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EXETER, NH -- Ron Paul, whose surging poll numbers have made him a top-tier presidential candidate in Iowa, was vetted like a frontrunner campaign stops in New Hampshire on Tuesday.
The Texas congressman took to the trail as news outlets reported on a renewed interest in Ron Paul newsletters from the 1990s that contained slurs against homosexuals and African Americans. The most recent issue of The Weekly Standard dug up some of Paul's old newsletters. An article from June 1992 reads "Order was only restored in L.A. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks,” the magazine reports. Another suggested that AIDS patients should not be allowed to eat in restaurants since, according to the opinion, "AIDS can be transmitted by saliva.”
But today, Paul maintained he did not write the articles, which contained no byline. Instead, he said it was an example of a political attack stemming from his rise in popularity.
"Nobody talked about it for 20 years until they found out that the message of liberty was making progress," Paul said outside a variety store in Manchester. "And everybody knows I didn’t write them, and it’s not my sentiment, so it’s sort of politics as usual.”
The presidential candidate faced similar questions about the writings in 2008, though not as much was uncovered about the publications and Paul had not risen to the profile he now holds. Then, like now, he denied knowing the author.
After a town hall meeting on Monday night Paul told reporters, though cautious, he considers himself the frontrunner in Iowa. Though he may be on the verge of breaking through in the Hawkeye State, the presidential candidate spent two days in New Hampshire, where polls have him closer to the middle of the pack.
Before the resurrection of Paul's newsletter, one of his biggest criticisms had been what his Republicans rivals have called a weakness on foreign policy. Paul has expressed an unwillingness of U.S. involvement in foreign affairs -- even in instances where national security is at stake. But the 76-year-old Texan has dismissed the claims that his policy is one of isolationism.
"The other Republicans are saying, 'Boy, this is his downfall, how can he do it with his foreign policy?'" Paul said Monday. "I happen to think its one of the reasons I'm rising in the polls is because the American people are tired of the wars, and are tired of spending their money, so I think it's a big positive."
His rise in popularity today was apparent with the media contingent following him on the campaign trail. Press flocked to four campaign stops here, despite the fact that Paul did not so much as deliver his stump speech. Instead, he took a tour of a small business, took questions from high school students, and popped in to surprise shoppers at a convenience store in Manchester. Later in Exeter, Paul made what his campaign called "a retail stop," where the candidate walked into a series of local businesses and introduced himself.
Paul holds a town hall event tonight before heading back to Iowa.
Leave a Comment:
There are lessons to be learned from every experience...the most important here is that your own party members will shank you in the neck just to get a few percentage points ahead.
Go GOP!
if Anyone would like to read his full unabridged views that were written by him, with tapes as weel. Note, a large chunk of these were written before the racist material. He is, who we think and believe he is. He may have allowed them to be written through negligence, sometimes trust screws you. Is there anyone out there that would disagree with that? I invite you to read and hear his words.
Apparently you can't post a link. Just go to dailypaul.com and they are right there.
It seems obvious to me that Ron would like to return to yesteryear days when his kind ruled America and decided what was good for Americans. (names like Wallace, Helms, Etc.)..Of course being a Texan most decisions were made at the Perry's hunting club, NNNIIIII---GGGGEEERRR---HEAD...
I think America needs to purge our government of these type people to continue on a positive trail torwards making America a better place for most of its' citizens, instead of just the top % wealthiest...
Rick, Maybe your suggestion to purge the government of Ron Paul types is not off the mark. I say this with my tongue in my cheek, but perhaps Michelle Bachmann was right on ONE thing, and that is that congress should be investigated for anti-Americans, and that would include her and the entire teabagging cadre.
Rick, rick, rick... Mmm. I'm not going to flat out call you an idiot, let's just say, "uninformed." You might want to do a little checking on Ron Paul as your characterization of him is about as far off the map as you can get. He's the only one right or left that is on the people's side. Forget about all the B.S. that comes out of any politician's mouth, ACTUALLY LOOK at what that person has done & the causes they have stood for and who's in who's POCKET. If you actually knew what he was about you would be kissing his a$$ so hard you'd give him blisters. You're right about getting rid of politicians that are in office for the wrong reasons, we need more RON PAULS! ROCK IT IN 2012!
h/t Andrew Sullivan for the following:
The late John Robbins, who was Ron Paul’s chief of staff in the early eighties, named Lew Rockwell as the true author of the racist material in Ron Paul’s newsletters. Lew had also been Ron Paul’s chief of staff in the '70s and remains his closest adviser. In case you are unfamiliar with him, he has his own web site where he pushes nutty conspiracy theories on a daily basis. Paul has said publicly that it is the first thing he reads every day.
You can listen to Paul's "racist" remarks here...
Apparently, I can't post a link here. So copy and search the following...
Busted! Ron Paul racist rant caught on tape!
nisl:
So what you are saying is that Ron Paul can't associate with anyone who may have a different point of view? Or are you saying that because he associates with Lew Rockwell that he must have the same identical views? either way, you are way off with your assumptions.
