Ron Paul 2012!!!

Paul says veterans are backing him more than others Those on active duty especially receptive to him

Stephen Spalding (left), a junior grade officer at a naval base, and Jacob Jameson, a Navy veteran, handed out literature on GOP presidential hopeful Ron Paul to Melissa Woodard in Charleston, S.C. Paul has said he gets twice as much money from service members as his opponents combined.

CHARLESTON, S.C. - In television spots that brim with patriotic fervor, the men who would be president swath themselves in red, white, and blue - a salute to the importance of this flag-loving state’s huge and influential ranks of military veterans and active-duty personnel.

No polls report on who is winning this contest for this state’s military community, but by one barometer active-duty troops favor the one candidate who wants the United States out of foreign wars along with a drastic reduction in defense spending: Representative Ron Paul of Texas. “The military is behind me more than the others,’’ he boasted earlier this week in Myrtle Beach, noting he gets twice as much money from service members as his opponents combined.

At Thursday’s debate in Charleston, he reminded voters that he was the only veteran on stage.


Rivals have called Paul’s platform naive, even dangerous. But Paul, a former Air Force doctor, received more than $95,000 from members of the armed forces from January to September, according to data collected by the Center for Responsive Politics.

“So they’re saying that I’m on the right track,’’ he said at the debate. “They’re sick and tired of those wars. They’re sick and tired of the nation-building and the policing activity.’’

South Carolina is home to seven military installations, including Fort Jackson, the Army’s largest boot camp, and hosts more than 38,000 active-duty personnel. Tens of thousands of veterans live here, and countless civilians depend on an economy powered by the armed services.

South Carolina is “more red blooded than the rest of the country’’ and appealing to voters’ sense of “patriotism will probably take you farther than other places,’’ said DuBose Kapeluck, a professor of political science at The Citadel, a military college in Charleston.

“The military vote is important in any calculus for any candidate who wants to be successful here,’’ he said.

While his rivals espouse the traditional GOP gospel of beefing up the country’s defenses by boosting, not cutting, military spending, Paul wants to close overseas bases and bring troops home. Long an opponent of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Paul argues that sovereign nations must confront turmoil within their borders on their own.

“Perhaps the people who know best are the people who are enlisted. His message resonates because what he says makes sense to them,’’ said Karen Kedrowski, who chairs the political science department at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C.

“He has a military background, and it could inoculate him from those who criticize his policies as an attack on the military itself,’’ Kedrowski said.

Paul does have critics, though, especially among older veterans.

George McKnight, 78, a Vietnam war POW and Air Force veteran, spoke derisively of Paul’s plan to withdraw troops from abroad when McKnight joined dozens of other veterans at a Mitt Romney event in Hilton Head last week. “He’s kind of a wimp, I think.’’ Diplomacy? “With some of these guys, it’ll be like talking to Hitler with diplomacy.’’

At Monday’s debate in Myrtle Beach, some in the crowd booed when Paul began describing his “Golden Rule’’ on foreign policy.

“My point is if another country does to us what we do others, we’re not going to like it very much,’’ he said. “I would say that we maybe ought to consider the golden rule in foreign policy.’’

But his views have resonated among his young followers and stoked support from many active-duty personnel, who see Paul’s approach to military spending as prudent fiscal policy. Paul has said he would cut $1 trillion from the federal budget in his first year of office.

“The Republican side loves veterans and the military - you can see that in their spending,’’ said Bradley Hatfield, 25, who served in the Marines for four years until 2009. But he agrees with Paul that some of that military spending is waste. “Ron Paul is going to end the gravy train for a lot of stuff, and it’s not going to hurt the military.’’

Uncontrolled spending, added Jacob Jameson, 26, a Navy veteran and now an economics major, is putting the country on course to becoming “poor, broke and destitute.’’

Last month, Jameson dug deep into his pockets - a sacrifice for any student on a budget, he said - to donate $100 to Paul’s campaign.

Jameson scoffs at Paul’s rivals who campaign on patriotism. “All of them are trying to project themselves as more patriotic than the other. I see right through it. Just a marketing ploy,’’ Jameson said.

To burnish his prodefense credentials, Romney enlisted the star power of a famous veteran, Senator John McCain of Arizona, who recently campaigned with Romney across the Palmetto State.

