Representative from Texas, Ron Paul, longtime Federal Reserve critic and Libertarian, has won a recent straw poll taken at this year’s C-PAC. The purpose of the straw poll was Presidential Preference. Paul walked away with 31%, followed by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney who had 22%, and coming in third place with 7% was none other than former Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin. (Seth MacFarlane’s newest target.)
Paul was notably the first speaker to fill the C-PAC hall to its full capacity of 1100 pax, and some attendees had to be turned away. After taking the stage to the sounds of Queen’s “We Will Rock You”, Rep. Paul said to the raucous and enthusiastic crowd,
“Sounds to me like the Revolution is alive and well.”
Paul touched on the expected topics one would hear at a Conservative meeting, with special attention paid to criticism of the monetary and foreign policies of not only the Obama White House, but the GOP as well. Oddly enough, Paul is a Libertarian who runs on a GOP ticket.
“Debt is the monster, debt is what is going to eat us up and that’s why our economy is on the brink. The next step is a currency crisis because there will be a rejection of the dollar and the rejection of the dollar will be a big, big event.”
Regarding foreign policy, Paul states,
“We are now spending one trillion dollars a year to manage our world empire. There is nothing wrong with being a conservative and having a conservative belief in foreign policy where we have a strong national defense and don’t go to war so carelessly.”
Some of his critics view this as being weak on the War on Terror, but Paul’s stance could easily be rooted in wanting to maintain a consistent nonintervention policy.
Rep. Paul is known as the “father of the TEA Party”, due to his Libertarian leanings and his persistent call to audit the Federal Reserve. However, after what Paul considers an antagonistic tone of some of the more recent TEA Party rallies, he has reportedly been backing away from them ever so slightly.
And despite his criticisms of the GOP, Paul has a sense of optimism for them, especially looking ahead to November,
“This is a different year than any year we have experienced before,” he said. “By the end of this year, I think this country will be a lot better off.”
February 21st, 2010 at 7:21 pm
[...] the Conservative Political Action Conference’s straw poll giving Texas Rep Ron Paul a clear lead for the group’s presidential endorsement over Mitt Romney and Sarah [...]
February 21st, 2010 at 7:23 pm
Ron Paul is known as the “father of the Tea Party”, NOT due to his libertarian leanings, but because it was during his campaign that HIS supporters staged the first modern Tea Party in Boston harbor in support of his ideals. I find it interesting that people, including the author of this article, tend to either forget that, or attempt obscure the facts. Sarah Palin does NOT represent the Tea Party movement, no matter how much it is attempted to be taken over by the Republicrat establishment.
February 21st, 2010 at 7:28 pm
Very clever, low key spin, Borsht, but you know when you use the capital L in libertarian you are lying. That refers the the party, which was taken over by neo-con hack Bob Barr and Vegas con man Wayne Root. The small l libertarian refers to liberty lovers, which you are obviously not. And you also know that Dr. Paul wasn’t referring to a party when he said the country will be better off, he was referring to all the liberty candidates that voters will elect to congress for the first time in maybe 200 years. Sour grapes to all the collectivist media shills with their pinched,evil visages, Borsht.
End The Fed! Ron Paul 2012!
February 21st, 2010 at 7:29 pm
@John Q Public,
Thanks for that correction, John! You are spot-on!
Long Live the Republic!
February 21st, 2010 at 7:31 pm
@CT,
If I knew I was lying, CT, I would not have used a capital “L”.
I’m not trying to insinuate Ron Paul is anything less than who he is by using that capital “L”.
My apologies if it looked that way.
February 21st, 2010 at 7:33 pm
@CT,
And my name is Borsch. I would thank you kindly for addressing me as such and not making a mockery of the surname I wear proudly.
Cheers,
Donald Borsch Jr.
February 21st, 2010 at 7:45 pm
Ron Paul might make all the sense in the world to conservatives but ever since that debate he looked like Barnet Fife ready to have a hissy fit.
His temperment kinda made me nervous about him having access to red buttons
February 21st, 2010 at 8:06 pm
Ron Paul was for earmarks before he was against them.
February 21st, 2010 at 10:01 pm
Nary a word about illegal immigration.
February 22nd, 2010 at 5:34 am
Awesome news, and a sign that there is intellectual validity and principle in the Republican party still. Or at least at CPAC anyway.
