"But by being so broad, the campaign allows those voters to impose on Paul their own beliefs for what he would do if elected."

Anyone who thinks they can impose their beliefs on Ron Paul has not examined his consistent 20-year voting record. He votes according to his oath to uphold the Constitution, 100% of the time.

Tancredo has NO money and NO constituency (under 1% in every poll). Anything he says or does is being supported/financed by the Neo-Cons so that they can keep him in the debates thus lessening the time Paul gets on camera. Same with Duncan Hunter (no money & no following). Eventually, these two will fold up their tents and the field will be reduced to four or five candidates. Ron Paul will be there to the end because he has the volunteers and the cash! Sorry Neo-Cons!

"So far, Paul has won a following by identifying the problems."

Re. Paul's followers, see "WHO ARE THESE KOOKS" by Chuck Baldwin:
http://www.newswithviews.com/baldwin/baldwin420.htm

Re. the problems, you have to read his issues to believe them:
http://www.ronpaul2008.com/issues/

The solution for problems IS always the same, less government - return to the constitution. In terms of immigrants, it seems ludicrous for a government to tell people how to assimilate - they will do what they think is best. of course, you shouldn't subsidize someones bad choices either, so if you don't learn english, and don't assimilate, and can't get a job, don't expect a handout from the government.

Further, the birthright citizenship in the 14th Amendment needs to be clarified. Children of People here illegally should not be givent this citizenship - remember there was no such thing as Illegal immigrants when this was put in place.

You don't get it yet... do you? I mean seriously. You do not get it?. You think we like ron paul because we agree with him? Some of us perhaps, but in all honesty It's more because he's principled. He comes off as educated. He can tell you about history. When he speaks it actually sounds as if he knows what he's talking about (regardless of if you agree with him he is well researched). That's what people want. People(not you though I guess sadly) are starting to see through the soundbite politicians. The stupid (i really do mean stupid too and I have no respect for them period) front runners who spout out "they hate us for our freedom" or "yes lower taxes" but don't actually explain why or how they came to these conclusions are cookie cutters Clinton and Romney are basically the same as far as I can tell (oh except on retarded issues like abortion and gay marriage.. you know the IMPORTANT stuff). Paul is the only candidate who realizes the economy is a mess and the middle class is siding with him because we feel it. The problem is there's no shortage of journalism jobs. So the people delivering the news about the economy are doing pretty well economically.
It's not the paul supports pot or is anti abortion or pro stem cell. He doesn't He just basically says "the government needs to stop all the nannying and theft." And if you can't understand why that message is popular then you don't deserve to call yourself an american.

I would rather elect a president that admits the problems and addresses them, then to pretend they don't exist. If we don't do something about our economy, it won't matter who is pro-life, pot-smokers, or tax evaders. We will all be standing in the same bread lines.

As a Ron Paul supporter I think it is silly for anyone to think that Dr. Paul is responsible for everyone in the legions of his followers. This is no more than a cheap political shot by an opposing candidate that has no following, no money and no message. One can't help but empathize with the guy.

Well I am a Paul supporter and a Libertarian... I would say that its up to the indivdual to decide what language they speak... not the federal government. For what Paul would do... I'm not sure... But for somone like Paul who has such a broad campaign for somone like Tancredo who is soo singular issue... who is he to critisize.

Hi,

I just wanted to state that the reason Ron Paul's "tent" is so big is because it uses the ULTIMATE tool of "crossing party lines".

The U.S. Constitution.

Being involved in Ron Paul events its amazing to see the diversity of the groups. You have everything.....and I do mean everything. My neighbors are fundamentalist Christians who, last night, prayed to God for his victory. I dont hold their beliefs but I find the fact that we are working toward a common goal, together, to be beautiful and rare.

The answer to your question is YES there will be disagreements between supporters on the "right" way to address identified problems. But here's the thing......isnt being brought together under a common bond a succesful step in the right direction? It certainly seems warmer under this big tent than out in the cold of partisan politics.

no, i'm sure we do not all agree on the same solution. most families cannot even agree on the same solutions for the home. nor do the players on championship teams agree on how to reach their goal. nobody running for office has ever had voters that agree 100% on every solution, you know that. the thing we will agree on is that we need a leader, or coach if you will to lead us. we will band together and follow his game plan regardless of the playing time or which way the momentum shifts...and we will win. WE chose our coach, other campaigns have appointed coaches that have been dubbed "the best". we are winning fans and watching the other guys get "outcoached" by ron paul. do you stephen agree that the problems ron paul identifies are actually problems? it sure sounds like it. if so, what are your solutions?

