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Subscribe to RSSCongressman Ron Paul won yet another straw poll today, receiving an astounding 82% of the Iowan-only vote at National Federation of Republican Assemblies first ever-presidential straw poll.
The Paul campaign has showed a tendency to make an effort above and beyond other campaigns to organize around straw polls. For this event, his campaign bought a large number of straw-poll tickets and sold them to supporters for half off the price, just $10.
Alex Moe/NBC News
Rep. Ron Paul speaks to a crowd of hundreds at the NFRA convention. Paul's supporters left when he concluded speech, leaving many empty chairs for other speakers, including Mrs. Anita Perry.
When Paul spoke just after 9:00 am CT, the room was packed with several hundred people. As soon as the Texas representative finished his remarks, there was a mass exodus from the ballroom at the Polk County Convention Complex.
“He has a pretty loyal following and he brought a lot of people in and that’s what they were here for,” Herman Cain supporter and Monroe, Iowa resident Chris Holub told NBC News after the event.
Paul has won a fair share of these small straw polls across the country during the presidential cycle by using the same tactics witnessed today – providing tickets at reduced costs and encouraging people to turn out at events leading up to the poll.
Cain, whose Iowa campaign also bought tickets for supporters but distributed fewer than the Paul campaign, placed second in the straw poll. Cain received 14% of the Iowan-only vote. NBC’s Anthony Terrell reports the Cain campaign bought 250 tickets and were selling them at the cost of $20, according to an email obtained by NBC News.
But Cain's campaign appeared unable to distribute all of the tickets. During the straw poll, an aide held an envelope with a large amount of free tickets.
Paul, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s wife, Anita, addressed the crowd while former speaker Newt Gingrich sent a video message. Organizers said Cain sent a video message later in the afternoon after voting had concluded to share with the audience.
After Paul and Cain, Santorum received 1% of the Iowan-only vote followed by Gingrich with 0.9%, Michele Bachmann and Perry with 0.5%, and Gary Johnson with .2%. Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman finished at 0%.
”This country needs to wake up and quit lying to itself whether it’s on the economics or the foreign policy,” Paul told the crowd of roughly 300 people when the convention opened this morning. The crowd dwindled to about 100 after Paul spoke. “What we need is a healthy does of renewal of the spirit of liberty,” he said amidst loud cheers from supporters in the audience.
When Santorum took the stage, he told those who remained that the media was trying to “Huckabee” him and paint him as a social conservative.
“Well, as far as I’m concerned, bring it on,” he said. “I will take every single one of those. I am not ashamed to stand up for life, or family, or faith because they are the foundation of our society.”
It’s unclear, however, why being painted as “Huckabee,” if that were the case, would be a negative in Iowa. Entrance polls in 2008 indicated 60% of GOP caucus goers considered themselves evangelicals.
The First Lady of Texas wrapped up the list of speakers during the morning session. She focused her brief remarks on highlighting her husband’s record, calling him “the conservative leader that America needs.”
“He has taken an unwavering stand in defense of life,” Perry told the crowd just before she listed various bills he signed into law as governor. “For Rick, being pro-life is not a matter of campaign convenience” -- a veiled swipe at Romney -- “it is a core conviction.”
The group’s President Rod Martin told NBC News it wanted to hold this straw poll in Iowa to help retain the state’s importance.
“Not every good candidate starts with a lot of money,” Martin said, “and we want them to be able to be vetted by the people of Iowa.”
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Once again the GOP won't even acknowledge he was even in the poll ! He's not one of the chosen few !
How many more straw polls might we the people expect to see before next November?
The Ron Paul Revolution continues to march on.
Ron Paul 2012
What's he polling now, 5-8%? That's a real tidal wave!
Dr. Ron Paul has 12% support in Iowa. The 5 - 8% you speak of is what Rick Perry has there right now.
whoa...was that a comment, or an advertisement?
Ron Paul slaughters the other candudates in straw polls. In national polls not much more than a blip. Who cares?
Vote for Ron Paul and he will bring back Jeffersonian ideals to free Americans, Europe, and the rest of the World from the run away and uncontrolled banking cartel and their globalists plans of enslavement. Btw, he will destroy the Federal Reserve Bank's private ownership by "Nationalizing" it.