Here’s what he’s popular with independents, people.
“I imagine everybody in this crowd would say ‘yes, protect our right to free speech; protect our right to our religious values.’ But as soon as it comes to putting something in your mouth, or in your lungs, you say ‘you don’t have enough sense to decide what you should do, so we are going to use the heavy hand of government to come down and protect you against yourself.’”
Give us the candidates we want, and we’ll vote with you. Give us Palin, and Obama wins another term.
February 22nd, 2010 at 10:34 am
Come on, Rhayader, even if you agree with Paul philosophically, I think even the most diehard Paul supporters have to admit that he has zero natural charisma.
He could barely get off the ground in 2008, and he won’t be a factor in 2012, because he seems so weird, creepy and old.
I’m not saying he would be a bad president…I’m saying he doesn’t have the charisma it takes to become president.
February 22nd, 2010 at 10:44 am
@Ignatius,
“We don’t elect these people to create their own cult of personality. We elect them to do a job.”
Tara Lynn Thompson: Right Pundits
I’m just sayin’…
February 22nd, 2010 at 10:46 am
Yeah I can’t argue there Ignatius. I don’t think Ron Paul is the man who can bring the libertarian ideology back into prominence because he’s seen as sort of a fringe weirdo. Political pragmatism demands somebody else.
But the ideas are there, and are obviously popular. Traditional Republican philosophies such as limiting government and keeping markets open and free resonate very strongly with generations of people who were raised in an increasingly individualistic society based on free expression and pursuing one’s desires. The internet is the ultimate libertarian reality.
The problem is that the social-con crowd really turns us off. Believe me: nobody my age is interested in banning gay marriage or waging war against immigrants. The insistence on the part of the GOP bigwigs on those “culture war” issues completely turns off people under 30 or so.
Anyway, sorry for rambling. I do agree that Ron Paul’s political chances are non-existent. But I also think he has some fantastic ideas that the GOP would do well to fold into its more mainstream stable of candidates. It could make the difference in the next election.
February 22nd, 2010 at 10:48 am
@Rhay,
ARRRRGH!! Why give all the good ideas to the GOP? If they couldn’t get them on their own, them screw ‘em!
Third party, baby, all the way! If not someone like Ron Paul, then someone like…me.
Hmmm.
Back at ya, Rhay.
February 22nd, 2010 at 11:17 am
i was kinda hoping Ted Nugent would become leading figure for the Tea party.
Whatever, I hope the GOP, conservatives, Tea partiers can all get together under one ticket on the same agenda. Third party could do what Nader did to the dems syphoning votes etc
February 22nd, 2010 at 11:18 am
I saw the veins bulging in Ron pauls forehead during that debate and said no freaking way, no matter how much sense he makes
February 22nd, 2010 at 11:26 am
Whatever, I hope the GOP, conservatives, Tea partiers can all get together under one ticket on the same agenda.
Yeah unfortunately the only organizing body with enough power to put it all together is the Republican party. And if we use the Bush years as any sort of indicator, the official party is moving away from those sorts of principles, not toward them.
I’d actually be rooting for dissolution of the Republican Party if it didn’t make the Democrats into a de facto 1-party political system. These major parties are choking us to death.
February 22nd, 2010 at 11:36 am
yeah rhay, it may be a work in progress until those right of center can put those pieces together.
I just dont know that we can afford the time such an evolution would take. Theres so many cons/repubs/rinos in office right now that in the past have violated the basic foundations of conservatism that to see them trying to assimilate/align themselves with the Tea Party would be bullsht expedience to me.
We need to clear out the terminal and screen everyone all over again
February 22nd, 2010 at 11:44 am
I agree, Rhayader. Libertarianism can be really popular in this environment, and Paul’s ideas are starting to spread to a lot of people. However, the ideology needs the right leader (not Paul). Not Palin.
Who will step up and lead? I don’t know who else is out there.
February 22nd, 2010 at 11:56 am
Not Palin.
Haha, I’ll second that.
One of the problems, of course, is that the libertarian philosophy and our media cult of personality are completely incompatible. Makes it sort of tough to get charismatic and intellectually rigorous people — usually they are one or the other. People who I think actually would be pretty appealing, like Gary Johnson, are essentially ignored or unknown.
I have no idea who the right person is, but the GOP better get working and figure it out, or we’re in this thing deep until 2016.