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RON PAUL FORGES AHEAD
Paul’s supporters vow no compromise; goal of ‘Revolution’ is U.S. presidency
By Mark Anderson
AUSTIN, Tex.—The Ron Paul Liberty Ball held here showed that the spirited supporters of the Texas congressman will not entertain the notion of giving up, despite the dominant media’s obvious attempts to pretend Paul does not exist and predetermine winners and losers with poll results that bear little resemblance to reality.
Just three Republicans are still in the race—Paul, John McCain and Mike Huckabee. However, the television news media now give Huckabee and McCain exalted status. Even as Huckabee loses steam, Paul is rarely mentioned. News commentators often say things like “Huckabee is a distant third” right after Romney and McCain are lauded. And Paul’s name is left out, as the media slyly deceives its viewers.
“They know that the jig is up,” a young man at the Liberty Ball told AFP, saying that more and more people are seeing through the big media’s stage managed news, thanks to Paul’s freedom message and the way it inspires people to actively seek the truth about the state of the nation, instead of passively digesting the media’s “info-tainment” that masquerades as substantive news.
AFP covered the Liberty Ball while circulating its special Ron Paul Revolution report to hundreds of supporters who packed the popular Ruta Maya Coffee House in south Austin on January 31 to hear speeches, watch video clips and welcome live bands that celebrated Paul’s bold run for the presidency.
The congressman’s eldest son, Ronnie, attended the Liberty Ball with his wife and children. Ronnie, proudly noting that his mom and dad were about to celebrate their 51st wedding anniversary, said that a fundraising boost of $5.1 million in observance of this milestone looked very promising (Ron and Carol Welles were married Feb. 1, 1957).
Ronnie also observed, like Thomas Jefferson said long ago, that one’s private character is a good indication of how one serves in public. He believes his dad’s private character as a husband and father says a great deal about how he would perform as president—not to mention his solid record as a congressman.
As Ronnie told AFP, his father, a physician, chose to go in and out of public office, having served as a congressman in the latter 1970s and early 1980s, and then again from 1996 to the present. To do so, he beat incumbents three times, even one supported by former Texas Gov. George W. Bush. Ronnie agreed with AFP that this puts Fox News’ sarcastic question Jan. 10 at the South Carolina GOP debate—on whether Ron Paul is “electible”—into clear perspective.
“Ron Paul for the long haul!” was shouted several times by the young audience at the trendy coffee house. A number of supporters proclaimed they’re tired of “Bushes and Clintons and Clintons and Bushes.”
Meanwhile, The American Conservative magazine endorsed Dr. Paul, saying in part: “By speaking about the benefits of smaller government and limited executive power, he has introduced a generation of young Americans to a more traditional and true style of conservatism. . . . Ron Paul has been a breath of fresh air in an otherwise desultory Republican campaign. Long may he run.”
Paul also has been endorsed by legendary American folk singer Arlo Guthrie.
A number of others at the Liberty Ball spoke briefly about Paul’s candidacy and their approaches to making the most out of what they see as history in the making.
“We can reach five million people in four weeks,” said one supporter, referring to billboards planned along busy Interstate 35 in Texas, in advance of the March 4 state primary. For more, see ronpaulbillboards.com.
Others concerned about the integrity of the election process referred to the website ronpaulvotecount.com for the latest on caucus and primary irregularities.
Also, a number of supporters plan to stand outside Fort Hood near Waco, Tex. February 20 to greet returning soldiers with Paul’s message of a noninterventionist foreign policy Rob Morrow, a Paul fan, urged supporters to get involved at the precinct level to run as a delegate and closely monitor the election process to guard against vote fraud—an important matter given concerns raised by the Paul campaign regarding the handling of the Nevada and Louisiana caucuses.
Vote-honesty activists still are not finished in New Hampshire, where they maintain vote fraud was rampant.
Morrow urged everyone to take “Paul-itics” seriously and do exit polls in their home communities to compare with the final “official” count.Well-known area radio host Jack Youngblood added that Americans need Paul because he would go so far as to “legalize freedom” in a nation where freedom of speech, privacy, the electoral process, and Second and Fourth Amendment protections are under assault, among other infringements.
Paul has often said he would stay in the race as long as his supporters don’t give up. Given the mood at the Liberty Ball and other events, he’s destined to stay in the running.
Mark Anderson is the author of The Ron Paul Revolution, AFP’s special report we are encouraging everyone to distribute. For more on how you can help Ron Paul get elected, click here.
(Issue #7, February 18, 2008)
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