Belief in Ron Paul rallies young Iowa volunteers

By KEN HERMAN
Cox News Servi
Published on: 12/31/07

BOONE, Iowa — The polls say one thing. The Pauls say another.

Despite surveys indicating a Ron Paul presidency is about as likely as a balmy January day in Iowa, young supporters who have flocked to his campaign remain upbeat as Thursday's Iowa caucuses approach.

"Do I expect him to be president? I think so," said John Zambenini, a 22-year-old Dayton, Ohio native who became the campaign's Iowa spokesman in October, a month after he first heard the name Ron Paul. "I think the more Americans know about Ron Paul they will realize we cannot afford not to have him as president."

Paul's Iowa campaign claims more than 300 volunteers from 39 states and four foreign countries. Most are bivouacked at seven camps around the state and driven into towns for door-to-door campaigning.

"It's like herding cats," said Jeff Frazee, a Houston native and Texas A&M graduate who is Paul's national youth coordinator.

At a YMCA Camp in Boone rented by the campaign, Frazee on Sunday gave the 8:30 a.m. pep talk to volunteers who signed up for "Ron Paul's Christmas Vacation in Iowa." Participants were reminded in advance to bring "bathroom supplies (toothbrush, deodorant, soap, shampoo, etc. — medication" and "warm/nice clothes ? you will be representing Ron Paul to Iowans, don't be a slob."

A "What NOT to bring" list included "alcohol/drugs" and "guns, knives, fireworks."

Many, like University of Georgia senior Andrew Pierson of Atlanta, are doing something they never saw themselves doing.

"It's 70 degrees back in Georgia," he said Sunday (overshooting the actual Atlanta high by about 20 degrees) as he headed out on a 14-degree morning to go door to door in Des Moines. "Why am I here? I'm here for Ron Paul."

For Pierson, 21 and already "disgusted with politicians and politics," Paul is someone to believe in.

"I thought they were all corrupt. And then I heard about Ron Paul and he really just made me rethink everything," said Pierson, sporting a University of Georgia sweatshirt as one of his layers of clothing against the cold.

After the Thursday caucuses, Pierson will make a 24-hour Greyhound bus trip back to Atlanta.

For Texan Brittney Lowery, 20, the Paul camp is a combination of love and politics. It is, she said, "sort of our honeymoon." Lowery and Adam Weibling, who's also here, got married Oct. 5.

"I've never done anything like this before," Lowery, a University of Houston student, said of campaigning for Paul.

In the face of polls that say otherwise, the young people who gathered here Sunday before fanning out to knock on doors are convinced President Ron Paul will take the oath in January 2009.

"The thing that nobody notices in the polls is that 60 percent of the people have still never heard of him," said 19-year-old Matt Strunk of Vero Beach, Fla., who first saw Paul on "The Colbert Report." "So once his message gets out, that's really all it takes for him to win."

Texas Tech senior Kevin McBride of Bridgeport, Texas, says Paul will win because "the alternative is unacceptable."

The enthusiasm is stoked by a campaign that says the stakes are high.

"Iowa is a key state in the political process," according to the campaign's in-house guide to the caucuses, "and Ron Paul may be our last hope for America."

Dayton native Zambenini came to Iowa with recent experience in accomplishing uphill goals a little at a time. After graduating from Asbury College in Kentucky last May, he got on his bike in Norfolk, Va., and pedaled until he reached San Francisco 53 days later.

At 22, he typifies Pauldom, categorizing himself as a Republican who is "quite disenfranchised with the war and things like that" and fed up with President Bush, who he brands a "tax-and-spend politician."

"Finally," he said of Paul, "a candidate I felt like I could get behind."

