On Fri, Jun 10, 2011 at 12:40 PM, MJ <michaelj@america.net> wrote:
>
>
> Candidate Ron Paul thinks GOP, nation moving closer to his libertarian views
> By Jordan Fabian - 06/10/11 06:00 AM ET
>
> Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) is running a different presidential campaign in 2012
> than he did in 2008, sensing that the evolving politics of the GOP could
> give him a better chance at building a wave of support and contending for
> his party's nomination.
>
> The last time Paul sought the presidency, he was a little-known libertarian
> back-bencher in Congress, largely dismissed at debates and by party insiders
> as nothing more than a fringe candidate.
>
> But just three years later, Paul is faced with a Republican Party that is
> more receptive to his small-government, anti-war attitudes, fueled in part
> by the rise of the Tea Party. He's also begun to reach out to mainstream
> conservative voices in an effort to spread his message beyond his hardcore
> supporters.
>
> With the experience of one presidential campaign under his belt, Paul is
> building a more streamlined and formal campaign apparatus that gives him a
> better chance of competing in key early primary states.
>
> Paul has a better chance in New Hampshire than in Iowa, but the congressman
> is not counting out any early states. He told The Hill last week that his
> campaign is focused on all the early states: Iowa, New Hampshire, South
> Carolina and Nevada.
>
> Paul, who announced last month on Sean Hannity's Fox News program that he
> would form an exploratory committee, disputed the notion that he is running
> a different kind of campaign from 2008.
>
> Pressed on whether Hannity would have invited him on his show a few years
> ago, Paul responded that more people are questioning U.S. involvement in
> Iraq and Afghanistan and the role of the Federal Reserve than they were
> three years ago.
>
> "During the last campaign, I knew what was happening," Paul said last week
> on CNN's "State of the Union."
>
> "You know, they mocked me for my foreign policy and they laughed at my
> monetary policy," he added. "No more. No more."
>
> While Republicans by and large still support the war in Afghanistan, signs
> of war-weariness have shown.
>
> Last month, more than two dozen House Republicans joined Paul in voting for
> a Democratic amendment that would have required President Obama to submit a
> timeline for withdrawal from Afghanistan, and even more voted for a
> resolution questioning the U.S. intervention in Libya.
>
> And unlike some GOP contenders, like former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney,
> former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Paul
> can claim total consistency in his opposition to the 2008 TARP bailouts, a
> key issue that resonates with Republican voters and Tea Party activists.
>
> Other candidates have started to move toward Paul on some economic issues.
> During a major speech this week, Pawlenty said he supports ending the Fed's
> dual mandate, and he has criticized the central bank for months over its
> efforts to stimulate the economy through quantitative easing.
>
> In a preview of his argument against other candidates at next week's
> presidential debate in New Hampshire, Paul said he is still the only
> candidate in the field with credibility on such issues.
>
> The Texan has built on his name recognition from the 2008 campaign to post
> strong showings in several national polls. And he still enjoys fervent
> support from his base, especially young voters.
>
> Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.), who supports Paul for president, told The Hill
> last week that he was approached by a 19-year-old named Trevor Benson during
> an event in his home state. With Benson donning a Paul 2012 button, the two
> struck up a conversation about Paul. Later, Jones had the Texan autograph
> photos for Benson and his friend.
>
> For his 2012 bid, Paul is combining supporters' enthusiasm and his ability
> to raise large sums of campaign cash online with a more traditional campaign
> structure.
>
> In 2008 in New Hampshire, for instance, Paul relied on a loosely formed
> collection of county campaign activists and finished a disappointing fifth
> place in the first primary in the nation. This time around, when Paul
> stopped in New Hampshire this week, he named a state campaign chairman and
> field staff.
>
> He has also reached out to Tea Party and social conservative activists in
> key early states at the beginning of the process in order to have a better
> shot of earning their support.
>
> Paul spokesman Jesse Benton said another key difference is Paul's improved
> ability to raise money early in the cycle. In 2008, Benton noted, big
> donations came in too late to build a full campaign staff in early states
> like Iowa. This year, Paul has raised more than $2 million from two one-day
> online "money bomb" fundraisers alone.
>
> "This time, we are raising money early to fund the campaign we need," he
> said.
>
> But more than any other state, New Hampshire, with its strong
> small-government tradition, will be Paul's proving ground.
>
> "New Hampshire will be a critical state for him," said Dartmouth College
> government professor Dean Lacy, who said Paul has a slim, but viable, chance
> of winning the nomination.
>
> "Ron Paul doesn't have to win New Hampshire, but he should hope to be a
> top-three finisher," he added. "That's the litmus test.
>
> "He had no real formal organization in '08 and now he is adopting a more
> conventional campaign structure," Lacy said. "He is running as more of a
> mainstream candidate this year."
>
> But many still believe there is a ceiling of support for Paul and that he
> lacks the ability to appeal to mainstream GOP voters to capture the
> nomination due to his unorthodox political views.
>
> On the day he announced his presidential campaign in Iowa, Paul said that he
> would not have voted for the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, explaining
> he is not against ending segregation but the "property rights" elements in
> the law violate his libertarian beliefs.
>
> Paul's son, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), said the same thing during his election
> campaign in 2010 and faced heavy criticism from his opponents, a danger Paul
> faces on an even larger scale in a presidential contest.
>
> The elder Paul has also said he would not have authorized the mission that
> killed Osama bin Laden, and voiced support for the legalization of heroin
> during the first GOP primary debate last month.
>
> "He just has to shake the cranky-grandfather image," Lacy said. "To become a
> more mainstream candidate, he has to soften his appeal a little bit."
>
> But Paul's supporters remain unfazed.
>
> "If he were to win the nomination, I think he would definitely have a good
> shot," Jones said. "He would have a lot of momentum."
>
> Bob Cusack contributed to this story.
>
> http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/165725-candidate-ron-paul-thinks-gop-nation-moving-closer-to-his-libertarian-views
>
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