Ron Paul is a distraction and only shows how fractured the Republican Party is today. He can win all the straw polls out their but he will have to run as a write in candidate for President and again will only take votes away from the Republican Candidate so I say go for it the more distractions the better.
I agree he adds a little more trouble for republicans.
The real distraction is the series of rodeo clowns that the statist news media puts up as "front runners" to try to draw attention away from Ron Paul, the REAL front runner and only one who matters in this race.
I think your right, the case can be made that he is as legitimate as a front runner as any of the others, the republican establishment completely ignores him and I think he gets more air time on MSNBC than Fox, so what does that tell you.
Ron Paul supporters are loyal because they have had plenty of time to vett him and his record speaks for itself. It takes a great deal of courage to sometimes be the only dissenting vote. He is my choice for 2012
Herman Cain wins ALABAMA straw poll, and it's covered like the second coming of Obama! Alabama- the 23rd state to hold a primary! Ron Paul wins OVERWHELMINGLY in Iowa, and the media and GOP Elites fall all over themselves to explain it away! You know they're worried when FOX News didn't interrupt it's Cain/Romney/Obama lovefest to even REPORT on Ron Paul's impressive win. And lose the 'distractions', 'can't win' and other demeaning rhetoric. Ron Paul is polling higher at this point in the cycle that John McCain did in the '08 Cycle. I don't remember anyone calling HIM a 'distraction' or saying he 'can't win' back then!
Ron Paul is unelectable, and it is great fun to watch the Paul cult ignore that fact.
Hey newdaydawning,
Get yourself 2 pieces of bread and spread some butter on them cause your gonna have to eat those words soon.
Ron Paul Rules!
Yep, really worried about that, russ. How many times has the poor old fool run for President?
that should tell you how stupid Americans are if it takes them that long to elect the only man worthy of being elected. Now go get that bread and butter!
"How many times has the poor old fool run for President?"
The same amount Ronald Reagan did.
Sorry, Ken; Paul will never be President. He is seen by the electorate as a fool, his "solutions" are for a country in the early 1800's. He has failed to notice that we are in a global community now, and the ocean does not protect us. Poor man is an embarrassment, and I don't think there is anything funnier than his cult members.
As many times as it took Ronald Reagan to win.
Tonight....we dine in victory!
WooHoo!
Ron Paul 2112
Enjoy that Russ. Paul does really well in those contests that he can control. Like straw polls. Can't do that in the general election. Paul is unelectable.
The Paulites are a compassionate crew newday. Limbaugh and Hannity are onboard and we will welcome you as well. What other choice could there be. Mitt, Perry, Cain? Naw.
Ron Paul 2012
Its so nice to see all these "prophets" with all their wisdom coming out of the woodwork. What you may have failed to foresee is that more and more people are getting real news, meaning the truth, from the internet and these biased media conglomerates will be a thing of the past in the near future. Ron Paul is CLEARLY the only man running who has a sensible and realistic plan to get this country back on track. Anyone who cannot see this really needs to go back to economics school.
That's so funny, only Ron Paul can control these polls. Too funny, the other candidates can't seem to get people to come out and vote... But Dr. Paul manipulates the vote by getting people to come out who support him.. I'm dying here laughing.... That evil guy getting votes by actual people who want him to be president. hahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahhhahahaha
I seriously doubt republicans will nominate him, and as an independent he can't win, so you Ron Paul fans will have to take control of the republican party away from the tea party, so he can get the nomination. Why doesn't Fox ever give him air time? Because the republican party establishment wishes he would go away that's why. Ron Paul supporters need to take over the republican party, if they really want to see him have any kind of chance.
Ron Paul is taking over the Republican party and he is considered the grandfather of the Tea Party. Can you hear that rumble in the distance? It is a stampede of people who want their country back. If you don't want to get trampled, then....Run, Forrest, Run!
Ron Paul 2012!
Trolls love to prophesize and profess when they have nothing concrete to say against someone. I suppose speculation is all they can offer, so just let them. Paul supporters need to just keep doing what they are doing and not let the little voices of dissent deter this noble cause.
Well thanks for the warning Russ but it is no where near a stampede as far as I can tell, I won't worry too much until people like Mitch McConnel, John Boehner, and the chairman of the RNC start endorsing him and singing his praises. If he does not get the republican nomination he can't win, but he can still influence the conversation and control his own fate to some degree, especially if his supporters write him in on the ballot if he does not get nominated
Ye Gads! Hannity and Limbaugh are on board! Well, then, there you go. Makes it absolutely clear now.