I found this article at http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/12/31/caucuspaul_1230.html

RON PAUL ON DRUGS WITH JOHN STOSSEL

Christmas Miracle? Ron Paul Blimp Close to Take Off UPDATE 1

Friday, December 07, 2007 - FreeMarketNews.com

Only yesterday, an innovative marketing vision supporting the presidential campaign of Ron Paul (R-Tex) was losing altitude faster than the notorious and tragic Hindenburg blimp. The grand vision of a vast hot-air balloon hovering over the Super Bowl asking the Randian question, “Who Is Ron Paul,” was seemingly deflated, a victim of unfilled pledges and generally slow fund-raising.

Twenty four hours can change a lot. Today, Friday morning (EST) with nearly $190,000 in actual donations, and more money regularly pouring in to www.RonPaulBlimp.com, it looks as if the vision of Trevor Lyman and his associates will soon achieve some sort of take off.

Lyman, the volunteer marketing guru for the presidential campaign of Jeffersonian conservative Ron Paul (R-Tex) will likely help Ron Paul raise up to $10 million by mid December through various “mass donation days,” and now his dearest brainchild is shaping up as well.

If it flies, as it seems to be on the verge of doing, modest Lyman, who only yesterday was “almost broke” according to friends, will thank thousands of Ron Paul supporters who decided the "big idea" of a high-flying blimp was impassioned as his fundamental belief in Ron Paul, which nearly led him to bankruptcy.

Only 24 hours ago, an impassioned and “grim” Lyman reached out to the Ron Paul community for help to salvage the blimp project, after certain pledges taken by the blimp site turned out to be bogus. The dire need was for $200,000 - and that seems almost achieved, as of this writing, Friday AM/EST.

But yesterday, friends carried the word to Ron Paul web sites and news networks such FMNN that Lyman was literally down to his last dollar and would be returning to his music marketing business. Now, the blimp looks likely to fly - as improbably as the limited government campaign of Ron Paul itself. Fund-raising will continue as long as Ron Paul supporters believe in it, according to sources close to the project.

These supporters add that the for-profit status of the project was invented purely as a legal response to FEC regs, and that Lyman himself is first and foremost - and always - a supporter of Ron Paul and his limited-government beliefs, and that has always been his sole motivation. He still, as of this writing, has not taken a penny of a modest blimp stipend, despite his circumstances. Likely he will have to, at some point, unless someone can lend him some money.

http://www.freemarketnews.com/WorldNews.asp?nid=52289

There are hurdles of course, as to be operating on anything but the proverbial shoestring, the project needs continued donations - and funding in excess of $200,000. But sources close to the project are betting that with the generous support of the Ron Paul community, the blimp will fly for weeks and even longer.

=====

UPDATE: A press release has been issued about the blimp as follows:

Presidential Candidate Ron Paul Has a Blimp

7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Supporters of Presidential candidate Ron Paul are excited to announce the launch of their very own privately funded Ron Paul blimp. In less than a month the idea has gone from a wishful post on a website to a full-blown and flying reality.

Launch date is set for the morning of December 11th from Elizabeth City, NC where the blimp will then fly north to New Hampshire with stops in Washington D.C., New York City and Boston. The blimp will be met at each stop by thousands of Ron Paul supporters who will come to cheer it on as it continues its journey while passing over stadiums, parks, highways and anywhere else people gather.

This is a historic event as no other candidate has ever had their own blimp, let alone one initiated by and paid for by their supporters. Paulites, as they are known, have pledged to donate over $420,000 to fund the blimp for as long as it is needed.

The blimp measures 197 feet long and over 66 feet high, making it one of the largest airships in the world. Along with two pilots the blimp comes with a ground crew of 15-20 that travel with the blimp and assist with landing and takeoffs. The gondola seats 12 passengers, plus the pilots. These seats will be made available to supporters, veterans, charities, dignitaries and the media.

The Ron Paul blimp plans to be in Boston for the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party on December 16th where it will join supporters on the ground who will be protesting the high level of taxation we experience. Weather permitting, plans have it in New Hampshire for as long as possible up until the New Hampshire primary at which point it will fly south to South Carolina and Florida.