Paul is relying on his army of youthful volunteers, many of them post-9/11 veterans who are emblematic of the generational divide over the role of the military, to serve as foot soldiers in his battle to change minds.

Older generations of veterans, raised during the Cold War, might have a more traditional view of the US role in global politics, as the sole superpower, according to Kapeluck. “The younger generation is living through globalization, and are perhaps more comfortable with the United States having a diminished role in being the policeman of the world.’’

Stephen Spalding, a 24-year-old junior grade officer at the naval base near Charleston, has been campaigning for Paul. He was drawn, he said, by Paul’s steadfast stance on stanching the national debt by curbing spending and on his plans to bring troops home.

Others on active duty expressed similar sentiments but declined to have their names published in fear of violating Pentagon rules prohibiting some forms of open display of political partisanship when in uniform.

Spalding said his support for Paul runs deep, but he takes care to campaign in his civilian attire.

“When it comes to his foreign policy, he’s not going to budge from it, even if it’s unpopular among the Republican establishment,’’ said Spalding, who earlier this week went door-to-door to generate support for Paul.

When he came upon the home of Melissa Woodard, 42, he found a convert. “I liked Obama,’’ said Woodard, “but we’re in serious trouble here. . . . We need to look at our problems here in the US,’’ she said, referring to the sluggish economy. “We’re in desperate straits.’’ Woodard said she had made up her mind to vote for Paul.

Ron Paul 2012!!!

Why Newt tanked in Iowa and can never beat Obama

Dear Tyler ,

I am going to describe a candidate for you right now, and I want you to think about whether or not you would support him.

This candidate was for the individual mandate that served as the model for "ObamaCare." He was originally for the TARP bank bailouts before he was against them. He joined with Nancy Pelosi to promote the anti-business "global warming" agenda.

He slammed Paul Ryan's budget plan as "extreme," calling it "right wing social engineering."

You might think I am talking about Mitt Romney. Heck, you might think I'm talking about a liberal Democrat. But I'm not.

That candidate I'm talking about is Newt Gingrich. He is what I like to call a "counterfeit conservative."

And I have barely even scratched the surface!

My campaign team has put together a great video that tells you more about Gingrich and his liberal positions over the years. It tells you how he flip-flopped on a host of important issues.

And it shows, despite his claims, he is simply not a conservative.

You can take a look at the video HERE, which has spread like wildfire across the web, as it's received almost 1 million views!



You might have seen recently that Mr. Gingrich traded on his former political office to land a $1.8 million lobbying contract with Freddie Mac.

Why is this so disturbing?

Because while this out-of-control federal agency, along with Fannie Mae, was ruining the housing market and causing millions of homeowners to lose their homes and life savings, Newt Gingrich was earning millions advising it.

At that same exact time, I was publicly declaring they needed to be stopped before they ruined the economy.

I guess Newt Gingrich and I have a different idea of what to do with federal bureaucracies. I fight to rein them in and shut them down before they can do harm. He pads his personal bank account while they wreck our economy.

While I was fighting environmental extremists, the out-of-control EPA, and the Soros-funded green movement, Newt Gingrich was filming commercials with Nancy Pelosi.

While I was fighting government bailouts, Newt was saying he would have voted FOR them.

Don't be fooled by the words candidates use when they are running for office. Look hard at their records. My record is one of true limited government, anti-Washington, D.C. conservatism.

Newt Gingrich has a long record of liberal appeasement, flip-flopping on key issues, and lobbying for insider millions.

Millions. That's right. Remember the individual mandate I mentioned earlier that Newt supported? His healthcare group received nearly $40 MILLION in contributions from the healthcare industry.

I have rarely seen a candidate who represents so much of what is wrong with Washington and what is wrong with our political system.

We can and must demand better.

We must demand REAL conservative values. We must demand a person who puts faith, family, and freedom ahead of all else. And we must demand a candidate who has remained true to principle his entire career.

I believe I am that candidate, and I ask you to take a look at my Plan to Restore America at www.ronpaul2012.com.

You can tell I mean every word in it -- just as I've meant every word I have said in public life. And that's something that everyone will admit, whether they agree with all of my positions or not.

