"Ronstock" Rally Rocks Philly
Monday the money gods smiled favorably on Ron Paul's presidential campaign with a record breaking single day fundraiser that brought in $4.2 million. On Saturday the weather gods also smiled favorably as the cloudy and rainy sky cleared up just in time for the start of "Ronstock", a celebration of peace and freedom for thousands of Ron Paul supporters who gathered from all parts of the country at Independence Mall in Philadelphia. Paul spoke extemporaneously and at considerable length, addressing his signature issues of peace abroad and freedom at home. The crowd responded enthusiastically to every serving of antiwar and antigovernment rhetoric.
Prior to the rally Ron Paul met privately with a group of supporters who, hopefully for the campaign, would donate a sufficient amount of funds that will at least partially pay the high cost of having the rally in Philadelphia.
In keeping with the Veteran's Day theme the campaign emphasized veteran's issues and support for the troops by ending the war and bringing them home. The campaign reserved space and set up chairs near the podium for hundreds of veterans who showed up to express their support for Paul's candidacy. Army veteran and country music artist Rockie Lynne got things started with a tribute to the veterans. John Holland, leader of an organization dedicated to promoting awareness of POW/MIA issues, spoke in support of a bill sponsored by Ron Paul that would open up government records pertaining to their status. New Jersey State Assemblyman Michael Doherty, a West Point graduate with three sons in military service, endorsed Ron Paul and said it was time for the US to stop being world policeman and do more to defend its own borders.
The campaign set up a tent with Internet service for media and bloggers reporting live from the rally. Comprehensive video coverage was available on justin.tv, and CNN had limited coverage on their web site. Among the bloggers was Kent Nowviskie, a veteran from West Virginia, who reported that one group of supporters, "Hoosiers For Paul", drove 12 hours from Indiana. Another blogger, Brad Porter, noted that he thought this was the biggest political rally he had ever been to and it was clear now that Ron Paul was attracting a lot more support than just 9/11 conspiracy theorists, libertarians, and web geeks. Ron Paul himself acknowledged at the end of his speech that he thought this was the biggest rally of his campaign so far, and it proved there was more support for his candidacy than a few dozen spammers on the internet.
Crowd estimates varied but prior to the rally the campaign reported approximately 2500 rsvp's on the rally's web site. Most observers who were there, including bloggers, reported at least two thousand and maybe as high as three or four thousand which would be about what the campaign and rally organizers expected. The Communications Director for the campaign reported about 5,000. The steady rain, coupled with cold and windy weather, until just prior to the rally likely impacted attendance. Regardless, it appears to be the largest Ron Paul campaign event so far.
Demographically, from observing various pictures and video of the rally, the crowd probably reflected the base of Ron Paul's support: predominantly white, middle-aged males. In many ways it is remeniscient of the kind of support for another antiwar paleoconservative populist who ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 1996, Pat Buchanan. And most of us remember who won the New Hampshire primary that year.
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He is a REPUBLICAN
As a registered Democrat in Tennessee, if my choices are Hillary Clinton vs "Typicle repig" vs Ron Paul I will vote for Ron Paul any day!
1.He supports ending the War
2.He supports restoring and protecting the Constitution
3.Supports ending the War on Drugs!
You show me a candidate that has a chance of winning with those views and I will reconsider.
This Country needs drastic change and Ron Paul offers the way forward.
Having read so many comments about Ron Paul here over the past month, I did my homework on him to form my own opinion.
I came to the conclusion that his basic "I hate the big guvermnt" stance is evidenced in all of his policies.
This appeals to the Nascar tobacco chewing crowd and sadly the veiled racism does too.
He is simply the anti-Bush for that redneck element of our society and a clear indication that all is not well with the Repuke party.
Some of the hillbillies are finally starting to wake up and understand how the greedy Repuke fascists don't really care about Jeeezis or family values....
So Ron Paul is for the moment a phenom. But he is still a racist, so fuck him.