Contact:
Bryce Henderson, Media Coordinator
Liberty Political Advertising, LLC
www.RonPaulBlimp.com

Ron Paul is no longer a dark horse

CARLA MARINUCCI
San Francisco Chronicle

They were a lonely band of rebels until just a few weeks ago, backing the darkest of dark horse presidential candidates.

But with Republican Rep. Ron Paul's fundraising on the rise - $4.2 million raised on the Internet in one day this month - and his poll numbers jumping, the Texas congressman might no longer be a "who?" but a potential problem for leading Republican presidential candidates in key states such as New Hampshire.

And in California, the state where the 72-year-old doctor-politician has raised the most money, those who call themselves part of the "Ron Paul Revolution" couldn't be happier.

Paul's backers are people such as Brad Sanford, 29, a Silicon Valley tech worker who said he never had been involved in politics or campaigns until this year.

Sanford, attending a Paul campaign Bay Area "meet-up" event, said he first caught Paul's appearances on cable programs like "The Bill Maher Show," "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report." Since then, Sanford has registered Republican for the first time to vote in the California presidential primary on Feb. 5 while "maxing out" his political donation budget with $2,300 to Paul's campaign.

Sanford now is walking precincts for Paul because he said the candidate is strongly against the war in Iraq and can appeal to millions who believe that America has "strayed too far from our values" and fundamentals laid out in the Constitution.

"For young people, it's the war; for older people, it's a straight common-sense approach" to taxes, the economy and values, said Holly Clearman, California field coordinator for the Paul campaign.

Clearman said the life of a Ron Paul supporter used to be a lonely undertaking.

"I thought there were only 10 of us, and nobody I knew," she said. But that changed in recent months as the candidate raised $9 million this quarter, and "the cat is out of the bag."

Paul followers are buoyed by the latest polls from CNN and the New York Times showing that their candidate has jumped ahead of former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in Iowa, the site of the nation's first 2008 primary on Jan. 3.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Arizona Sen. John McCain still dominate the race in that independent-minded, "Live Free or Die" state. But Paul's recent rise has prompted pundits to acknowledge that the Texan - once dismissed as a fringe candidate - could have an impact on the presidential race.

Paul's eclectic mix of fiercely libertarian and conservative values has created a passionate support base that might be unlike any other candidate in the 2008 presidential race.

The former practicing obstetrician, who has served in the House about 20 of the past 35 years, is vehemently anti-abortion - voting against federal funding of abortion, stem cell research and even family planning funding in U.S. foreign aid - and strongly pro-gun rights. His views have gained him high ratings from conservatives and groups such as the Christian Coalition and the National Rifle Association. Paul also is seen as strongly anti-environmental by groups such as the League of Conservation Voters, which gave him just a 5 percent legislative rating on his voting record.

But Paul also appeals to progressives on a number of issues: He supports repealing most federal drug laws, including those against medical marijuana, is against the death penalty, vigorously opposes the war in Iraq and is against the Patriot Act and free trade agreements such as NAFTA.

Indeed, some political analysts suggested he is the 2008 campaign's political ink blot test - able to represent whatever voters see in him.

Stephanie Burns, 50, a construction manager from Sausalito, Calif., who helps arrange biweekly Bay Area meetings in support of Paul, said the Texas congressman's campaign - like Democrat Howard Dean's in 2004 - has skillfully utilized the Internet to reach out to voters who might otherwise never be connected. "And ever since the $4.2 million, it has changed things," she said. "There's a lot more recognition by the media."

Burns motioned around the room to some of the people the Internet has brought to Paul's cause.

"I've never even been interested in politics my whole life," Brandy Alexander, 34, a University California-San Francisco researcher, told the group.

But after she and her boyfriend, William Newby, 28, a computer programmer, watched Paul slam U.S. involvement in the Iraq war and expound on his views during the televised GOP debates, they were hooked.

Thanks to Paul, she said, "Now, I find myself borderline obsessed with it.

