September 6, 2008
Paul pulls in those who distrust government
ANGLETON, Texas
No more Department of Education. No more Federal Reserve Bank. No more Medicare or Medicaid.
No more membership in the United Nations. No more federal drug laws. And, no more U.S. troops in Iraq - or anywhere else on foreign soil.
The Internal Revenue Service would be history in the first week that Ron Paul sits behind the desk in the Oval Office.
Think that sounds eccentric, strange, even crazy? Many of the libertarian-minded, 10-term congressman's rivals for the GOP presidential nomination think so.
But, to a growing, Internet-based pool of supporters, the silver-haired obstetrician turned politician is the sanest man at the Republican debates.
While most supporters ardently oppose the Iraq war, what they all share is a deep disenchantment and distrust of the federal government.
Hammering home a singular message of freedom, free markets, smaller federal government and greater personal responsibility, Paul, at 72, is nothing if not consistent.
Emerging as an unlikely Republican rock star among young voters, Paul actually draws cheers on college campuses when he calls for abolishing the Federal Reserve System.
"It amazes me no end that they even have thought about it," he said in a recent interview.
In terms of foreign policy, he said, "I make them feel good that you can be conservative and pro-truth and pro-American and pro-Constitution and not want to go to war for needless purposes. They've been made to feel ... that if you don't support all these invasions and all this fighting, somehow you're anti-American."
Paul has infuriated some, including his GOP rivals, by suggesting that U.S. foreign policy has fueled terrorism and contributed to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. He often says, "They came over here because we went over there."
Representing the 14th Congressional District, Paul covers a swath of the Texas Gulf Coast running south of Houston from about Galveston to Corpus Christi.
A mix of rural, suburban and beach communities, the district has a large petrochemical industry presence, cattle ranching, rice farming and numbers many NASA workers among its roughly 650,000 residents.
Although Paul steadfastly opposes farm subsidies, greater support for NASA and funding for FEMA in a famously hurricane-prone district, he continues to be re-elected comfortably.
No matter how things turn out in 2008, Paul believes he will have made an impact, or at least a dent, in the political landscape.
"There's probably a risk I could win," the candidate recently said on The Tonight Show.
Copyright © 2008, Newsday Inc.
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