Pulling for Paul

Republican candidate for president, Texas congressman Dr. Ron Paul, recently visited Reno on a campaign swing through the Silver State. As head of the local Ron Paul meet-up group, Barbara Schum was there supporting her candidate, a man who a good deal of the media seems to ignore, like an air-traffic controller ignoring a giant, growing blip on the radar screen as just so much noise. Still, Dr. Paul supporters are perhaps the most motivated and passionate to back any of the ’08 candidates. So what gives?

What accounts for the hearty, grassroots support for this man?

Ron Paul’s grassroots campaign can’t be compared to any other candidate’s group of supporters. The others are more like AstroTurf. We are the real deal. We’ve been called spammers, tin-foil hatters and just plain insane for supporting Ron Paul. America needs to turn off the TV and wake up to what is happening to our great country. Our government is sick, and we need a doctor, not another lawyer. Freedom is popular. That is the heart of Ron Paul’s message: freedom.

Freedom is nice, but what exact issues and positions does Ron Paul stand for?

Ron Paul personifies the Founding Fathers’ ideal of the citizen-statesman. He makes it clear that his principles will never be compromised—and they never are. Look at his 20-year voting record in the House. Ron Paul tirelessly works for limited constitutional government, individual liberty, the Bill of Rights, low taxes, free markets and a return to sound monetary policies.

He also wants to return the dollar to being backed by gold as well as to eliminate the Federal Reserve, right?

Exactly.

Paul, or rather, Paul supporters raised $4 (or so) million in a single day in November? Sounds like somebody is listening to his message.

Right. On November 5, 2007. Supporters of Ron Paul [headed by an independent political action committee helmed by Trevor Lymon] raised $4.2 million dollars in one day, breaking Mitt Romney’s $3.1 record. This was an idea the grassroots came up with to show that Americans do support Ron Paul. And more do every day.

Have you ever volunteered so much of your own time or given money to a campaign before? Have you ever been this excited about a presidential candidate?

I’ve donated money here and there, but I’ve never backed anybody like this. I began a Ron Paul meet-up group called The Great Basin Patriots for Ron Paul (www.ronpaul.meetup.com/845). Through this meet-up, we have assisted the Ron Paul campaign gleefully. We ran the booth for the Conservative Leadership Conference, and on November 20 our group was in charge of all decorations for the press conference, luncheon and rally. To date we have 71 members and our meet-up group started in late August. The Great Basin Patriots members have put in countless hours and money and time to get the word out about this wonderful man. I have a backpack that I carry with me at all times that has information on Ron Paul. I know there are many in our meet-up group who do this.

How does the name President Paul sound to you?

The name sounds quite nice in my opinion.

Who would you like to see as a running mate?

As far as a running mate, that’s where I get stuck. But I trust Ron Paul. I can’t really say that about others in Congress or Washington. I know that the person Ron Paul chooses will be the right person for the job.