Huckabee’s Leap in Iowa Poll Reverberates

DES MOINES – The big news in presidential politics this Sunday is the pole vault of Mike Huckabee into first place in the new Des Moines Register poll of likely Iowa Republican caucus-goers, who had appeared to favor the better-known, better-financed Mitt Romney for much of this year.

The poll found Mr. Huckabee, a former governor of Arkansas, winning 29 percent of the support from Republicans who definitely or probably plan to vote in the Jan. 3 caucuses – an increase of 17 points since the last poll in early October. Mr. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, fell to second place with 24 percent of the vote, while former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani came in third with 13 percent.

On the Democratic side, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois showed continued strength against Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, polling in a statistical dead heat that also includes former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina.

The poll of 500 Republicans and 500 Democrats, conducted in late November, had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points. Iowa goes first among all the states in the presidential nominating process of caucuses and primaries, followed by New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina.

In the last Register poll, in early October, Mrs. Clinton led Mr. Edwards and Mr. Obama, 29-23-22 percent respectively.

Since then Mrs. Clinton has faced a barrage of criticism from the two men – particularly from Mr. Edwards – over her positions on Iran, Social Security reform, and her candor and electability. She has only recently begun returning fire in kind, though so far it has been mostly aimed at Mr. Obama and the fact that his health insurance proposal does not guarantee universal coverage because it does not require people to obtain insurance.

Among the most interesting findings in the poll, Mr. Obama also overtook Mrs. Clinton in her core demographic – female voters. He had support from 31 percent of women likely to attend the caucuses, compared to 26 percent for Mrs. Clinton. In the October poll, Mrs. Clinton had 34 percent to Mr. Obama’s 21 percent.

The poll also found Mr. Huckabee leading Mr. Romney among men, born-again Christians, and middle-aged voters, and running about even among women and older voters. Mr. Romney did better with younger Republicans,

Three other Republican candidates – Fred Thompson, John McCain, and Ron Paul – were all in the single digits in the new poll.

Kucinich thinks Paul should be heard

Just about every day, another prominent Republican decides to leave Washington for private life, though not many Democrats are leaving. Both parties expect the Democrats to win control of the Congress and the White House in 2008, so even former Speaker Dennis Hastert and former Senate Leader Trent Lott are calling it quits. They apparently don't want to risk remaining in the unpleasant position of being in the minority.

This shouldn't be too surprising, because it reflects important differences between the two parties. Republicans, generally, don't like government, to start with. Their current great hero, Ronald Reagan said it best: "Government is not the solution; government is the problem." Democrats tend to follow Franklin Roosevelt, who believed government should take the side of working people to do the things they couldn't do for themselves, or that business wouldn't do. Thus, he created Social Security, unemployment compensation, and so on, over Republican opposition. Taxes were assessed more on the wealthy and big business than on working people.

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In recent years, the parties at the national level have changed somewhat, as the Republican Party has been strongly influenced by Christian fundamentalism, especially in the South, and the Democratic Party has been wooed by big business. Both parties cater to media giants that tend to control communication. This has resulted in the political dialogue moving to the so-called right, away from activist government in economic matters, but toward confrontations over religious issues at home, and economics and religion abroad.
So, we find all of the Republican candidates except Ron Paul supporting the war in Iraq. The Democrats - some which supported the war - seem mostly unwilling to withdraw all of our troops and end the occupation. Apparently, they are reluctant to allow the nations of that region to control their own oil, the main reason we have intervened there.

Among the Democrats, only Ohio's Dennis Kucinich advocates a total withdrawal from Iraq and the region. He led the opposition to the attack on Iraq and now, logically, supports the impeachment of Cheney and Bush. He also has been a strong advocate for alternative sources of energy, reducing our dependence on foreign oil. Kucinich is the only current presidential candidate advocating full national health care, "Medicare for all."

