Posted on 10/29/2007 9:02:06 AM PDT by traviskicks
CHEYENNE Debbie Rise of Cheyenne gave a one-word answer Sunday when asked why she supports maverick Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul.
"Freedom,” Rise said.
She was one of several hundred people who attended a rally for Paul in the plaza near the historic depot in downtown Cheyenne on Sunday afternoon.
The event opened with a performance by a members of a drum and fife band dressed in Revolutionary War era costumes.
Supporters weaved through the crowd to pass out copies of the U.S. Constitution.
During his half hour speech, Paul generated roars of approval when he said the government should end the war in Iraq and bring the troops home.
They were equally enthusiastic when he said young people should be allowed to withdraw from the Social Security program and the nation should get rid of the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Reserve.
Christine Wilson, one of a group of Paul supporters from Denver, said her research convinced her Paul is the best candidate for president.
"I believe the nation should get back to our roots,” Wilson said.
"People are tired of getting screwed by government.”
Teri Mahacek of Colorado Springs said said she watched all the debates before picking Paul.
"All the other candidates on both sides scare me,” she said.. “I think all the Republicans would have us invading every country. I think the Democrats would have us becoming socialists.”
During a meeting with reporters before the rally, the Texas congressman said his campaign has gained traction largely because of his position that the nation should get out of Iraq as quickly as possible
He said he is not a pacifist and believes in a strong military defense which, he said, is being diminished by the war in Iraq.
He noted he is the only presidential candidate among the Republican president candidates or the major Democratic candidates with this position on the Iraq war.
He said the government's response to terrorists has been out of proportion to what is necessary and it is violating U.S. citizens' civil rights.
"I think there would be a much better chance if we were out of the mix over there. I think we created the chaos. There was no civil war going on before we got there,” Paul said.
Congress, he added, is as much to blame for the war as the president.
The trim, white-haired 71-year-old candidate said he was encouraged to run for the Republican nomination.
"Now after 10 months I never dreamed we could raise this much money and get this much attention,” he said.
"We've struck a chord with a lot of people.”
It was Paul's first visit to Wyoming.
"We have a lot of supporters here,” he said. “It's an early primary I wanted to pay attention to.”
While Paul supporters gathered after the rally on the first floor of the Plains Hotel, another Republican presidential candiate, Duncan Hunter, a California congressman, met with a group of his supporters on the second floor.
Hunter said one of the reasons for his visit is to thank the Wyoming National Guard for its help in fighting the fires in southern California.
He planned to visit the guard offices today.
"They helped save San Diego,” he said.
Hunter was in Wyoming earlier at forums in Casper and Riverton.
He supports a strong national defense, enforcement of border security and restoring high paid manufacturing jobs that have been outsourced overseas.
Both Paul and Hunter planned to attend the Laramie County Republican Party fund-raiser Sunday evening at Little America.
Ron Paul rally draws hundreds of loons wearing tinfoil hats.
Must have been a local chapter meeting...
She says he is for freedom, yet she fails to recognize the validity of the line “freedom isn’t free”. Wonder what he would have done in WWII? Paul has no idea of the concept of foreign policy.
We’d all like to see the IRS go away.
He has a few good ideas, but then goes off the cliff. The man is not a serious contender. Those that support him demonstrate their lack of knowledge about the way things work.
Paul is not a Republican. He is a Libertarian. Therefore his running as a Republican is a fraud. He will not be the nominee. He is only in this to garner the money.
Thanks for the post. I’m glad that Duncan Hunter thanked the WY National Guard for helping with the fires.
RON PAUL DRAWS HUNDREDS................
........let me guess.CRAYOLA CRAYONS ?????
And, Ron Paul is going to get the government to stop screwing us? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.....What is with the Paulie groupies.....I just don’t get it. It’s like a cult or something.
If you don’t think the government is ‘screwing us’ then you have a long ways to go my FRiend...
You're right, it isn't. That's why we need to protect our borders - something the neocons (and G.W. Bush) oppose. I'm very skeptical that they - the neocons - really care about our domestic security. If they did, they'd want secure borders - as Ron Paul does. They're more interested in fighting wars, for their own agenda, in the Middle East. That's like leaving your house in the suburbs and going downtown to rumble with a street gang, while leaving your front and back door unlocked and open. It's a very strange way to protect your home.
At this point there are twelve replies to the original post. Of those, eight are anti-Paul hits. Many of them say and believe that the Ron Paul movement is being orchestrated by a very few college kids hunched over their computers in dingy basements. When a rally does draw a dcent crowd ‘they’re all bussed in from outside the area.’
It’s interesting that a supposedly open minded group such as FreeRepublic has so many closed minds on this one subject. Of course, they may be right but the evidence that I see on my personal e-mail site leads me to believe the movement is real, it’s alive and it’s entirely possible that Ron Paul is the most popular candidate in the race. We’ll just have to wait until a few primaries have passed to see. Until then all these cute photoshopped pictures have the same weight as my opinion - which is dreadfully small.
“Flukes off the starboard bow! THAR SHE BLOOOOOOOOOOOWSSSSSSS — !!!” ;)
Thanks for posting.
IF he was in it for the money, he would be taking his pension, retirement fund and all the other great entitlements our elected servents (our royalty) in Washington live for.
I understand he is going to be on the Jay Leno show tonight.
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