Just setting the stage for the results from the rigged voting machines:
"Despite fiery base, Paul’s spark yet to spread" by Brian C. Mooney Globe Staff / October 31, 2011
CONCORD, N.H. - Fund-raising has not been Ron Paul’s problem. Neither has galvanizing a cadre of passionate supporters. They have been called crazy, fanatics, or worse by some conservative commentators, who dismiss the fundamentalist brand of small-government libertarianism the Texas Republican has been preaching for more than three decades.
With all due respect, the newspaper hasn't been very kind to him, either -- when they have deigned to cover him.
Related: Sunday Globe Special: Ron Paul's Missing Money
Supporters of the congressman are zealous and energetic, but the retirees, veterans, parents, and white-collar workers at his New Hampshire headquarters on a recent dreary, windswept night were not from the political fringe.
Paul’s problem is that he has received little affection from the hard-core Republican activists among Tea Partiers and religious conservatives. In their search for an alternative to Mitt Romney, the leading establishment candidate, they have flirted passionately, if briefly in some cases, with Representative Michele Bachmann, Governor Rick Perry of Texas, and Herman Cain, a former business executive.
Paul, meanwhile, has plodded along, averaging about 8.5 percent, or fifth place, in national polls, according to Real Clear Politics, and a distant third in Iowa and New Hampshire, the first two nominating contests.
Really, Globe?
Related: Globe Raising Cain
I was just wondering if YOU are tired of the DISTORTIONS and LIES, dear readers, because I sure as hell am.
That loyal Paul core has helped keep conservatives from coalescing around another candidate, but it has not grown substantially.
So this is the conventional bit of bullshit they are going to run out to deny the people their true choice for president.
Before the Tea Party, there was Ron Paul, keeper of the flame of minimal government, critic of the Federal Reserve System, and party scold when the federal government began rolling up big deficits under President George W. Bush.
Part of Paul’s problem is undoubtedly his unique agenda, an exotic blend based on a strict interpretation of the Constitution but crossing the boundaries of contemporary definitions of conservative and liberal. His libertarianism extends beyond fiscal matters to keeping the government out of overseas military adventures and out of individuals’ lives.
Seems like a guy like that would have BROAD APPEAL! He WINS ALL the STRAW POLLS the Globe won't report!
He supports a return to “sound currency’’ (the gold standard or an equivalent), abolition of the Federal Reserve System, and decriminalization of drugs, and he opposes the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Paul also opposed the Patriot Act and funds for new homeland security agencies after 9/11 and has said he will not accept a congressional pension.
Sure looks like a platform I could support!
Paul’s views overlap with the Tea Party on many economic issues, said Brendan Steinhauser, director of grass roots for FreedomWorks, a Washington-based organization advocating free-market principles and which has lent support to the Tea Party movement.
“He’s been sounding the alarm for some time and predicted a lot of the economic troubles, the cause of them, and has been outlining solutions,’’ he said.
“What are the views that are complicating things for him? His views on foreign policy, number one,’’ Steinhauser said, noting that FreedomWorks does not take positions on foreign policy.
“Ron Paul’s positions are just such that a lot of Republicans disagree with him,’’ Steinhauser said.
Besides his opposition to the wars, Paul has also provoked sharp disagreements with Republicans with his assertions that the United States’ overseas military presence is the root of terrorist attacks and that Iran’s nuclear ambitions are understandable and not worth starting another conflict over.
Thus he opposes Israel's control over US foreign policy -- and one reason why he won't come near the nomination. One does wonder, however, if they will let him in the building this time.
He has also raised eyebrows within the party with his collaboration with liberal Representative Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, in calling for military cuts as part of budget reductions.
Yes, WHERE ARE those CROSSOVER DEMOCRATS I have been WAITING FOR!?
Dr. Paul NEEDS YOUR VOTE!
Paul has staked out the most extreme budget position in a GOP field full of budget-cutting, tax-slashing candidates. His proposal calls for a $1 trillion annual cut and the elimination of five Cabinet agencies, all foreign aid, and more than 200,000 federal jobs.
