinced it would take
another "generation for education" before his message - rooted in Paul's
reading of the Constitution - gained traction.
"I have been just dumbfounded about what's happening," Paul said yesterday
in Manchester's Veteran's Park, where roughly 500 supporters gathered for a
glimpse of the presidential candidate. "I've been talking this way for 30
years. But something, something special is happening."
To attend a Ron Paul event is to see where some disaffected Democrats and
Republicans have turned. There were anti-war activists and fiscal
conservatives, opponents of the North American Free Trade Agreement and
proponents of tougher border security. And there were those who scarcely
paid attention to politics before discovering Paul, many driving hundreds
of miles for the hour-long rally.
Many of them supported Paul's candidacy with an almost messianic zeal.
"He's the most wonderful human being in America now!," Sydney Walsh of Troy
exclaimed after posing with Paul for a photograph. She quickly modified the
statement with "besides my husband."
The conclusion of Paul's speech elicited a reaction worthy of a rock
concert. Members of the audience chanted his name. Several jumped up and
down. Descending from the stage (which was outfitted with a sign sporting a
giant picture of the candidate), Paul found himself surrounded by
supporters snapping cell-phone photographs. Two women turned so Paul could
sign the backs of their T-shirts.
Surrounding the park, cars sported license plates from throughout New
England. Along with his wife and daughter, Travis St. Germaine drove four
hours from his home in Plattsburgh, N. Y., to see the man St. Germaine
described as "a champion of the Constitution." Tom Sheehan, of Norwich,
Conn., walked the park in what he described as a "colonial, Minute Man"
get-up: white socks pulled over the bottom portion of his pants, vest,
old-fashioned backpack with a Ron Paul sign extended from the top.
Joan Donahue, of Nashua, described her Paul awakening as "an epiphany; it's
the wake-up-from-the-slumber thing." Previously a registered Democrat,
Donahue learned about Paul on an anti-war website (among Republican
presidential candidates, Paul was the sole opponent of the war in 2002).
"He's the only anti-war candidate, and the only candidate who puts America
first."
At first glance, Paul is an unlikely political phenom. A great-grandfather
who delivered more than 4,000 babies as a doctor in Texas, Paul seems
mild-mannered and thoughtful. As a Republican congressman, he often stands
alone. He voted against the Patriot Act and against authorizing President
Bush to go to war in Iraq. In 1988, Paul was the Libertarian Party's
presidential candidate.
But as discontent with the war in Iraq continues to grow - and with many
Republicans frustrated by the level of government spending - Paul won a
devoted following and became an internet darling.
"You look at what Republicans have said over the years; I'm more Republican
than they are," Paul told reporters before the morning rally. "Most of the
Republicans, especially the leadership in Washington . . . don't believe in
their own programs. And I think that's why they're losing."
Paul extended his small-government ideals to his personal life. As a
doctor, he refused to accept government insurance such as Medicaid because,
he said, "I thought that was one stop too far." If a patient couldn't
afford treatment, "I just took care of them." As a lawmaker, he's chosen
not to participate in the congressional pension program.
Although he lags behind other candidates in opinion polls, Paul has swept
some online surveys. And courtesy of the internet, Ron Paul meet-up groups
formed as far away as Baghdad ("this thank-you note, I don't know whether
this goes to Al Gore or where, but we have to thank somebody for the
internet," Paul quipped).
Fundraising success and interest in the campaign - Paul described his
opposition to the war as "a big attention-getter" - have transformed the
operation. The campaign originally focused on three states: New Hampshire,
Iowa and South Carolina. Now, Paul said, he's looking at other states,
especially those with so-called open primaries, in which independents can
vote.
But Paul is quick to ascribe his campaign's success to the message, not the
messenger.
"I still don't think it's me as much as the message," Paul told reporters
yesterday. "The frustration level is much higher than anybody anticipated.
People realize that we are in a period of major change in this country. We
are on the verge of a bankruptcy, the dollar is crashing, the foreign
policy's in shambles and the people's personal liberties are under attack."
At the Manchester rally, he was even more pointed: "I am not a prophet," he
reminded the crowd.
Prophet or not, voters seemed happy to follow. "I've been voting in
presidential elections since 1972, and this is the first time there's a
candidate I can vote for," said John Lewicke of Mason.
"Ultimately his message returns us to the principles of our founding
fathers and our great state," said Tom Gilligan, an Allenstown selectman.
As for Republican leaders, "I think they've disappointed their base, and
the amount of support Dr. Paul has should demonstrate that."
Yesterday's rally was a family affair. All but one of Paul's five children
made the trek, along with 16 of his grandchildren and his great-grandson.
Several served as warm-up acts, with two of his grandchildren serenading
the crowd with "The Ballad of Ron Paul" ("Ron Paul went off to Congress to
fight for you and me . . . Start by cutting out the waste and trim taxes
more").
Paul's son, Rand Paul, used his time on stage to make a dig at one of his
father's Republican primary opponents. Pretending to receive a call on his
cell phone, Rand Paul told the crowd, to boos, that Rudy Giuliani was on
the line. "He says that he doesn't have any family members who will
campaign for him and he wants to know if he can borrow some," Rand Paul
said, referring to Giuliani's strained relationship with his children.
Then it was time for Ron Paul, his slender frame clad in a pale green dress
shirt and dark slacks, reached the platform.
"Some people have labeled this a revolution," he told the crowd. "I would
say this is a grand day for a revolution."
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R. A. Hettinga