Ron Paul Revolution Alive and Well in Iowa
It was a mild mid December evening as I arrived at the local convention center in Bettendorf, Iowa. I was an hour early, and there were already 50 people lined up at the door—different ages. Twice, the room had to be expanded by moving those hanging partition things.
Rodney Hawkins of CBS tweeted:
I was not expecting this huge crowd tonight for Ron Paul in Bettendorf, IA-
estimating over 1,000 ppl here…
Right on the nose, the introduction began at 7:00 pm by the official county coordinator.
Even with the room expansions, the doorways were blocked and the walls were lined with supporters of all ages and the curious. The local Quad-City Times reported:
Paul’s crowd, which his campaign first estimated at 600-plus and later said topped 800, is the largest for a single candidate’s event in the Quad-Cities this year. And though he didn’t take questions from the audience, Paul’s monologue drew several cheers and even one, “We love you, Ron.”
During his speech, Paul complained about American foreign policy, the $15 trillion debt and a culture he says rewards Wall Street, Washington, D.C., and politicians, leaving the middle class holding the bag.
Speaking with attendees, I heard no talk of the racist newsletter claims or the incident earlier that day, when Paul walked away from a CNN reporter who kept pursuing the issue after he had given his answer and referred to his answer from ’07 on CNN with Wolf Blitzer.
The only person talking about this was a reporter from the Huffington Post (of course). When asked about the relevance of the story, a young man replied that ‘bringing it up’ said more about the desperation of the establishment than Ron Paul because his record is nearly impossible to attack…and could turn out to be another “Aqua Buddha” situation. If any GOP candidate was foolish enough to personally make the attack, Paul would then be able to hit back like his son, Rand Paul in Kentucky, when he was attacked for worshiping Aqua Buddha by his democratic opponent–accusing the accuser of attacking his Christian faith and family.
As I was leaving, I noticed that there hadn’t been any cheesy intro music to hype up the crowd or leave them with a warm fuzzy feeling. No shaggy dog stories. Just an honest, free flowing discussion of foreign policy and economic concerns. I guess I’ll catch up on my America’s-gonna-kick-your-ass music tomorrow on Hannity…
Stay tuned for more boots-on-the-ground reporting from Iowa…
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