The solutions are all contained in the Constitution, even when there is no particular rules on the individual matter. That is why Dr. Paul's campaing is so great. The constitution allows people to advocate their own perspectives, and the answer will end up coming from there state, which is a more localized and representative approach. This is why Ron Paul can be everything to everyone - because there position - if compelling enough - can come to fruition. Even pro-war people can support Ron Paul in that all it would take for war to happen is what the consitution requires, i.e. a declaration by congress. If we would just respect the constitution we would have far more peace and prosperity than we could imagine. It is truly a perfect political document.

you must be shrooming. what Tancredo-Paul fight?

how do you allow voters to impose their own beliefs on you? you make absolutely no sense. your attempt at stirring something up is so feeble that I had to voice my disgust.

but it's good to read all these nonsensical attacks, that means you boys scared and that's the second stage.

Ron Paul attracts a wide variety of support from a wide variety of Americans. Why?

Pay attention, all you politicians and campaign managers who yearn to discover the secret to building Paulian-level support (yes, I predict a future adjective in the making). I will share the secret with you, but first the bad news: You may as well forget it because it can't be done.

Let me say that again. It can't be done. It can't be created or made to happen. It only happens spontaneously when a certain precondition exists.

What's the precondition, you ask? That's the "secret".

http://freedomjoyadventure.blogspot.com/2007/12/secret-to-ron-paul-phenomenon.html

I have no clue what some other supporter might think. I don't even read Lew Rockwell. If I knew all of what every other Ron Paul supporter thought, Ron Paul's support would have to be pretty small.

I'm sorry. If you want to label Ron Paul or other supporters for what I am about to say, then you do actually fit the following definition.

YOU ARE AN IDIOT.

Freedom appeals to all...why is the media so anti-freedom.

The beauty of the Paul campaign is that it not only allows for, but encourages different solutions.

We should have naturally realized that what is good for the people in Utah isn't necessarily good for the people in New York, and what is good for those in Florida isn't necessarily good for those in Alaska.

Pauls ideas allow the people to solve their problems with minimal intrusion by the federal government.

For me, Washington D.C. is about as close as Mars.

Why would anyone allow people on Mars to make decisions and pass regulations that are supposedly in their "best interest"?

The tent is big because the people hold it up, not dogma, political affilliation or solutions to problems.

We are capable of solving our own problems, if we can get the Federal government to allow us.

No other candidate wants to ensure I can do this.

Just give me my State back. Y'all can do whatever you like after that.

The one thing about Ron Paul supporters is that we are not "peelable". I would suggest that Dr. Paul's supporters are now focusing on the root of the problems facing this country and are ignoring the "shell games" of fear and hate that most candidates like Tancredo are offering.

On www.lewrockwell.com last week, they were looking at recent poll numbers for NH and applying the "probability of actually voting" to the "who do you support" numbers and Dr. Paul's probability of voting was 88% versus all the other candidates that were below 50%.

I didn't read Mr. Arias letter, so I can't comment directly, but, I would imagine that Mr. Arias believes that Dr. Paul would leave the "assimilation" question to the states. And, in certain states like Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, California, Mr. Arias feels pretty confident that these states would be open to some level of tolerance of Hispanic culture and language.

The one thing that I have noticed is that there are a million different reasons why people show up at my meetup group events. They all come for a different reason. End the war, get rid of the IRS, Home Schoolers, Patriot Act, Non-interventionism, Gun Rights, Right to Life, they all come for different reasons.

But, these issues do not fracture us, they motivate us to take a deeper look at Dr. Paul's reasoning to see how we can all be behind the same man. And, what we come away with is a new understanding of the complete and utter contempt that our political leaders have for the U.S. Constitution and the people that they have sworn an oath to serve. We juxtaposition this against Dr. Paul's consistent 30 year voting record of integrity and standing up for the people and the constitution when nobody was watching or paying attention. So, Tancredo can ask and our answer to him is and will forever be "Ron Paul Revolution - Legalize the Constitution"

I'm curious as to how a letter posted on a web site translates to a Ron Paul supporter "imposing his will" upon Ron Paul? Did Ron Paul issue some kind of statement like "Oh, I was against immigration, that is until I read that letter on the Lew Rockwell site. After having seen one of my supporters disagree with my views, I'm going to have to change my position."?