One more time Ron Paul is unelectable. He wins in STRAW POLLS when he pays for the tickets. You people are beyond belief!
And hella entertaining!
Come on Paul supporters, write in his name in the general election! Don't let the GOP elite squash your dream.
MSNBC / NBC
1,000 people? 600 people? 300 people ...
- better check again with those who were there
Without the Ron Paul Army ~ Republicans will be defeated
Doctor will win the nomination and win the general election.
Nader Paul Kucinich Gravel McKinney Baldwin Ventura Sheehan
Catch the mist, Catch the myth, Catch the mystery, Catch the drift
Dr. Paul will be president very soon. He should start measuring the curtains in the Oval office.
I can only hope he wins the GOP primary...
It costs ZERO $$$$$ to change your voting affiliation to Rep so you can vote in the primaries. I DID. And it feels good.
Be careful not to say anything bad about Ron Paul and his followers. They are fast with retorts that are meant to cut the throat. However, nobody -except them- believes that Ron Paul has a chance in being elected. It is a mistery how he keeps winning the straw polls. (sarcasm)
Paul has won a fair share of these small straw polls across the country during the presidential cycle by using the same tactics witnessed today – providing tickets at reduced costs and encouraging people to turn out at events leading up to the poll.
Yep, IRespond, I get nasty Newsvine emails from them all the time. All are grammatically incorrect and the spelling is atrocious. Makes for entertaining reading.
Just cause you use spell check and predictive text doesn't make you smart newday.
As my dad, used to say. Son, only seek the respect of the intelligent.
Funny how any American politician can raise the passion of a Canadian such as I.
Ron Paul 2012. He Who Shall Not Be Named.
Don't you mean "he who walks behind the rows".
Here is a dirty little secret russ: there are actually those of us who don't need spell check. But then, you do actually have to have a background in spelling to use it.
God, I love the Paulistas. Won't know what to do when they give up.
The cool part, newday, is that we "Paulistas" will NEVER give up...even if Ron Paul were to lose, we'll be looking for the next true Constitutionalist. It may be a young sharp college student who is actually awake to what is happening in our country...maybe it will be someone like Judge Andrew Napolitano, another champion for liberty and freedom. You can waste your vote on one of the typical establishment candidates (Democrat or Republican, doesn't matter because they're both the same). But I'll vote with my conscience, not anyone bought and paid for by the corporations, pharmaceutical industry and the bankers. BTW, have you happened to look up who has received the most donations from banks? Didn't think so. Ron Paul 2012!
Except, Ronnie is not a Constitutionalist.He is more an Articles of Confederation guy.
Yeah and thanks for answering my question about who has received the most campaign funds from banks. You don't even research your candidates, who the heck would care what you have to say?
.
@ newday:
Thank you guys. I really appreciate the grammar police always behind me, correcting me. By the way...newday is mispelled. It shoud read: new day....
Won't know what to do when they give up.
You sure know what to do: Troll
Wasn't correcting YOU, IRESPOND, just pointing out the lack of education of the Ronnie cult. "By the way...newday is mispelled...." Yeah, except it isn't. You are oversensitive, are you not?
@ newday...new day...No I am not oversensitive, however, it is insensitive of you to correct the grammar of other people. We are not being graded here, or wiriting an official or legal document...Some people write here to relax...You can comment on their opinions, but I think that you and others like you should stop correcting the grammar of the contributors.
You and your kind prevent many people to write here their valuable opinions.
Says IRESPOND after making a comment regarding my spelling! What's so funny about this is I agree with you on most of what you post! Could you maybe try to lighten up a tad?
Doesnt matter its amazing that other GOP candidates are now agreeing with RP and are saying publicly in debates that they agree with him. 4 years ago that was not happening.
Lets see Ralph nader has run many times. Romney is running again but he has no chance. But dont see people laughing at him. I am glad someone stands up for our liberties rather then trying to take them away. This is not communist russia
Ron Paul wins the straw polls only because his supporters skew the results........
by voting for him!
Gotta love it.
