Ron Paul: Not Going Anywhere, Ideologically Pure, and Tough as Nails
R udy Giuliani, likely the next president of the United States, couldnt believe his ears. That scrawny old nut at the podium down the row had just said what ? There was a reason America was attacked on 9/11? And it had to do with Americas own behavior?
Thats really an extraordinary statement, Giuliani said, with some swagger. It was May 15, 2007, at a Republican presidential debate in South Carolina. Giuliani was in control. The former New York City mayor was front-runner of the Republican pack, and ahead of any likely Democratic opponent in the polls. But this barely polling former third-party candidate at the podium was attacking Giulianis home turfthe 9/11 assault on America, and what it meant. Thats an extraordinary statement, as someone who lived through the attack of September 11, that we invited the attack because we were attacking Iraq. I dont think Ive heard that before, and Ive heard some pretty absurd explanations for September eleventh.
The crowd was on Giulianis side, raucously, giving him cheers and whistles and resounding, rolling applause.
And I would ask the congressman to withdraw that comment and tell us that he didnt really mean that, Giuliani continued.
If this obscure, unaccomplished, backbench legislator actually wanted to contend for the Republican Partys presidential nomination, Giuliani thought, hed back down, pronto. Sputter some mealymouthed, face-saving scramble and hope this whole exchange was forgotten by the pundits and the voters.
That wasnt going to happen. The man, Ron Paul, from southeast Texas, then veteran of over nine terms in Congress looking too small for his suit, his ears almost laughably prominent, delivered his heresies neither hesitantly nor militantly, but with the authority of common sense. Paul knew what he meant, meant what he said, and given the chance, just explained himself furtheror further dug his grave with the potential voters he was supposedly there to win over.
I believe very sincerely that the CIA is correct when they teach and talk about blowback, Paul said. When we went into Iran in 1953 and installed the Shah, yes, there was blowback. A reaction to that was the taking of our hostages and that persists. And if we ignore that, we ignore that at our own risk. If we think that we can do what we want around the world and not incite hatred, then we have a problem.
We have a problem? America doesnt have problems, palAmerica gives problems! But this Ron Paul guy kept marching ahead into this dangerous, uncharted territory. They dont come here to attack us because were rich and were free. They come and they attack us because were over there. I mean, what would we think if we wereif other foreign countries were doing that to us?
Whoaa history lesson, recognizing consequences to our actions, an empathetic approach to what the rest of the world might think? What could any of that have to do with American foreign policy, or an attempt to win the Republican Partys presidential nomination?
This Ron Paul character hadnt been doing very well in his quixotic (thats what everyone said) run for the nomination so far in May 2007, and this surely was the end. Even many of his fervent fans, much as they enjoyed hearing him say it, were sure hed just murdered his campaign.
One young man who thought he was past caring about electoral politics was idly watching the debate in Los Angeles. This made him sit up and take notice. Ron Paul, without a fucking friend in the world, nothing but hostility aimed at him from all directions, stood his ground and did not back down. Just reiterated his points even stronger. I was blown away. I felt at that moment that the world changed forever, that there had been this massive shift in reality and what could happen. From that point forward I became involved. Jon Arden, who worked at Forest Lawn cemetery in Los Angeles, started donating money to the campaign and going to Ron Paul Meetups (local groups of Paul fans whod gather both online and in the real world to promote Paul). Suddenly, making and hanging Ron Paul signs, talking about Ron Paul to anyone whod listen and some who wouldnt, became Ardens passion. All my time, money, anything I could spare, I devoted all of it to Ron.
Ardens was the most emphatic and impassioned version of that story I heard, but I encountered variations of it dozens of times from Paul fans: That spat with Giuliani, rather than derailing Ron Pauls progress, was the engine that propelled it to greater speed. This was the moment that turned Ron Paul from an easily ignorable distraction in the Republican race to, well, a more-difficult-to-ignore distraction. Still, most mainstream media and politicos continued to try to ignore him. But Pauls online poll results began to soar; the number of people watching and making videos promoting him on YouTube and joining his meetup groups zoomed. The second quarter of 2007, in which that exchange occurred, saw Paul raising only $2.4 million. But in the next quarter, after Giuliani supposedly dispatched him handily, Paul pulled more than twice that, $5.3 million. And that wasnt the end of his momentum.
Ron Paul has been alive and kicking in American politics for a long time. Hes served three separate stints in Congress as a Republican representative from Texas, beginning in 1976, and is still there now in 2012. Hes even run for president beforewith the Libertarian Party, in 1988. He came in third (but with fewer than half a million votes).
By any sober estimation, suggesting at a GOP debate, just six years after the airplane assault by radical Islam on American icons, that our foreign policy mistakes disturbed hornets nests and we shouldnt be surprised we got stung should have meant Ron Paul would be alive and kicking no more.
Despite that moments aura of legendary bravery to so many of his supporters, Paul remembers the spat with Giuliani lackadaisically. Paul has understood the world a certain way for a very long time, and not much surprises him. Having observed him since 1988, Id say the only thing thats surprised him has been his own success in winning supporters as a presidential candidate. My immediate reaction was, I couldnt care less, Paul says. Im here to tell what I think is the truth. I didnt think lightning was going to strike, that I was going to be president, but oh, this brought me down. It was just what Ive been up against for thirty years. No different. It was just being verbalized in all the booing, but that didnt affect me. You know, I guess its too bad they are booing me, but thats the way it is.
People wanted to interview me right afterward, to ask me if I was going to drop out. What would I drop out for? They said this is the end for me. No one knew it was just the beginning. Kent [Snyder, his campaign manager] whispered to me, Guess what? You are winning the after-debate polls.