There are many people who support Ron Paul that don't necessarily agree with every single thing the man says, but that doesn't mean they'll change his mind. For many, the fact that he is principled and honest is more than enough in today's political climate to earn their vote.

I suppose with the pandering and buying of politicians that happens in todays political world, people are as worried about what a politicians supporters say as they are about what the policitian his or her self have to say. What draws me to Ron Paul is that I know that he won't change his course, or change his mode of thinking due to his supporters, or anyone else for that matter.

I guess it's a sign of how far the Ron Paul campaign has come. We've been hearing about Tancredo and his presidential aspirations for close to two years, and now that he's all but disappeared, he tries to go after the legions of Ron Paul supporters by pointing out that some of them are libertarians who disagree with Dr. Paul on immigration!

So, just to recap, this "longest of long shots" "fringe candidate" has already outlasted a popular midwestern governor (Tommy Thompson), a leading socially conservative Senator (Sam Brownback), and a truly "quixotic" millionaire candidate (John Cox.)

Ron Paul has out-polled and out-organized a considerably more prominent conservative Congressman (Duncan Hunter), and the nation's leading advocate for one of the biggest conservative causes in the election (Tom Tancredo.)

The media hasn't admitted it yet, but he also has more money, more volunteers, and more life in his campaign than a popular television star and former actor (Fred Thompson) and the one-time front-runner and heir apparent (John McCain.)

The only real contenders for the race besides Ron Paul are out of touch with the Republican base (Rudy Giuliani), short on cash (Mike Huckabee), and see their negatives go up faster than their positives as they get better known (Mitt Romney.)

When the early primaries go four or five different ways, and February 5th doesn't settle anything, the media is going to wake up on February 6th and realize that Ron Paul has the most money, the largest campaign organization, the most motivated supporters, and the most momentum.

Amusing story.

First, Ron Paul, has been criticized for appealing to only a small minority of voters. Now, Ron Paul, is criticized by you for his broad appeal. Reporting? Ha. Sounds more like political pontificating to me.

Oh, in your closing remarks you wrote, "...I suspect they'll let -us- know." Us who? You and the mouse in your pocket? The arrogant elitist media? It certainly isn't your readership judging by the reactions I'm reading here.

It's a nice day in Dallas today. I am pondering the possibilities of a future President Ron Paul.

"But by being so broad, the campaign allows those voters to impose on Paul their own beliefs for what he would do if elected."

We are a very diverse bunch this is true. However, I'm not sure how you are able to make the intellectual leap from a broad base of support to a broad message. His role in spreading the message hasn't changed in over 20 years. The message has changed only slightly over the past 200 years. It's called the United States Constitution. We are now experiencing the American people awakening to how far we have allowed ourselves to drift from the well-planned experiment that our founding fathers intended. Yes, we Americans a diverse group. But we the people don't expect the small differences in our views to sway Dr. Paul, we know that he will do what he has always done and that is to uphold the Constitution and hopefully in the process return our great nation to what our founding fathers had intended.

Judging Ron Paul by his supportors is like judging Jesus by his supportors. It ludicrous.

Google Ron Paul. Read his record. Judge the man on his merits.

Ron Paul is not going to be led around the nose by his supporters and that irks his critics and opponents. They want Paul to get into a George Allen situation where he apologizes profusely, but it simply isn't happening. Paul is running rings around the media and other candidates. You gotta love it.

The solution is simple sir. Ron Paul accomodates these various groups under one tent, because all he is espousing is freedom and a return to the Constitution. That document already has the answers for how to deal with these problems. Freedom. Freedom for people and the states to use their own creative solutions to solve problems. State governments can come up with their own solutions to problems and can tap into the money of their citizens that will be saved by not have to pay for this overblown, ineffective federal government that we have.

Is Tom Tancredo running for something?