So says the statist news spin propaganda machine, who keeps repeating that BIG LIE hoping that if repeated enough times people will start to believe it. If he has so little chance, then why are so many in the establishment going out of their way to black him out or discredit him? That very fact tells me they are truly afraid that their entire corrupt house of cards built on lies is about to come tumbling down.
I have a question for all you Ron Paul supporters.
I’ve always felt we were called the United States for a reason. Ron Paul feels otherwise. He wants to take us back to the 19th century and replace our federal system with a loose organization of states, not dissimilar to Germany in pre-Bismarck days. So. . . .
Abolish the Federal Reserve! Get rid of it! (Oops! Suppose a crisis arises at a later date? A state. . . could presumably decide to opt out of the U.S. Dollar and begin printing its own currency! That might be akin to seceding from the Union. . . . But hey, who’s going to stop them?)
Do away with the Cabinet posts! Education has to go! Labor? Gone, same day as Education. Transportation. . . gone. (Now it’s up to each state to take care of the old Interstate highway within its borders—or not. And two states can fight over who’s going to repair the bridge crossing the river that separates them—or not.) Labor? Who needs it? Agriculture, HUD, HHS—get rid of them. Interior. Gone for sure. Justice? Don’t need it. State Department. The only thing they’re good for is dispensing foreign aid, and since we’re doing away with foreign aid, who needs them? Defense? Oh, wait. We need them because we must have a standing army. Now, let’s see. . . . I guess we’ll ask each state to establish a militia and contribute soldiers at a proration based on their population. (But. . . suppose a state “Just Said No!” And suppose it was a border state. . . Georgia. Well hey, I guess we're a little weaker strategically, but. . . who’s gonna stop 'em?)
So here we are, a couple of years have passed, Alabama has long since outlawed immigrants, women in Mississippi are regularly tried for murder because they won’t stop taking birth control pills. . . . But hold on. Even though Alabama has outlawed immigrants, the pesky critters keep sneaking back over the border! So Alabama gets an idea: Since we can’t stop them, why not simply enslave them to work on our roads and in our fields and our factories? (They can’t do that! It’s against the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments! But. . . hey. . . uhhh. . . who’s going to stop them?)
I’m sure you’ll think this farfetched, but in 1920 few would have predicted the Holocaust.
So the question is this: How do you think Ron Paul would respond were he asked what the United States would do under his administration if (given the dismantling of the Federal Reserve and all those Cabinet posts) a state decided to reinstitute slavery?
Jack, Jack, Jack,
You are assumming that people are incapable of being responsible for themselves or their communities and that a giant, corrupt, innefficient federal bureaucracy must steal a piece of everyone's hard earned income to legislate and enforce personal behaviour. People will migrate to the states whose laws are most appealing to them. Any regressive laws wil decrease the competitiveness of a state. The people, the industry, the tax base will vote with their feet. Seriously, my man. You sound like such a foo'.
Ron Paul 2012
Jack, I asked a Paulista just a day ago how Paul would deal with a terrorist attack since he does not want to be involved with other nations from whence we get our information. The Paulista said our nuclear arsenal would defend us. When I pointed out to him that it couldn't defend us from that kind of attack, he said that Paul could just nuke the home country of the terrorists. These guys are amazing!
They can vote with their feet right now russ.
I'm for states rights, and that's not saying there won't be Federal restraints on what states can do. I'd refer to the Constitution on that. A novel idea, eh?. About all those Depts and the Fed that Ron wants audited and ended, he has said that would take a while to do. Anyway, how is the Dept of Ed. doing? How is the education system doing? I rest my case. The Federal Gov. seems to muck things up when it gets involved.
God, another Paulista speaks up and shows his ignorance. Did ALL of you fail Civics in school? It doesn't matter, Sufer Dude (which somehow seems appropriate) what YOU are For! The fact is that the Articles of Confederation are gone, we are not a loosely tied group of states, the Constitution centralizes the government. WHY IS IT THAT YOU AND THAT MORON PAUL DON'T GET THIS?
Here is hint: the reason the Federal Government got involved in education is that certain states were not educating their kids. They were doing things like not allowing the handicapped to come to school, and if they did putting them in janitor closets for classroom with no educational outcomes required. They kept kids of color out of schools and educated them in third class facilities. THAT IS WHY WE HAVE A DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION! Gosh, you guys are beyond belief and sometimes I don't know whether to laugh or scream at you all for the stupidity of your posts. NOW, do read an edifying book, turn off the computer and television, and for God sakes LEARN SOMETHING ABOUT THIS COUNTRY!
