Roughshod for Ron

David Weigel | July 30, 2007

Clinton Naumo meets a Ron Paul supporter who's taking her campaign strategy lessons from Tom Hanks and Robert Zemeckis.

Kelly Halldorson, 34, plans to tell more people than the average supporter about Paul when she hands out literature this Saturday while she walks to Concord. From Dover.

"Instead of giving $2,300, I'm going to walk 38 miles," Halldorson said...

This ideal of personal freedom and self reliance is a cornerstone of Paul's campaign, and Halldorson believes more people, particularly in Live Free or Die New Hampshire, would support the congressman if they knew more about him and his views.

With little name recognition and even less media coverage, however, it is up to supporters like her to spread the message. In this case, she'll spread the message from her home in Dover along Route 9 to Route 4 and all the way into Concord.

"I think the word just needs to get out," she says.

Does any major Republican candidate—Romney, Giuliani, Thompson—stir up the kind of passion that Paul does? According to Robert Novak: No.

Republican leaders report that the most enthusiasm among grassroots activists is for Gingrich and libertarian Rep. Ron Paul.

Last week Brian Doherty assessed how good the Paul campaign is for libertarians.

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Comments

|7.30.07 @ 3:48PM|#

Only 38 miles? Athletic people with proper shoes can do that in one day. Most other poeple can do that in two or three days. So it's not that big of a feat [sic].

Your average organic sprout muncher can walk across the continent (uphill, both ways) to protest the building of another parking lot in Los Angeles, but all Ron Paul supporters can manage is 38 miles? If my butt wasn't permanently welded to the sofa, I walk all the way to Concord just to give her what for!

|7.30.07 @ 3:53PM|#

I'm eating a solid log of cookie dough in support of Ron Paul!

|7.30.07 @ 4:05PM|#

Hey CoveAxe, you can say you got salmonella for Ron! And when you have to gronk that log out, you can say you were constipated for Ron!

|7.30.07 @ 4:05PM|#

Just an observation: driving through NH last Saturday, the only signs out there were the ones for Ron Paul. For that matter, I even saw a couple of Paul signs in Boston, of all places...

|7.30.07 @ 4:21PM|#

For that matter, I even saw a couple of Paul signs in Boston, of all places...

It's a sign of the impending apocalypse!

|7.30.07 @ 4:27PM|#

A-paul-calypse!

|7.30.07 @ 4:32PM|#

Kelly blogs here. I'm sure she'd appreciate your support.

S.A. Miller|7.30.07 @ 4:56PM|#

Does any major Republican candidate-Romney, Giuliani, Thompson-stir up the kind of passion that Paul does? According to Robert Novak: No.

And we all know that passion is all that Howard Dean Ron Paul will need to get the nomination!

|7.30.07 @ 4:56PM|#

I even saw a couple of Paul signs in Boston, of all places...

Now you know where joe lives!

|7.30.07 @ 5:00PM|#

It's a sign of the impending apocalypse!

I knew it!! RON PAUL is the second coming!

RON PAUL SAVES
RON PAUL in 2008
VOTE FOR RON PAUL

|7.30.07 @ 5:01PM|#

I even saw a couple of Paul signs in Boston, of all places...

I hope those signs aren't made of Light-brite boards, or his position on the WoT will suffer...

Kelly Halldorson|7.30.07 @ 5:06PM|#

38 miles may not be a lot but it's enough to get Dr. Paul a little coverage. ;)

Oh and to SA Miller...

Dr. Paul's campaign has more than just passion it's got a message that resonates with people from all walks of life not just the ones that are looking for government handouts and socialized healthcare.

bret|7.30.07 @ 5:14PM|#

Might have been my sister in Boston, she lives in Lowell.

Ron Paul is gonna win, and ultimately it will be "win very big" a la Reagan. Just watch.

Dave Weigel|7.30.07 @ 5:28PM|#

And we all know that passion is all that Howard Dean Ron Paul will need to get the nomination!

Heh, but I'm not suggesting Paul will win the nomination. I'm just wondering what it means that the "serious" GOP candidates generate less excitement than a "fringe" candidate whom the party hates.

|7.30.07 @ 5:30PM|#

S.A. Miller --

There are similarities between Dean '04 and Paul '08 -- both doctors, both inspired passionate support, both used the internet creatively, both appealed to young voters.

But the big difference in my view, which is likely to lead to a different outcome, is that the message Dean had beyond the anti-war stuff was...more big government for almost every issue.

The message Paul has beyond the anti-war stuff is...less big government for almost every issue.