The most powerful drug in the world is freedom. Ron Paul's supporters have barely caught a whiff of it, and they are already addicted and clamoring for more.

Mr Dinan, yes we agree on the same solution. It's simple. Be guided by the Constitution. Now, what's important is WHO is doing the reading. For us right now this person is Ron Paul.



I would like to point out that this isn't just limited to Dr. Paul's candidacy. The grassroot isn't going away. It is from the bottom up. Starting all the way down in the local GOP. The President only has so much power, so the efforts are organized and extended to the local level.


Please read "The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot" by Naomi Wolf. If you don't have time, just set aside 40 minutes for "Talk by Naomi Wolf - The End of America" on google video. Then everyone may understand a little better where we are coming from.

YO TANCREDO,

This is my open letter to you.

Let me start off by stating the most glaringly obvious thing you need to do.

READ THE CONSTITUTION!

Now that you've read it. Tell where in the document it states that we must have English as our national language?

Answer: Nowhere...But it was written in English. And that does not mean the US taxpayer is responsible to subsidize any measure to make it the official language.

I think it's enough if people as individuals just say "I only do business in English." That way it does not cost us additional higher taxes and gives us a choice.

Personally my family employs 8 Ecuadorians whom we have sponsored and are now naturalized citizens. And we only speak English in the shop. We made that choice. And now you want the government to take that choice away from us and mandate it with an iron fist..

Removing freedom of choice from the people is NOT in line with the American tradition.

Now if the President addresses the issue during a State of the Union with the American people and urges them to only do business in English. That's the right way to do it. But making laws and creating a bureaucracy to enforce such a measure would cost the taxpayer millions upon millions and eventually billions of dollars in new taxation.

Don't you think we are taxed enough already?

Apparently you don't.

Will Ron Paul follow suit with your idea. I don't know. But I am inclined to believe that he will protect my freedom of choice. Just as I am inclined to believe that you will deprive me of that same freedom.

So why would I vote for someone who overtly is scheming to deprive me of any of my freedoms and liberties?

I wouldn't. And that's why I am NOT voting for you. And yes..we have met in Iowa. So I am well informed on your ideas.

My answer is this.

NO THANK YOU!

Dr. Paul is an honest man (as uncommon as that is in politics) who for years has been very clear on his goals and desires for our country. Most of the people I have met under this tent are considerably more interested in what he can stop the federal government from doing than what he can give them... Returning to the principles on which this country was founded is a goal which appeals to people for many different reasons. Freedom is popular, even freedom for others.

Ron Paul's campaign is a huge political tent? Then so is the Constitution...God forbid we protect our freedom in so many different ways!

Ron Paul for freedom!

Dr. Ron Paul has a safe seat in Congress. He can say anything and still get re-elected. He speaks half truths along with baloney historical "facts". He offers no concrete solutions other than returning to the Constitution. He fails to see that the Constitution is open to interperatations that differ from his. He sees problems but offers no specific way to fix them. He hasn't been able to convince his colleagues in Congress to follow his lead during his decades in Congress. He will not change a thing if he was elected. He would forment a bitter partisan fight for four years. The country will not go where he wants to lead.

People are flocking to Ron Paul because they're sick-and-tired of the same old song-and-dance from all the other politicians. See this hilarious YouTube music video from the international award-winning feature film, "Song of the Dead," a zombie-musical and political satire. The video stars horror movie icon Reggie Bannister and is a great satire on the president, the MSM, and the war on terror. The filmmaker, Chip Gubera, is donating a share of his profits from the film to the Ron Paul campaign. Go to:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=qQmkkoxSKYw

We are a nation of immigrants.. Tancredo is a racist.

Ron Paul has it right. Eliminate the incentives and enforce the law.

News flash....Tancredo is dropping out. Maybe all three people who were planning to vote for him will redeem themselves by voting for Dr. Paul.

Interesting that the Washington Post was virtually silent regarding Sunday's $6 million raised by Dr. Ron Paul's campaign, and yet, their pundits will write an article about an unsavory character "who says he's a Paul supporter."

If I say that I am the President of the United States, will you also write an article about me?

Rob Miller
Canada

Woo Hoo! Look at all of the hit pieces on Ron Paul today! This is awesome, they know he's on a roll and can win this thing.