Russ,
I pose a question with profound moral implications, and you come back to me with a mantra that is at once stunningly naive and hopelessly one-dimensional: The Market Is God.
And you call me a fool?
P.S. Your world view is delusional, and the best measure of that delusion is your belief that Ron Paul will garner enough support to win the Republican nomination.
newdayDAWNING...RETURNED,
Again, I ask. How is the Dept of Education doing? How is that working out? You want to continue down this same road? There is not much difference between the Dems and Reps. They all want to spend money. Except..........we are broke. Hey, here is some interesting reading by ALEXANDER FRASER TYTLER.......
Ron Paul will not be the nominee, though he might well appear on a couple of state ballots. (Ross Perot anyone?) :)
82% Paul, 14% Cain. LOL!
MSNBC: "Cain's campaign appeared unable to distribute all of the tickets. During the straw poll, an aide held an envelope with a large amount of free tickets." (emphasis added)
That's so funny LOL! Why use the word "distribute" when the real reason was that Cain didn't have enough support to give away a small amount of free tickets. 82% Paul, 14% Cain. LOL!
Ron Paul will win 2012. Get ready for it. :)
Its a pipe dream to think you can make over the GOP as the LP. Just don't see it happening. But enjoy the victory, Ron Paul supporters! Hopefully from your perspective it adds some upward movement to general support levels.
The "leadership" of the NFRA just chose to endorse Santorum LOL! In the only real important poll of the day, Ron Paul the winner: 82%, Santorum 1%. Yeah, 1% LOL! The majority of NFRA voters are going to freak out.
- CPAC straw poll: Ron Paul wins: 30% Paul, 23% Romney. (3,742 participants)
- New Hampshire Young Republicans straw poll: Ron Paul wins: 45% Paul, 10% Romney, 8% Perry. (302 participants )
- Iowa GOP straw poll: Ron Paul 2nd: 27% Paul, 28% Bachmann (only 200 more votes than Paul). (17,000 participants , $30/each)
- California GOP straw poll: Ron Paul wins: 50% Paul, 29% Perry, 8% Romney. (833 participants)
- Values Voters summit GOP straw poll: Ron Paul wins: 37% Paul, 23% Cain, 16% Santorum. (3,400 participants )
- Ohio GOP straw poll: Ron Paul wins: 53% Paul, 25% Cain, 8% Romney. (428 participants, $25/each)
- Iowa NFRA straw poll: Ron Paul wins: 82% Paul, 14% Cain. (430 participants)
Those are in-person voters. Those are real votes. And Ron Paul dominates almost all online polls (why do you think most mainstream news sites stopped having them?) October 24, for instance:
- Wall Street Journal poll "Can Ron Paul win the GOP presidential nomination?": 90% Yes, 10% No. (25,000 votes)
And Ron Paul just received more than 2.7 million dollars in 72 hours from more than 40,000 individual donors. Ron Paul will win 2012. Get ready for it. :)
See all you Paul supporters day after the election! When Paul will not be President! Be interested in what you have to say then.
Paul wins a straw poll. Cain didn't have enough tickets.
The GOP Money Changers are still laughing. They already chose The Mormon.
The Texan got whacked in the ass by the swinging door.
First, everyone has a right to vote for whomever they believe to be the best candidate. That is what made this country great in the beginning. But I liken these people who keep slandering Ron Paul and those of us who believe in him to spoiled children who are incapable of thinking about the reality of our economy on their own.
I keep hearing how Ron Paul bought the votes in the straw polls, yet then say, sure.. he can win the straw poll but not the real election.He is not electable because thats what I keep hearing on Fox and MSNBC.. and they are always right... They seem to forget that he also got more donations from our US military than anyone else combined, including the standing president! I suppose he bought those votes also.
They media keeps saying it.. they keep repeating it.. but has anyone really noticed what is actually going on not only in our country, but in the world? They say.. we can SPEND SPEND SPEND.. see? We don't have to worry about the trillions upon trillions of dollars in debt we are in.. the Federal Reserve will just make more money! We can do this forever..see??!!
