Ron Paul on Privacy

David Weigel | November 8, 2007

Ron Paul's third New Hampshire TV ad is up at Reason.tv. This one addresses an issue I don't think any candidate has in his/her commercials yet: Privacy and the war on terror.

I'm Ron Paul and I'm the only presidential candidate who'll bring our troops home from Iraq immediately and stop wasteful government spending. But here's something else I care about, and I hope you do too. The war on terror and the growth of big government have had a dangerous side effect: The loss of privacy rights for the American people. Both parties have put their pet schemes ahead of our rights. Not me. As president, I won't stand for it. No national ID card, no invasion of privacy. I'm Ron Paul and I approve this message.

If Paul's going to make a surprise showing in New Hampshire, this is the talk (if not the production quality--this is direct but dark) that'll do it. Let the rest of the field thrash about debating Iraq and making fun of Hillary's ankles while he talks to Free Staters about REAL ID. The Youtube thread has gotten more civil and contented, too.

More reason on Paul here.

UPDATE: Pig Mannix points out that Paul's hit 5 percent in the tricky Rasmussen tracking poll (which doesn't mention Paul's name when asking for preference).* That's important, as we're running into the late debate season when candidates will need to hit poll thresholds in order to keep getting invited.

*I made a mistake here: Rasmussen DOES include Paul's name in its survey. I was passing on rumors to the contrary, so my apologies.