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An Inside Look at Ron Paul, Part 3
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The Politics Factory
February 5, 2008 - 1:00am
This three-part series about GOP Presidential candidate Ron Paul is based on a UWire conference call he recently participated in with colleges and universities across the nation. The original audio of the conference call can be found here. Additionally, the audio podcast of this article, downloadable here and also playable at the bottom of this article, will contain the audio from the conference call wherever Paul is quoted.
Looking Forward: Advantages, Challenges and Momentum
Ron Paul has run for President before in 1988 as a Libertarian, and his views have hardly shifted since then, but his level of support has increased dramatically in this second run. Twenty years later, Paul has certainly benefited from the invention of the Internet. His presence on there is unmatched, and the Internet has allowed his message to spread quickly across the country. Beyond the online realm, Paul has experienced some major boosts in terms of real money and real people, too. "We've broken all kinds of records, we've raised $6 million in one day, and yesterday we had over 5,000 new people joining us," said Paul. Paul has even managed to take second place in the GOP Nevada caucuses. With these accomplishments in hand, and also with a strong showing from young voters, Paul plans to stage a larger performance on Super Tuesday.
But despite his success, Paul has still run into numerous problems when the stakes grow larger. While he did well in Nevada, he admits he will need more to win the bigger contests. "It's not the breakthrough that you need to be winning in some of these big states," Paul points out. Also, he often exhibits some sentiment that the mainstream media does not give him enough press; he feels like this can hinder the spread of his message. "If you had complete support from the mainstream media, you would get a lot more national attention." Paul's campaign still faces a lot of challenges, and sometimes these challenges catch up to him. "Sometime I don't even have a choice," Paul said, "I put my name out there reluctantly not believing that there would be very many young people or very much money." For all that Paul has accomplished, he still has to accomplish much more to win it all.
Because of these difficulties, many believe that Ron Paul should abandon his bid for the White House. Paul still refuses to do this, citing one major factor: momentum. So long as the momentum remains in Paul's eyes, he vows to carry on. "If I started something, I can't drop out when the momentum is so great. Because we don't come in first or second doesn't mean the momentum isn't building," Paul said. Here he cites the example of Giuliani, who started the race as the national frontrunner but dropped out after finishing third in Florida, a state which Giuliani bet his hopes on. Paul had actually gained more delegates than Giuliani before the former New York mayor dropped out, and Paul hopes to pick up a few more delegates here and there, continuing to build his momentum.
That is not to say that he still does not show reluctance at times. However, from his youngest supporters, Paul finds a spirit of determination that inspires him to keep going. "And the young people have actually given me a lot of encouragement, because I was, you know, reluctant, but because of this interest and this intense interest...there's every reason for me and others to be more optimistic today than we were one year ago," Paul said. For now, this interest has appeared to keep Paul's candidacy alive while some of his competitors have faltered. While the odds still look bleak, and questions remain about whether or not Paul can gain enough momentum, he will still carry on, continuing to defend the principles of the Constitution and hoping for the best.
"All I can do is continue to do what I'm doing."
Mike Wacker is The Sun's Assistant Web Editor. He can be reached at mwacker@cornellsun.com.
Sun Podcast
- Artist: Mike Wacker
- Title: An Inside Look at Ron Paul, Part 3
- Album: The Cornell Daily Sun - The Politics Factory
- Year: 2008
- Length: 3:59 minutes (3.65 MB)
- Format: Mono 44kHz 128Kbps (CBR)
HOPE
A NEW HOPE
We all have been living a nightmare. A vision D. Eisenhower warned of in his 1961 farewell address to the nation. In his address, Eisenhower warned of the corruption of our government, our society, and our culture by the MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX. It seems that, as a nation, we have not listened. Eisenhower’s dire vision has become our reality. And from this fearful dream, this nation is waking. Our eyes are opening to the truth collectively for the first time. WE THE PEOPLE are finding that we have been subjugated, placated into ignorance and fear, lied to by the very people we have entrusted to preserve and protect our rights, liberties, and our constitution. Many will turn away in fear of truth and close their eyes once again. To open our eyes to this reality, is to also understand that we are all responsible for it as well. complacency and dependence upon the machine keeps THE PEOPLE in line because it is convenient and safe. We have sold our souls. We have as a nation let this happen to ourselves.
My heart breaks for the people of this nation. Our government wages war upon our freedoms, liberties, and our constitution. I watch our republic’s destruction, not to the sound of guns or bombs, but to the sound of thunderous applause of those held captive by terrified patriotic blindness, guided by the propaganda of fear, as we give our rights and even the lives of our fellow man for the profit of the corrupt. A fear that is erasing our great history of freedom and repeating itself 70 years later with another dictatorship of war, under the guise of homeland security and the protection of the people.
BUT THERE IS STILL HOPE.
With love and openness, we can overcome ignorance and fear. It is our right as the people, and my duty as a United States MARINE written into our constitution by our founding fathers, entrusted to us, by the people, to ensure that our liberty, freedom, and the constitution never again become the subjugation of the corruption that we have wrought upon ourselves. We must take back our country, and give it to the people. So let us open our hearts, take responsibility, and make our HOPE become our reality. Lets begin REVOLUTION. His name
Dr. Ron Paul
Vote for freedom and the Constitution - Vote for Ron Paul!
I switched from Democrat to Republican to vote for Ron Paul in the Florida primary. I have been working with my meetup.com group to get support for Dr. Paul down here in Florida. The worst thing one can do is feel that Dr. Paul has no chance and vote for someone who will bring more of the same to the White House. NO candidate running now will change the direction of this country except for Ron Paul.
We must take a stand for freedom and the Constitution. Have you read President Bush's executive orders and signing statements lately??? If you did, your hair would stand on end, to see our loss of freedoms and the powers he has given himself. Have you noticed how prices are going up in the grocery stores and at the gas pumps? Do you understand that the Federal Reserve is a consortium of bankers running our monetary system? Our country's monetary system was hijacked in 1913. These bankers print unlimited amounts of money (now the printing is unknown since they decided to flood the market with dollars over a year ago), and our dollar is rapidly falling. THEN this same consortium through the Federal Reserve (neither Federal nor a reserve) is lowering interest rates! This is a house of cards, people!!! They are setting us up for the second market crash. The Federal Reserve admits they created the first market crash in the 1920s! What about the war in Iraq? The plan has always been to stay there from the beginning - Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld never intended to leave the middle east. It has been planned for over 20 years (read the Project for the New American Century). Why else would they have built the world's largest embassy in Iraq, that is larger than Vatican City? A hundred years in Iraq? That's what McCain is promoting. Even Barac Obama is now declaring that he will have to look at the war before ending it, meaning he will be convinced by the war machine to stay there longer as well. We have no business being an empire builder. And pre-emptive war is against the Constitution, and in fact, this action in Iraq was never declared an actual war by Congress and is illegal.
We MUST TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK, and only Ron Paul has vowed to do this, returning us to our gold standard, remove us from police actions throughout the world that is erroding the standing of our country with other nations, and protect our Constitution (that Bush declares is just a g'd piece of paper) and the Constitutionally mandated freedoms and rights back to the people.
VOTE FOR RON PAUL!!!