Ron Paul is hoping a different kind of faithful will be drawn to Lynah on April 19, when the Republican presidential candidate will speak at the repurposed Cornell rink.
Cornell Republicans Chair Raj Kannappan ’13 confirmed Thursday that Paul, whose libertarian nonconformity has drawn the adoration of college students nationwide, will hold a town-hall style forum at the University five days before New York State’s Republican primary.
The announcement came the same day a poll from Rasmussen Reports found that Paul would hold a one-point edge over President Barak Obama, 44 percent to 43 percent, in a general election contest.
Paul, 76, is planning to attend rallies on 30 college campuses nationwide, according to The New York Times. Far behind the delegate count of presumptive nominee Mitt Romney, Paul “remains mostly an afterthought, electorally — a candidate pushing a message more than a candidacy,” according to The Times.
It is a message that has widely resonated with young voters, who have flocked to support the candidate.
A petition started by the Cornell Republicans to bring Paul to campus garnered about 1,500 student names, according to Kannappan.
“He draws huge crowds at every university he goes to. It just makes perfect sense to bring him to campus,” Kannappan said.
Speaking to a crowd in Fort Worth this week, the Texas Congressman affirmed that he has no plans to exit the race, even after Romney’s most plausible contender, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, suspended his campaign.
“They ask me if I’m going to quit. I thought we were just getting started. We have a revolution to fight, a country to change,” Paul said, according to The Miami Herald.
Kannappan said that it was this quality of Paul’s — his occasionally dyspeptic scorn for the status quo — that had elicited such fervent support among youth activists.
“A lot of college students are disillusioned with politics in general, and he’s bringing something different to the table,” Kannappan said. “He speaks from the heart.”
Original Author: Jeff Stein