Wait a sec, is it Paul's newsletter or not? How do you allow any publication to be associated with your name without knowing its content? This is relavent.
He was publisher not editor. But perhaps you are right, maybe he should have focused more on this news letter than on his practice where he treated poor black people, sometimes even for free.
Plus, Nelsone Lender, the director of the Austin branch of the NAACP stated during the 2008 campaign that he has known RP, personally for over 20 years and is sure that he is not a racist.
yet, these responses aren't sufficient enough for you? Why?
Nelson Lender (not Nelsone)
The Ron Paul supporters will NOT be pleased.
Ron Paul supporters - even the black ones - know this is BS and the only trick the establishment can pull out of their hats because they fear that an RP presidency would cut them off from their cash cow - us.
Please look into Nelson Lenders defense of Ron Paul. Nelson Lender of the Austin,TX branch of the NAACP.
Lie down with dogs, get up with fleas. Ron Paul may be an ethical man, but many right wing supporters, are not.
He'll win Iowa
He won't win anywhere else.
He is a Libertarian, not a Republican, or a Conservative.
Ron Paul's win in Iowa will help Mitt on his slog to the nomination, so he will have served his purpose, though probably not the purpose he or his many loyal supporters envisioned...
Wait, abiding by the Constitution instead of supporting endless war and the trampling of civil liberties makes you LESS Republican and LESS conservative? That's news to me, you brainless waste of a vote.
I believe it says republican on Ron Pauls voter card. So that makes him a republican. And you don't get more conservitive than Ron Paul. So dangerfield you get no respect for knowledge or intelligence. And his win in Iowa just may help him win in enough states to win the nomination. last time I looked the people vote for the nomination not the media or the powers that be in the party. Go and get some old 8th grade civics books and you might just learn something.
If Ron Paul didn`t write the letters, then they are not his views. Anyone who knows Ron Paul knows he would never say anything like that. He`s not that ignorant. It`s a pretty pathetic attempt to discredit the man.
Those newsletters went out under his name. Do you allow your name to be used for things you don't believe in? I certainly don't, and neither do most reasonable people.
Paul is a John Bircher. Enough said.
right just like the time on a talk show when someone asked him a question he did not like and he snapped at the kid telling him to sit his fat ass down
I love that video!
HA! I believe the event you refer to is all over youtube, do a search on "ron paul fat." It's hilarious & Ron Paul is spot on with his response. Watch it and decide for yourself. R. Paul is the ONLY legitimate candidate out there that gives a rats a$$ about the American people, the more you find out, the better he looks.
kingcopy, You people don't believe the facts when they knock you down and stomp you in the ground. You just get up and start blaming "liberals" for "quoting out of context. " Do you guys have no integrity at all?
Wow. Such brainwashing. Ron Paul is leading in some of the polls and this has the media and people like you scared. If you were educated, you would vote Ron Paul. It`s really that simple. The man is up against the monster of the military industrial complex, the corrupt Federal Reserve System, and the media (owned by the same people). The attempt in this article to discredit the man is an embarrassment. They should have gotten more creative. They must have gotten desperate given Ron Paul`s consistent voting record by the Constitution. But then again, they knows they can always influence people like yourselves who are not educated about how the world really works.
You said it. pretty pitiful that all the dirt they can dig up is a 20 year old letter he didn't even write
Look at how RACIST Ron Paul is... it's all caught on tape...
God, I hate this posting system. It sucks so bad. MSNBC get a better web design company.
What tape, please clarify?
Of course MSNBC... does not allow me to post the youtube clip where Ron Paul is talking about repealing the drug laws and pardoning all people that are convicted of nonviolent offenses.
I'm not also able to show you how he was discussing how black and latinos are unfairly targeted by these practices.
Ron Paul is the only candidate that is looking to repeal these unjust laws!!!
HAHAHA REALLY!?!?! All the dirt they can dig up on Ron Paul is a 20 year old letter that he didn't even write. He is also correct that his foreign policy of no foreign aid and stopping useless wars that are bankrupting the county and driving up the deficit are posetive points of his campaign. He is the only one serious about stopping this lunacy. This is not isolationalism it is common sense.
So let me get this straight - Newt Gingrich says minority children should be given jobs as janitors but Ron Paul is the racist on the basis of what someone else wrote twenty years ago? Priceless.
Dr. Paul has to weather this storm, everybody else is gettin' their ass kicked, too. Seems like MSNBC and CNN are targeting RP right now, along with some smaller media outlets. I NEVER heard Dr. Paul say anything remotely associated with racism, freemasonry, John Birch Society, etc. All this stuff is just a stretch for those of us that have followed his work for 4 years or longer. RON PAUL 2012!
The mainstream media insists on printing allegedly what were RP views and statements 20 yrs ago but NOTHING about his views recently on how our oppressive drug laws unfairly target minorities? Oh what a spin it is..We the people will stand strong behind Dr Ron Paul. We know the man will stand strong for us.
Ron Paul has always been a racist dirtbag, and his evil spawn Rand is the spitting image of his Texas born Klan feed daddy.