One of those has been tried and works, the other has been tried and fails.

Prepare for President Paul!

|7.30.07 @ 5:31PM|#

Bret --

I agree, Paul is going to win big. It will be 65%+ in the general.

This is something no one alive has seen before.

|7.30.07 @ 5:45PM|#

Ron Paul has been my hero for years, but I don't see where you guys are getting this 65% landslide stuff. Hell, he doesn't even win by that much in his district.

|7.30.07 @ 5:53PM|#

He doesn't get to run against Hillary in his district, Warty!

Winning the primary is the tougher of the two tasks for Paul.

Hillary vs. Paul in the general would be, ahem, a cakewalk.

|7.30.07 @ 6:09PM|#

Well, that would be nice.

Also, I'd like a pony.

|7.30.07 @ 6:10PM|#

It could be a landslide if they can get the large "disinterested" block of voters to engage. I'm fairly confident that a majority of them see the past and current candidates for what they are: power-hungry socialists or fascists. They just don't bother.

Democrats have tried especially hard to reach this group and failed every time. This tells me the block isn't really interested in what they're peddling. Paul could be the person they're looking for.

|7.30.07 @ 6:13PM|#

the ones that are looking for government handouts and socialized healthcare.

that describes what, 90% of the electorate?

TLB|7.30.07 @ 6:27PM|#

I predict she's going to make it 10 miles and then give up because her feet are too sore. You have to work up to covering such distances, and apparently she hasn't trained.

I note also that she's walking along public roads.

Heh.

|7.30.07 @ 6:43PM|#

There's some very wishful thinking going on here. Ron Paul will never win the nomination. All these people making noise about Paul, they aren't going to vote in the primaries, and then they're gonna bitch and moan about how the race always comes down to two losers and you have to pick the lesser of two evils or some shit.

Postmodern Sleaze|7.30.07 @ 7:14PM|#

An eccentric outsider like Paul wouldn't stand a chance against Hillary. It would be 1964 all over again.

Though, given the Republicans haven't proposed any other candidates that would be better than Hillary so far, I don't see what there really is to lose.

|7.30.07 @ 7:17PM|#

Ron Paul signs in Boston? Sam Adams and Paul Revere are back!

|7.30.07 @ 7:54PM|#

Since no Democrat has a chance against Ron Paul, he will have to be stopped by the Republicans. They would far rather have Hillory - who thinks just like them - than a libertarian like Paul.

Standard issue Republicans and Democrats are a good cop / bad cop tag team lusting for shared power in the two-party party. They will join forces to stop Ron's message of liberty, property, and peace from being heard or voted on.

They are arrogantly stupid and inattentive, however, as evidenced by the colossal errors of letting Ron into the debates and then failing to censor the internet soon enough. Those errors may be their undoing.

|7.30.07 @ 8:17PM|#

Ron Paul is no libertarian. He's a right-wing constitutionalist, but not a libertarian. He'll be harmful to the long-term libertarian movement because he refuses to describe himself as a libertarian. Meanwhile, the Libertarian Party will still nominate a candidate for President who will perform even more disastrously than prior elections, because most of the fair-weather libertarians have jumped ship to the Paul campaign (I guess they'd rather win than be principled).

|7.30.07 @ 8:29PM|#

most of the fair-weather libertarians have jumped ship to the Paul campaign

If Paul doesn't get the nomination, I'm jumping right back on the LP ship.

Just because I support Paul for the nomination doesn't mean I'm going to blindly vote GOP. I could think of about 1000 better things to do, like gouging my eyes out with a piece of cheesecloth.

|7.30.07 @ 9:59PM|#

If Paul does not win the nomination. I'm going to flip a coin. Heads, I will vote the LP candidate. Tails, I write in Ron Paul.

|7.30.07 @ 10:09PM|#

Ron Paul...refuses to describe himself as a libertarian.

Oh, you mean like in 1988, when he ran on the Libertarian Party ticket. I worked on that campaign, and I heard him "describe himself as a libertarian" many times.

Perhaps you are thinking of another Ron Paul.

He got my vote in '88 and he'll get it in '08 (I'll re-register as a Republican to vote for him in the primary and then I'll vote for him in the general election - write him in if necessary).

|7.30.07 @ 10:26PM|#

"An eccentric outsider like Paul wouldn't stand a chance against Hillary. It would be 1964 all over again."

Why do you pick 1964? Why not 1980?

|7.30.07 @ 10:31PM|#

Although it might still be a bit too soon, I think Paul popularity, despite it's small stature, is proof that soon enough the intertubes will be a more powerful force in politics than and sort of TV or newspaper.