I had dinner with Kucinich, when he was mayor of Cleveland and getting blamed daily in the news for Cleveland's economic ills. His perspective was he was standing in the way of the Cleveland municipal power company being privatized, so he was the target of wealthy interests he called "corporate vampires," who were subjecting Cleveland and other American cities to "economic strip mining." He stuck to his guns, and the profit-free power system continued to provide cheaper energy to the area. He also engineered an increase in the city's income tax on upper level incomes. Like FDR with his Tennessee Valley Authority, Kucinich was providing a model for energy alternatives, and like FDR, he was taxing those best able to pay to fund government services.

Of course, the media still blame Kucinich for Cleveland's continued economic ills, even though several mayors, including current Sen. George Voinovich, have struggled with and failed to solve that city's problems. At the root of most of the economic problems of America's cities is, in fact, something like the economic strip mining Kucinich pointed out - but that's another column.

It's too bad that in the current presidential campaign Congressman Kucinich and Republican Ron Paul - both of whom oppose the occupation of Iraq - are treated as insignificant. They speak for millions of people, and are the best expressions of the two philosophies of government. Paul, the libertarian, arguing, "That government governs best which governs least," and Kucinich, the progressive, believing government should help ordinary people with the major problems of their lives, such as health care - and relishing his work in government.

Let's hope neither of them gives up any time soon. We need their views and their voices. And we need to include them in the debate

Florida GOP Official Threatens Ron Paul Straw Poll Voter with Violence

The Pinellas County Republican Executive Committee planned to hold a straw poll on the night of the CNN-sponsored Youtube Republican debate in St. Petersburg. In October the REC Board announced the straw poll and advised its members that only 1,200 tickets would be available and sold for the straw poll. Anyone would be allowed to vote in the straw poll as long as they were over 18 years of age and held a Florida driver's license. They were also told that they should snap up the tickets quickly if they were interested in participating in the poll since the committee anticipated a large voter turnout.

Ron Paul supporter and Pinellas County REC member Sophie (last name withheld for privacy) of Clearwater, Florida was concerned about the limited number of tickets available and was considering purchasing a block of tickets that she could then individually resell to other Paul supporters. She telephoned the local REC office and spoke with a Marilyn. She asked about the possibility of buying tickets in bulk. The woman advised her that she could purchase a block of 50 tickets. Later Marilyn contacted Sophie and informed her that she would be able to purchase as many tickets as she would like. Sophie then purchased several hundred tickets and resold the prepaid tickets to fellow Paul supporters. In the end she managed to resell about 2/3 of the tickets she had bought.

Once at the straw poll, Sophie and others noticed that Mitt Romney supporters were voting for their candidate dozens of times each. The St. Petersburg Times would later document this in an article. Sophie was upset that the rules she had been told were not the rules after all. On Thursday, the day after the debate, she called chairman of the Pinellas County Republican Executive Committee, Tonoy DiMatteo to inform him of the misdeeds that had occurred at the straw poll. She was shocked when he answered: "It's too bad for you, and if you start any trouble you will be hurt." (Watch Sophie's account of the incident here.)

Obviously upset by the incident, Sophie called her local Meetup group organizer, Paul Bourgeois, who said that Romney even had 5-year-old kids voting in the straw poll. Paul had, at an earlier time, discussed the rule changes with Tony. Mr. DiMatteo made it very clear to Paul that he and Sophie had not better take this any further or else.

If you would like to call or write Tony DiMatteo (who is, perhaps not surprisingly, a Giuliani supporter) and let him know that you will not stand for this criminal activity, have at it:

Pinellas County Republican Executive Committee

Tony DiMatteo (Chairman)

727.539.6009

Ron Paul has caught the attention of many

Dennis Lee of Selah had never really been involved in presidential politics before. For that matter, neither had Gordon Althauser of Ellensburg or Royal Schoen of Yakima.

But they're involved now. They're giving their time and money to Ron Paul, a maverick Republican congressman from Texas who won support from just 5 percent of respondents in a recent Gallup Poll matchup with other GOP candidates.

But passionate support from them and other Yakima Valley residents has created more local visibility for Paul's campaign than for some more mainstream candidates.