Then along comes daddy saying.. No kids.. we CAN'T keep spending or it will destoy this country.. and they hate hearing it.. NO! they say.. .. Cain has this nifty sounding tax plan that is going to make everything ok again.. or Romney is our man.. he may not have a CLUE how to run our country but he is the golden boy of the Rep party and can beat Obama.. and that will make our country better... so GO AWAY RON PAUL!.. We won't listen to you!
The only reason the US dollar is worth ANYTHING at all is because of China and Japan.. they have been carrying us because we buy everything they make.. but.. they have already stated that they will no longer do this.. so while is is very nice to be able to give the world everything we American earn, and there will be some hard feeling for a while.. the reality is WE ARE BROKE and can NOT do this any longer.. Our dollar will soon be completely worthless.. not even worth the paper it is printed on..
If you think Cains tax plan or anyones feel good tax cuts or empty promises will save this country, you need a reality check. Dr. Paul is not going to bring down this country, he is simply trying to get us to grow up and take responsibility for our own actions. The federal Government has no business deciding how we live our lives. It is hard for people to realize this because we have been programmed for years to believe that they are our parents and gods.. We need them to tell us how to live our lives and what is right and wrong.. something that the founding fathers would (and did) die to avoid.. Getting rid of these federal departments will NOT hurt us.. it will make us a super rich and prosperous country again.. You paycheck will be worth something, so will your house. My wife is a teacher and she is praying for Ron to win so she and others can actually TEACH the kids again.. You want to know how bad the Fed school system is, marry a teacher!!
We Ron Paul supporters are not stupid little children who are playing anarchist, we are the majority of this country who have decided enough is enough.. and we are not going to leave our children and grandchildren an unpayable bill because of our own greed and stupidity.. So maybe you people should turn off the TV news.. and start listening to what is REALLY going on in this country..
"We Ron Paul supporters are not stupid little children..." actually, the facts would show otherwise.
What facts are you referring too? People will pay more attention to you if you back up your argument with facts.
Lovecookie, don't feed the troll. :)
Go back and read the posts "Lovecookie", (and why do the Paul cultists all have names like that?) Paul is wrong about the Constitution, even more wrong about what the Constitution delegates as power to the President, and all of you, who have never read the Constitution or the Federalist Papers believe him!
Paul is making the argument of the Anti-Federlists when this country was formed. You might all be comforted if you read those essays. As long as you keep in mind that it was the losing side. Just like YOU!
Paul is not making the arguments of the Anti-Federalists, though I see no point in demonizing those men, many of whom were patriotic and intelligent. If you want to find precedent for Paul's positions you'd do better to look at Jefferson and Madison's arguments against Hamilton's attempt (successful, it turns out) to create a centralized, unitary executive branch and economic system.
Our government has become a globally repressive, non-responsive, oligarchical empire that most of the actual Federalists would, I think, be shocked by.
Ron Paul has been elected many times. More times than Romney, Perry and Santorum.
What's stopping Herman Cain or Rick Perry fans from attending the straw polls? Why are Ron Paul's supporters so fanatic and in love with him? Ron Paul must be doing SOMETHING right! The love for Ron Paul is far stronger than the love for any other candidates, and if you did your Ron Paul research you would understand why.
"The love for Ron Paul is stronger is far stronger than the love for any other candidate...." Tiffany. Yep that works. Tiffany, you are not voting for PROM KING. YOU ARE VOTING FOR A POTENTIAL PRESIDENT. Grow up and learn about the issues!
What a lame comment. It's time for people like YOU to put down your diet coke, turn off Fox news and start educating yourself. You need to stop buying into everything you hear from mainstream media (which is owned, by the way, by corporations who make huge profits from keeping endless wars going and by banks who run the FEDERAL RESERVE which is BANKRUPTING this country) and start asking your own QUESTIONS.
So I would counter that YOU are the one who needs to "learn the issues."
I believe what she is trying to say is the people are passionate about Ron Paul because he is passionate about issues the other candidates don't even have an opinion on much less passion. Like none of the other candidates have a plan on how to manage the Federal Reserve or military contractors. With either of them you get 4 more years of these two lobby's literally running Washington and the US economy just as they please. What that leaves for the taxpayers and voters are nothing but some boring social issues the states should be handling anyways.