Wow Lee you didn't get your fiber today did ya. Must be pretty bad having to be you.
It is time you do some research, you just might sound a little more intelligent if you knew what you are talking about.
LEE you are a clueless waist of a human brain! Watch CNN much? If there is anything you should know is that RP is that he says what he believes! So that said, if he was a racist he would have no problem letting anyone know! This is the only candidate that is concerned about our rights under the constitution... EVERYONES RIGHTS!!
Gee, MSNBC is the former home of Don "Nappy-headed ho's" Imus (hey, anyone remember THAT controversy???). Many of the, ahem, "journalists" and anchors on NBC, MSNBC and other liberal-leaning networks were glad to appear on Imus's show when he was doing a lot of stupid, puerile and, yes, racist, attempts at comedy. Of course when the nappy-headed ho's incident happened, I remember that so many of them were so surprised to find how easy it was for them to not have even bothered to think that their appearances indirectly supported that part of the Imus show. Milking this old news about Ron Paul to try to stop his rising poll numbers is more than a little hypocritical, don't you think?
Ron Paul for President in 2012 - YES
Ask the Blacks ,Mexicans and others that stand behind Dr. Paul if he is racist.
He didn't write that newsletter. But you want to play the game. So if I say for
example MSNBC is a communist plot paid for by terrorists to destroy the
United States and back it up with clips from different people you have had on
the air over the years. Then that makes it true because you paid those people to
talk on your show.
Well said Gunsmith!
At the time these newsletters came out Dr. Paul was out of public office and not running. He was engaged in medical practice, along with being an adviser to Pat Buchanan's campaign and other business ventures with his family. His newsletter business was entitled to be part of the "free press" clause.
Some of the comments that are referred to can be debated and in many opinions were more informational than provocative, but no more than many headlines used today. Investigate!
Aside from the above, we need Dr. Paul to be nominated during this crisis in our country. His plans are not all "right on" and wouldn't move, but the most important ones remain and we know which ones they are that should be implemented.....ASAP.
More negatives will arrive. Dr. Paul "not to worry" just listen to the music and keep calling them, like you see them..........
.
Oh boy, here we go again. Looks like the "God Father of the Tea Party" has his true colors showing. Is there ANY Repubulican who doesn't have a background of hate?
Of all losers, crooks running for re-election or to be elected for the first time, Ron Paul sounds the better candidate. I would had voted for him, actually I contributed to his campaign until his son started showing his true colors-racism- and since then we parted. Because where that racism could come from, if not from his father? Of course, he also has many and heavy baggage, but it's always to choose the lesser of two evils. At least, with Ron Paul, the poor and minorities can rest assured that they won't have to die for tea partiers, republicans and the military industrial complex, but a word of caution: Who is to say that the ovens won't return? Right now, and lo and behold with Obama and the democrats, it seems that we are on our way there.
What racism? Please provide evidence. clips, title of an article. Until you do, it may be that you are just overly sensitive to racial issues and may have taken something out of context. it does happen.
Well, Mr ShiftIV, I don't know where have you been these days, but the media has covered his perceived or not racism, but one thing I can tell you for sure, his son, Rand, is racist to the core. When and if you got some free time, google Ron Paul's controversies and you will see that it's hard to believe he is not. In his reply to Wolf Blitzer from CNN he gave a credible defense, but my main point is the racism that permeates not only Rand Paul, but also the whole state of Kentucky and I don't have to cite references about his son, or Dr Paul, they are all over the internet. It won't kill you to read, see them. Ditto with his son, Rand. Now, I don't kinow how mcuh it will take to convince you that Rand Paul is a racist, many tea partiers, republicans will not see the truth if it was right in front of them. I hope you don't expect me to write all the things the media says that Ron and Rand have said, because that would be more than I'm willing to do. Let me give a word of advice if the truth is what you really want, althoug I have my doubts. Do what I always do: Google it!
Like father like son...The apple does not fall far from the tree...
They are both FAR RIGHT WING nuts who want less government to aid the rich and privileged....
Headline: "Ron Paul does a crappy job at editing his newsletter, then spends 20 years being the #1 champion of civil liberties."
Guess you just can't say what is true and get away with it.
When did AIDS become a race? We know it became a politically protected disease, unlike cancer, hepatitis, the other STD's, influenza, etc., due to a Special Interest Group, which is part of the problem for it's horrendous spread and being almost immune to common sense actions by the medical field.
Seems like PAYBACK for Congressman Paul's stance on ending the BILLIONS of seen and unseen aid to Israel, which the Zionists seemed to indicate what would happen.
No more U.S. Taxpayer's dollars to Israel, a country that has the monetary and non-monetary resources to defend, attack, and give it's citizens a life of luxury.
End the blind support of Israel, before it gets more American soldiers killed, as noted by U.S. Generals Mullin and Patraeus; the seemingly almost unanimous manipulation of Congress by Jewish Groups; and the total retribution and ruination of persons and groups that even question any action by Israel or Zionism.