Paul is a guy they'd never heard of a year ago, and who is given no chance of winning by any mainstream political commentators. He's an obstetrician-
gynecologist who wants to get U.S. troops out of Iraq right away, abolish the Internal Revenue Service, eliminate the U.S. Department of Education and return to the long-gone gold standard.

His local supporters recognize and freely acknowledge that some of Paul's positions are far from the political center. They know that their man, who began his third and most-recent stint as a congressman in 1997, doesn't appeal to mainstream Republicans or Democrats.

"That is exactly what I like about him," said Lee, a 45-year-old refrigeration service worker from Selah. "I can honestly tell you that I love this guy."

Lee is not alone. Driven by Internet "meetup" groups, bloggers and grass-roots activists, Rep. Paul's campaign has become one of the more visible locally and around the country, certainly among the so-called second-tier candidates.

There are Ron Paul signs on Yakima street corners and Ron Paul magnets on cars. Once a week, his supporters stand on Yakima sidewalks holding Ron Paul banners. Two dozen people have joined the Yakima Ron Paul group at meetup.com, and they've met 11 times already as of Friday. The Ellensburg Ron Paul group has 16 members and has met three times.

Paul's surging popularity nationwide over the past few months is the latest example of the "netroots" phenomenon, by which grass-roots campaigns are waged online not by the candidate but by fervent supporters in the blogosphere. The Internet allows people to build a coalition in cyberspace and raise money in ways they couldn't a decade ago, said David Domke, a University of Washington professor and Democratic campaign consultant who studies political communication.

Paul, with about $10.3 million raised so far, is still far behind the $63 million raised by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney through October, or the $47 million raised by former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani.

But in a move that caught the attention of political insiders, on Nov. 5 Paul's online backers organized a one-day donation blitz of $4.2 million, a one-day high for all 2008 presidential candidates.

Thompson claims Right to Life endorsement

by Mark Silva

Fred Thompson, the former senator from Tennessee and prime-time television star seeking the Republican Party’s presidential nomination, collected the National Right to Life Committee’s endorsement today despite his opposition to a constitutional amendment banning abortion.

The endorsement itself could offer a boost for a candidate who entered the race with great expectations but has not registered as the favorite among many Republicans surveyed. It also offers a new target of criticism for rivals who insist that Thompson is a newcomer to the cause of life.

“Fred Thompson has had a strong, consistent pro-life record throughout his political career," Wanda Franz, the National Right to Life Committee president, said at the announcement of the group’s endorsement in Washington today. “"As pro- lifers throughout the nation begin to unite behind his candidacy, he will be well-positioned to win the nomination and the presidency."

Yet the endorsement also provides another piece in a puzzling division among the religious right. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has claimed the backing of evangelist Pat Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition, despite Guiliani’s support for abortion rights and gay rights. Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, has claimed the backing of Paul M. Weyrich, a founder of the Moral Majority. And John McCain, senator from Arizona, has claimed the support of an erstwhile rival in the race, Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas.

“It's almost like the endorsement was dreamed up by some sort of novelist who wanted to further create confusion in the Republican ranks," Stuart Rothenberg, an independent political analyst, suggests. "It just adds to the sense that there is no consensus developing as to who the nominee should be."

Thompson has explained his opposition to a constitutional amendment against abortion by saying, as he did on NBC News’ Meet the Press this month: “I think people ought to be free at state and local levels to make decisions that even Fred Thompson disagrees with.’’

Instead, Thompson has argued that Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion in the U.S., should be overturned.

The Democratic National Committee stands ready with an analysis of Thompson’s record on abortion, which includes opposition to criminalizing it: In 1994, on an Eagle Forum survey, Thompson answered that he opposed criminalizing abortion. Two years later, on a Christian Coalition questionnaire, he checked ‘opposed’ to a proposed constitutional amendment protecting the sanctity of human life.”