I'll admit that Paul may seem like everyone to everybody - but it's not that simple. Paul's supporters realize that we do not need a president who we agree with on every issue. As individuals, we all have our own unique opinions on specific issues. What we all share in common is the desire for our leaders to follow the rule of law-that being the Constitution. This is what is so fascinating about Paul - his reasoning is sound even if you do not totally agree with him on specifics.

Tancredo is throwing in the towel today supposedly. Not really sure what the point of this article was. There are some truly interesting ideas revolving around the Ron Paul campaign that get little attention - I would think you could have found one to discuss.

TANCREDO AND RON PAUL AGAINST THE NEO-CONS AND NEO-LIBS

TANCREDO AND RON PAUL STRIKE TERROR IN THE HEARTS OF THE NEO-CONS AND NEO-LIBS; TRANSPARENTLY, THEIR STRATEGY IS TO PROVOKE A FIGHT BETWEEN THEM.

TANCREDO AND RON PAUL SUPPORTS ARE TO JOIN RANKS TO EXPEL THE NEO-CONS AND NEO-LIBS FROM THEIR POSITIONS OF POWER IN GOVERNMENT, MEDIA, AND SCHOOLS.

A return to limited government is our best chance to preserve our freedom and D. Paul is the only candidate in either party to offer us this choice. Don't miss this boat or in just a few more years you will wake up wondering what happened to our personal liberties.

The Ron Paul approach is to beef up border security and bar illegals from receiving government largesse without trying to scapegoat anyone or deride them for having another language as a mother tongue. I agree with that.

I have no doubt that some (not all, of course) of the Minutemen (and from talking to them, Tom Tancredo supporters) have certain racial prejudices and blame immigrants for societal problems from job woes to crime to you-name-it. As a conservative, patriotic American, I want no part of the blame game. Let's fix it and get on with it.

It brings a tear of joy to my eye to see how Ron Paul is single-handedly shaking up the entire political system in America. His power will only grow as more and more Americans realize that he is the only truly principled and an unwavering advocate of the US Constitution in this race. God bless Ron Paul.

I'm really diggin' the trend lately by "journalists" handling the Ron Paul phenomenon to arrive at false assumptions about what he stands for, but ultimately hand over the "debate" or the "reporting" of the issue to the commenters and bloggers to prove the case about how they are wrong and Ron Paul is right.
This really is a Revolution, and I now truly believe that Ron Paul REALLY WILL WIN. But, Paul won't win as much as the American people and the Constitution will - that's what most people are beginning to finally realize.

Stephen ~ If you are intent on agitating these people, you will need some plastic sheeting of the sort that Gallagher used to provide the front row at his shows. The flying flecks of spittle are falling like a hard rain, man . . .

The Scary Truth About Ron Paul

Ron Paul sounds like a great candidate... until you do your research. Here are a few known facts:

* Ron Paul thinks global warming is overblown and would do nothing about the imminent climate crisis. He believes there are two sides of the argument, when in fact there are not.

* Ron Paul does not believe in evolution. Thinks it is merely a 'theory' (apparently doesn't understand scientific theory) and does not accept it.

* Ron Paul would like to see a robustly Christian America, and is against the separation of church and state, making him unconstitutional.

* Ron Paul's free market policies would allow even the most powerful corporations to operate freely without regulation. (i.e. against network neutrality)

* Ron Paul opposes gay marriage and abortion. Would pass decision to individual states, which is unsupportive of freedom and individual rights.

* Ron Paul is against stem cell research and would not allow federal funding of it.

* Ron Paul would further privatize the health industry and do nothing about the 40 million citizens who can't afford health care.

C'mon Mr. Dinan,

This should have been a critique of Tom Tancredo, who for whatever reason, is attacking Ron Paul. I didn't picture Tancredo as the Establishment type. He should just fade off into the sunset.

If you want to know about Ron Paul, look at his web site. Or look here.

Ron Paul supporters are sick of the establishment way of doing things, which has failed miserably the past several decades. That is the common denominator.

Hi ,
If Mr. Paul fails to win the presidency, I would love him to move here to Australia and become our Opposition Leader, you see we have the same problem, both major parties agree on the major issues, the trouble is the people do not agree with them.
Good luck to Mr. Paul from Australia.
Thank you.