The maverick 76-year-old also worked with Representative Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, a leftist-populist Democrat, and other Democrats to pass a bipartisan bill with 320 House sponsors to audit the Federal Reserve. It failed in the Senate, and Paul and his son, Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican and Tea Party favorite, filed it again early this year.
Paul blames the nation’s central bank for inflating the supply of money for the benefit of domestic and foreign banks and creating the economic bubbles that produce boom-and-bust cycles.
Say what you want about him; however, he is RIGHT on THAT ONE!
More than anyone, he has injected monetary policy into the national political debate, at times causing eyes to roll when he begins talking about the Austrian School, a laissez-faire theory of economics.
Yes, the elites running and controlling this show can not like that at all.
“Ron Paul redefines the notion of a political spectrum,’’ said Kucinich, who admires Paul’s adherence to his principles. “On two of the most central issues of our time - the role of the Federal Reserve and war - Ron Paul has defended the interests of the American people.’’
And THAT QUALIFIES HIM to be PRESIDENT!!
“He has great integrity; he cannot be bought,’’ Kucinich said. “It’s the reason he has such a following among young people who are earnestly searching for candidates with integrity.’’
It is NOT JUST YOUNG PEOPLE that support him, dammit!
Paul is relying on volunteers like Jon Forrester of Manchester, a 30-year-old Air Force veteran who is finishing work on an accounting degree from Southern New Hampshire University. This is his first foray into politics.
“I consider myself an average American who’s concerned about my country,’’ said Forrester, a Massachusetts native who heads the “New Hampshire Veterans for Ron Paul’’ effort. He is also worried about the future for his wife and their 10-month-old son.
We ALL ARE!
In Paul, he said, he found someone to believe in. “He seems like the only one who would stand up there and tell the truth, whether it was something you wanted to hear or not,’’ Forrester said.
Hey, I don't agree with him on everything, but he's miles ahead of the rest.
Kate Baker, a manager at a software company and mother of three from Manchester, is making her first substantial commitment to a presidential campaign. Describing herself as a lifelong Republican who is “really a fiscal conservative,’’ she tries to put in two nights of volunteer work a week, including the weekly “Women for Ron Paul’’ phone bank sessions she arranges.
“I’m really worried about the national debt and out-of-control government spending,’’ she said. “I worry about the effect it will have on my kids.’’
She was home-schooling one of her children when she learned that Paul had sponsored a bill in Congress to provide tax credits to families who sent their children to private schools. She did more research on other issues and was attracted to the congressman’s plain-spoken and unwavering advocacy for less government and lower taxes, she said.
Some of his devotees, such as Rachel French of Belmont, a retired telecommunications company worker who was making calls on his behalf recently, are “End the Fed’’ advocates.
Intrigued by Paul, she has studied the history of the Federal Reserve, which was created in 1913. “The banking cartel runs it,’’ she said, applauding her candidate for “having the same message forever.’’
“He’s served as a prophet or the conscience of these presidential debates, not only on the Federal Reserve but also the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,’’ said Dante J. Scala, professor of political science at the University of New Hampshire. “He’s stuck to his guns and now, four years after he ran in 2008, it appears that the skepticism he had about American foreign policy aims and objectives are shared by a significant segment of the Republican base.’’
But he's behind and a second-tier candidate according to the corporate media. Pffffft!
In 2008, Paul finished fifth in the first two nominating contests, the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, getting 10 percent and 7.7 percent of the votes, respectively. He first ran for president in 1988 as a Libertarian.
Scala does not believe that Paul has expanded his base yet in the Granite State but does think that his support remains solid.
“It may only be 10 to 15 percent of the Republican primary vote, but it’s not going to go to one of the other very conservative candidates,’’ Scala said. “It’s an eclectic mix of people who support him and will stay with him.’’
But somehow he just isn't catching fire.
Andrew E. Smith, director of the UNH Survey Center, said his polls show that Paul “does best with young people and does well in the more rural parts of the state, like the North Country and the Upper Valley’’ of the Connecticut River.