The passion and potential comes from a candidate who takes ZERO lobby money from the bankers or military contractors (or any other lobby) so he sees them for what they are. The rest are simply marketing managers for these lobby's after taking tens of millions from them and their employees....for decades!
These lobby's literally own both mainstream party's and the other candidates simply don't want to talk about it. They would literally spend 99% of their time in office doing nothing but cramming corrupted pork filled bills down the taxpayers throats to pay back all the lobby money.
We get an independent minded Constitutionalist candidate about once every 50 years and this is pretty exciting.
Yes, blame Ron Paul's win on the reduced cost of the tickets. How about all the other candidates in the other events? Didn't Bachmann give out 4,000 FREE tickets to the Iowa Straw Poll? Why aren't you reporting that, MSNBC? Is this the best you can do? Really???
Seriously, MSNBC news reporting has the intellectual appeal of pizza barf. I'll stick to my alternative news sources.
Top 5 2012 Republican Candidates based on Straw Poll Results
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Top_5_2012_Republican_Straw_Poll_Results.png
Nice post. Yes ..... Ron Paul 2012.
Lifelong lefty here. I'm voting for Ron Paul as a registered Republican (which still makes me gag a little to write, but you gotta do what you gotta do). I campaigned for Obama, and I confess myself guilty of having had the Hope at one time. Obama has been an effing disaster for progressive values in this country. Unmitigated. I don't agree with Paul on every issue, but the guy is honest, principled and intelligent. He's bad at sound bytes and the BS tv debates, but he does great in real discussions and interviews. Check him out on this FOX panel. He holds his own against the @!$%#s (like Krauthammer) and manages to take their questions apart, even very hostile ones, without bluster or escalation of the ignorant, adversarial tv atmosphere:
The guy is for real, and he can unite America to take on the military-industrial-financial creeps that currently run the country. (The 1%, if you prefer) I am as far left as they come, and I am begging you, take a closer look at Ron Paul's ideas, and think about what those kind of changes would mean for our country. The current system is steering for a reef, and it is so totally corrupt that it is going to have to be dismantled before we can change course. Obama will not be the guy to do that. He fooled us. Bankers LOVE Obama. As W said, "Fool me once...don't get fooled again!" Paul is a serious advocate of the Constitution and the rule of law, and will do his best to restore REAL civil rights and REAL prosperity to this country. Not bailouts and payoffs and illegal assassinations and wars.
Whether you will give Paul a chance or not, it's time for those Americans who are not part of the ruling elite to get together. Stop belittling each other and arguing about petty hypotheticals. We either find a way to turn this country around or we're screwed.
Deleted my link... foxnews dot com /on-air/special-report/2011/10/27/age-ron-paul
That's how straw polls have always worked newday. Do you think that none of the other candidates do the same thing? Come on now... I can't see that you're that naive. The truth of the matter is, Ron Paul had enough supporters that came and voted for him. The other guys didn't. The end.
How is Ron Paul unelectable? Do you even know what he stands for?
Which is why straw polls are irrelevant. Do I know what he stands for? Absolutely. He is the Know Nothing, the John Bircher, the American Firster of this generation. His "ideas" are unworkable, the antithesis of Constitutional government, and will never see the light of day.
That's a lot of invective. "...the antithesis of Constitutional governement..."? Strong statement, but no supporting evidence. What do you mean?
I support Paul more for what he proposes to take down than what he proposes to introduce. Most of his targets are unconstitutional, as well as misguided. He wants to end the drug war, end the oil wars, end the (unconstitutional) Federal Reserve manipulation of the economy by the banking elite, end illegal assassinations and secret arrests, and end federal micromanagement of the failing, inefficient educational system. I am currently a student teacher, and am not (at all) against public education. Nor am I against national defense. I am against the massive, illegal, and failed policies that are bankrupting us, and sowing hatred abroad and stupidity and weakness here.
What are your specific policy disagreements with Ron Paul, and what alternatives would you propose? I presume you intend to vote for Obama. Why?
Regards,
It shows Paul has a lot of support and can mobilize that support very well.
That's pretty important in a campaign, so those counting him out should probably look beyond the bias and give credit where it's due.
The Straw Polls only mean as much as the media allows them to mean, so we probably won't hear too much more about this one.