Ron Paul is principled and courageous. He offers a turning around of putrid politics of the Beltway elite:
http://www
I'm personally skeptical of this whole Ron Paul thing. In some ways he's like George Bush. People like him because he's a "character
If you think about it, Ron Paul would give the original neocons exactly what they want. Drowning the government in the bathtub and turning it over to private industry. I'm not saying this is some conspiracy, but if Rove was part of it the guy would be brilliant. First expand the government until it's so large and corrupt that nobody will take it anymore. Then have a "rebel" like Ron Paul come in. Have the media pretend like he's a big threat to them and like they're trying to cover him up, except of course they aren't (unlike Gravel or Kucinich). Bush's incompetence and big government corruption would actually work for them. I think even Rove probably knows that the whole corporate world empire thing didn't work out. The next best thing afterall to combining government and big business is for government to just disappear and let the latter take over.
What they don't want is a genuinely democratic government that does what's best for the country as a whole, keeps business in line when it gets destructive, and works for the public. Thus you won't hear much about Kucinich but you will hear about the "miraculous" Ron Paul revolution and how we'd be better off repealing the 20th century.
The one thing I notice abuot libertarians is, ultimatley, how very selfish they seem to be because, they know that for the lowest incoome person keeping all their money still would not meet their needs and no one has shown me the libertarian who also believes in what he is saving requires that he pay those workers who made him rich (And don't forget, most big name libertarians have billions, such as the Koch Family brothers, one of whome ran for president in the Libertarian party a few years ago)) decent higher salaries from what he is saving in taxes. They seem to live by the mantra, "Get up by your own bootstraps, even if you can't afford the boots to begin with." Interestingly, so many were the beneficiaries of the hard work of their forbears who set them up pretty well to begin with.
Ron Paul's demographic? Mainly white middle aged males. Shows you something. His 'liberatarian values' only extend to white males--women's 'liberty' is pretty much a matter of government control. And minorities? who knows? I doubt Ron Paul even recognizes minorities might have issues that need addressing.
When it comes to foreign policy, Ron Paul is a Rock Star.
Ron Paul says that the Constitution somehow prevents a woman from choosing whether or not to have an abortion.
Anyone can say they're all for protecting and following the Constitution, but if you twist the implications around to support a conservative agenda, you're no worse than the worst violator of the Constitution.
Ewwww! Peace and freedom? Yikes! He must be a traitor!
"Demographically, from observing various pictures and video of the rally, the crowd probably reflected the base of Ron Paul's support: predominantly white, middle-aged males. In many ways it is remeniscient of the kind of support for another antiwar paleoconservative populist who ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 1996, Pat Buchanan"
I couldn't agree more. Politically he's closer to Pat Buchanan than any of the Democratic nominees for President. Could the reason few minorities or women support him be that he's no friend of minority rights or women's rights? Privlaged middle class white guys are his support, the kind that bitch about the government but aren't the ones who live paycheck to paycheck, have no healthcare, or face descimination in everyday life. Think about it, his support is whiter, more masculine, and more well off finacially than the support the traditional Republican gets.
It's great to see the groundswell of support for a candidate with little media coverage, but his only real chance is as a third party candidate. I disagree with Mr. Paul about many social concerns and what to do about them, but he's got the basics down: End the War by getting out completely and get rid of the antiAmerican Federal Reserve System. Woodrow Wilson realized he made a terrible mistake in allowing its formation. They are the embodiment of evil. They are the same creeps in the Banks of England, France, etc. They are the reason for wars.
Sounds like DK and MG could take a page from RP in fundraising!
There is only one candidate that is going to actually represent the Constitution and the people.
DENNIS KUCINCH !!! Forget the rest!
DK like RP voted against the war and wants immediate with-drawl and takes NO corporate money, but is more intelligent and pragmatic than RP could ever dream to be.
I simply cannot understand why anyone would want totally unregulated businesses and the total elimination of ALL government social programs. RP would get rid of Social Security, MediaCare, and many of the quality of life programs that much of society relies on. Now granted, there are some programs that go over-board and need to be over-hauled or eliminated, but certainly not as far as RP would do.
To all you Ron Pauler's, you need to take a good look at Dennis Kucinch instead.
Lets see...debt at $9 TRILLION; oil at $100 a barrel and climbing; food prices soaring; real estate prices falling; dollar plummeting; inflation skyrocketing; unfunded debt at $60 TRILLION; congress spending money hand over fist.
Things don't look so good on the home front. All because of our FIAT currency. Just wait a few months and the dollar will collapse. Then Ron Paul's gold based currency ideas will be welcomed!
This one issue alone is enough for me to support Dr. Ron Paul.
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Posted November 12, 2007 | 08:25 AM (EST)