With me, what you see and hear is what you get. Wouldn't that be a nice change?

I am the only true conservative in the top tier of candidates running for the GOP nomination. And I ask for your support.

Together, we can stop the counterfeit conservatives AND the liberals in the White House. We can take back and Restore America Now.


For Liberty,

Ron Paul

P.S. Whether it's flip-flopping on TARP, supporting the individual mandate that served as a model for "ObamaCare," joining with Nancy Pelosi in support of the global-warming crowd's radical agenda, or making millions off of Freddie Mac as it helped destroy our economy, Newt Gingrich is trying to pull the wool over our eyes.

He's what I call a "counterfeit conservative."

Here's an ad my campaign put together explaining his record of supporting liberal policies. Please take a moment to watch it.

So please click here to make your most generous contribution so my campaign has the resources necessary to blitz the airwaves in the coming primary and caucus states with the message of Newt Gingrich's serial hypocrisy.

http://www.ronpaul2012.com/pages/nocounterfeits.html?pid=0119

Ron Paul 2012!!!

Ron Paul 2012!!!

Ron Paul 2012!!!

Ron vs Mitt

http://ronvsmitt.com/

Ron Paul To Everyone But Mitt: Drop Out

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire—Rep. Ron Paul's campaign called on the rest of the Republican field to drop out of the race and unite behind him in order to defeat Mitt Romney.
“We urge Ron Paul’s opponents who have been unsuccessfully trying to be the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney to unite by getting out of the race and uniting behind Paul’s candidacy,” campaign chair Jesse Benton said in a statement.
Read the full statement below:
LAKE JACKSON, Texas – Ron Paul tonight scored an historic second-place victory in the 2012 New Hampshire Primary. Below please find comments from National Campaign Chairman Jesse Benton:

“Ron Paul tonight had an incredibly strong second-place finish in New Hampshire and has stunned the national media and political establishment.

“When added to Paul’s top-tier showing in Iowa, it’s clear he is the sole Republican candidate who can take on and defeat both Mitt Romney and Barack Obama.

“The race is becoming more clearly a two-man race between establishment candidate Mitt Romney and Ron Paul, the candidate of authentic change. That means there is only one true conservative choice.

"Ron Paul has won more votes in Iowa and New Hampshire than any candidate but Mitt Romney.

"Ron Paul and Mitt Romney have been shown in national polls to be the only two candidates who can defeat Barack Obama.

"And Ron Paul and Mitt Romney are the only two candidates who can run a full, national campaign, competing in state after state over the coming weeks and months. Ron Paul's fundraising numbers -- over $13 million this quarter -- also prove he will be able to compete with Mitt Romney. No other candidate can do all of these things.

"Ron Paul is clearly the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney as the campaign goes forward.

“We urge Ron Paul’s opponents who have been unsuccessfully trying to be the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney to unite by getting out of the race and uniting behind Paul’s candidacy.

“Ron Paul has the boldest plan to cut spending, a dedication to protecting life, and a lifelong dedication to the Constitution and limited government. He also has the necessary support to campaign nationwide against Mitt Romney.

“Our campaign is already planning ahead for South Carolina, Florida, and beyond. Soon Ron Paul will head to South Carolina to begin a feverish round of campaigning.

“Ron Paul is in this race for the long haul. And he is ready to fight.

“See you on the campaign trail.”

ROMNEY GOT $10 MILLION FEDERAL BAILOUT AT BAIN

Mitt Romney received a $10 million bailout from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in 1991, an event that runs contrary to the multimillionaire’s current anti-bailout position.

Documents obtained by the Boston Globe show that the FDIC negotiated a $10 million forgiveness with Bain & Co. while Romney was chairman and CEO in 1993.




The negotiations were part of a deal designed to reduce the debt load at the company, which was near bankruptcy. The FDIC had been forced to seize Bank of New England, who was a creditor of Bain’s.

In 2008, in a New York Times op-ed titled “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt,” Romney argued that “Detroit needs a turnaround, not a check.”

In May of 2011, Chrysler succesfully paid the U.S. Treasury back $5.1 billion from its federal bailout, while a study found that 1.14 million jobs were saved by the bailout of the auto industry. [Daily Kos]

Quote Content, Veterans for Ron Paul