Smith, who administers polls for the Globe, said focus groups have indicated that many college students are attracted to Paul “because he wants to legalize pot,’’ but that the candidate may also be benefiting across the Republican spectrum from “a resignation and tiredness about the wars.’’
Yeah, you can't count on those kids! They will probably forget to show up to vote.
Hey, kids, are YOU as TIRED of the ELITE F***ING INSULTS from the Boston Globe like me?
Oh, btw, that feeling across the Republican spectrum about the wars? It's the WHOLE American populace!
And that SURE IS a STRANGE STATEMENT considering the claim above that Republicans differ with him on foreign policy.
Ah, what a deadly web we weave, 'eh, Globe?
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I suppose I should be happy they gave him a three-page, front-page platform on a Monday, huh?
Methinks it makes up for the Saturday omission:
"Romney leaning hard on strong N.H. backing; Offsets plateaued support elsewhere" October 29, 2011|By Matt Viser, Globe Staff
MANCHESTER, N.H. - Mitt Romney’s support appears to have leveled off in various early voting states, with voters seeming to look askance at the former Massachusetts governor as they bounce to the newest stars in the Republican firmament rather than flock to him.
Not so in New Hampshire.
Here in the Granite State, Romney has remained consistently at the top, with no one coming close to challenging him just more than two months before voters head to the polls. He has received the biggest endorsement (from former Governor John Sununu), made no major flubs, and polls put his support above 40 percent. It is one of the few states where he is drawing more than 25 percent.
New Hampshire has remained a firewall for his campaign, allowing him to downplay expectations in other early voting states such as Iowa and South Carolina. In a fluid race, it’s the closest thing that any candidate has to a lock on a single state.
“It’s a different electorate, both because of turnout and because of the ideology of New Hampshire voters, than any of the other early states,’’ said Andy Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center. “Republicans in New Hampshire by and large are northeastern Republicans, Rockefeller Republicans. And that’s, kind of, Mitt Romney.’’
New Hampshire Republicans are more prochoice than Republicans in other parts of the country. In recent polls, likely GOP primary voters are almost split evenly over whether a state law legalizing gay marriage should be repealed. Romney opposes abortion and gay marriage but less stridently than some of his foes. And while Romney’s Mormon faith may be a hindrance elsewhere, it probably won’t be in New Hampshire, the second-least religious state in the country, behind Vermont.
With all due respect, those are not issues that are going to decide this campaign.
Related: Nominating Romney Means Return of Bush
Romney continues to try to cultivate support in this state, and he returned for a town hall meeting last night at the Executive Court in Manchester. He fielded questions from a friendly crowd on immigration, health care, and the economy. He said he sympathized with some of those in the Occupy Wall Street movement, but also said the cause would be unnecessary if the economy were better....
Romney has distinct advantages in New Hampshire, in part because voters are familiar with him. He also owns a house on Lake Winnipesaukee and governed neighboring Massachusetts for four years.
See: Romney's Rooms
Maybe he could rent a couple out to all the foreclosed-upon families in America?
During this campaign, he has lavished attention on the state (last night marked his 15th New Hampshire town hall meeting of this campaign) and has focused squarely on the economy, which voters here care about, and far less on social issues, which they generally don’t....
But few of Romney’s rivals have actually challenged him here, or put themselves in a position to benefit if he falters. Michele Bachmann, after making several early trips to the state, has generally stayed away.
Newt Gingrich has made only sporadic trips here, and former senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania has staked much of his candidacy on Iowa. Jon Huntsman has placed renewed emphasis on New Hampshire, but has yet to gain traction. Herman Cain has surged to second place here but is still building his campaign organization and has made infrequent campaign visits.
Related: HERMAN CAIN CAMPAIGN IS TOAST AFTER SEXUAL ASSAULT SCANDAL!
Governor Rick Perry of Texas came to New Hampshire yesterday to file his papers and meet voters in Concord. Last night, he delivered a speech in Manchester, just 6 miles from Romney’s town hall meeting, and received a positive reaction that rivaled the one Romney received two hours earlier. An enthusiastic crowd of approximately 450 gave Perry several standing ovations....
I'll give you one guess which candidate didn't get a mention in the piece.
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