The National Right to Life Committee’s own Web-site had reported less than 100 percent agreement with the former senator: Handing him scores of 87 percent on its issues from 1997-98, 78 percent from 1999-2000 and 33 percent from 2001-2002.

“Now Thompson Is trying to explain away his record with empty rhetoric and excuses that don’t add up,’’ the DNC says in a release today.

“Thompson is now campaigning on the pro-life position, claiming that he has no recollection of filling out the several surveys portraying his as pro-abortion rights other pro-choice statements. In a recent appearance on Fox News’ Hannity and Colmes, Thompson claimed, “I don’t remember that box. You know, it was a long time ago, and I don’t know if I filled it out or my staff – based on what they thought my position was – filled it out.”

Tribune wire services contributed to this report.

Posted by Mark Silva on November 13, 2007 1:52 PM | Permalink

Press releases on Ron P aul

CNN Reports Ron Paul in 4th Place For Republican Nomination

November 20, 2007 10:46 am EST

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA—Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul’s support is rising in New Hampshire, according to a CNN/WMUR poll released Monday. The 10-term Texas congressman and onetime GOP “longshot” has surpassed former frontrunner Fred Thompson, who is now in sixth place, to claim fourth place in the Republican presidential field with eight percent.

November 29, 2007 7:29 am EST

ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA—Rising Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul emerged as the clear winner of Wednesday evening’s CNN/YouTube Republican presidential debate. 47 percent of CNN voters believed that the Texas congressman Ron Paul won the debate, according to CNN’s post-debate online poll and debate scorecard.

Mike Huckabee came in second place with 23 percent of the vote.

In addition to winning the debate, Congressman Paul placed first in multiple scorecard categories. 46 percent of CNN voters indicated they believed Congressman Paul knew “the most about the issues,” and 44 percent said they felt he had “the best response to user-generated content.” Additionally, 43 percent of voters declared that Congressman Paul’s campaign “got the biggest boost from the debate.”

“The Republican presidential candidates came out in full force Wednesday night, but only Congressman Ron Paul stood out as the clear winner,” said Paul campaign spokesman Jesse Benton. “The crowd’s enthusiasm for his responses on everything from the war and traditional non-interventionist foreign policy to the economy and his promise to eliminate the IRS shows that Americans overwhelmingly support Dr. Paul’s message of freedom, peace, and prosperity.”

The CNN/YouTube Republican debate featured user-generate video questions to which the candidates responded on-stage.


November 30, 2007 2:15 pm EST

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA—Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, a 10-term Texas congressman and advocate of military non-interventionism overseas, has condemned the war in Iraq but praised American humanitarian and commercial efforts helping to bring peace to the Iraqi people.



Thursday morning, a five-year-old Iraqi boy named Youssif, was afforded an important and life-altering surgery by CNN.com readers, the Grossman Burn Center in Los Angeles, California, and the Children’s Burn Foundation. More than $300,000 was raised to bring the Iraqi boy, whose face was severely scarred after being doused with gas and set on fire in Baghdad this January, and his family to America two months ago. Dr. Peter Grossman, a plastic surgeon with the Grossman Burn Center, has donated his services to repair the scarring to the young boy’s face.



Congressman Paul today issued the following statement in support of Dr. Grossman and the generous contributors:



“I often state that America’s greatest characteristic is not our military might, but rather the individual generosity and kindness of our people. Many have thanked God for it, in many different languages, and I am continually moved by the countless acts of humanitarianism by American citizens. Today, I have the pleasure of commending Dr. Peter Grossman, the Grossman Burn Center, Children’s Burn Foundation, and CNN readers who have forever changed Youssif’s life and given him hope after surviving an unthinkable and heinous attack. Their remarkable generosity is a testament to the global goodwill of the American people. Youssif himself is a reminder to us that we must not isolate ourselves from people in nations we perceive to be against us. That human connection must always be in our hearts and minds, as it certainly is with Youssif and his family. My family and I wish Youssif a safe and peaceful recovery.”