TV news will be relegated to the hobby of the uneducated masses, just like religion.


P.S. That was a joke about the religion.

|7.30.07 @ 11:20PM|#

I think the latest convention demonstrates that the LP would rather win than be principled. So, why not jump on the Paul bandwagon. I can't imagine he'll win, but maybe he can help de-marginalize the message. If he shows well some things like ending the drug war might not sound so kooky anymore.

And, I saw a Ron Paul bumper sticker in Burlington, VT (I mean one other than my own). If that's not a sign of the apocalypse I don't know what is.

Bee|7.31.07 @ 12:57AM|#

Hey Kelly, if that was you, very good luck to you! And 38 miles is indeed a long *working* walk, you are right! But you are planning to fortify yourself come lunchtime at a joint called "Susty's Radical Vegan"? Shudder. =)

One thing strikes me all of a sudden - if I were to walk 38 miles in any random direction, speaking to random people on any random topic, I would need to carry materials in like 17 languages. Seriously. I would also get sunstroke.

Kelly Halldorson|7.31.07 @ 9:38AM|#

It's me alright.

I'm vegan and Susty's is almost halfway so it is a logical resting place. Food is yummy and filling...I'll get plenty of sustanance there.

x,y|7.31.07 @ 9:52AM|#

Ron Paul is no libertarian. He's a right-wing constitutionalist, but not a libertarian. He'll be harmful to the long-term libertarian movement because he refuses to describe himself as a libertarian. Meanwhile, the Libertarian Party will still nominate a candidate for President who will perform even more disastrously than prior elections, because most of the fair-weather libertarians have jumped ship to the Paul campaign (I guess they'd rather win than be principled).

I'd say he's a libertarian-leaning constitutionalist (with heavy emphasis on libertarian and constitutionalist). He's not an anarchist, which upsets some purists, but by Jeebus the man is closer than anything we've seen in the last 100 years.

I'll be registering as a R to vote for Paul in the primary. After that, I'll immediately switch back to Independent.

And question: Do you seriously think the LP will run a candidate if Paul wins the R nomination?

|7.31.07 @ 10:13AM|#

Could Paul be listed as both the republican and libertarian candidate for President? I know people can be on two columns in my state, is it OK federally?

Kelly Halldorson|7.31.07 @ 11:10AM|#

"Could Paul be listed as both the republican and libertarian candidate for President? I know people can be on two columns in my state, is it OK federally?"

I believe the by-laws of the LP party don't allow it. There is a movement to change that at least temporarily so that Dr. Paul can be the nominee of both parties.

Otherwise I guess it would be up to the individual states and what their rules are regarding the ballots. Yes? No?

Tom Scudder|7.31.07 @ 11:33AM|#

Check out the campaign poster in the photo accompanying this story of a couple arrested for flying the US flag upside-down.

Richard|7.31.07 @ 11:54AM|#

"There is a movement to change that at least temporarily so that Dr. Paul can be the nominee of both parties."

BWAH!!!! Back slowly away from the Kool-Aid, put your head down, and sleep it off. You'll be ok. Ron Paul is not going to be be nominee of the Republican Party.

By the way, John Derbyshire has a column up on National Review's website describing the "Ron Paul temptation."

|7.31.07 @ 8:31PM|#

You know, if Ron Paul is as successful as Howard Dean was (now chairman of the Democratic National Committee), I'd be ecstatic. He would really boost the true conservative movement within the party. He just needs to show that a large enough section of the Republican party is truly fed up with growing government.

Eric Dondero|8.1.07 @ 9:29AM|#

Let's pretend for a second that Ron Paul were to win the GOP Nomination for President.

Everyone is always talking about that if Rudy Giuliani wins the GOP Nomination Religious Conservatives will not support him and walk out.

Isn't the same true for Ron Paul?

Pro-Choice Republicans will be extremely upset if Paul were to win the Nomination.

Pro-War on Islamo-Fascism Republicans will be even more upset.

For all you Paulists out there, why do you assume that the Party would instantly united behind him?

Hell, here in his District, Ron Paul is not universally loved by Republicans. He pulled a GOP Primary opponent - Cynthia Sinatra (yes, of the Sinatra family) - in 2006, and she got about 26% of the vote. The women didn't even campaign. She was like a paper candidate.

If Paul were to somehow bounce back from his current 1% in national polls standing and miracuously win the GOP nomination, he'd have his work cut out for him uniting the Republican Party behind him.

I can't see how any Pro-Choice/Pro-War on Islamo-Fascism Republican could support him?