Friday, December 12, 2008
The Ron Paul gang prepares to ride again
By MARTIN WISCKOL
The Orange County Register

Ron Paul is off the presidential campaign trail and back in Congress, but you haven't heard the last of the libertarian-leaning Republican and his legion of fervent followers.

An effort to transform Paul's erstwhile campaign into an ongoing organization is underway, with many eager for a voice at the table as the GOP begins its rebuilding process.

"The goal is to get more people elected at all levels of government," said Irvine's Allan Bartlett, one of several Paul-istas elected this year to the county GOP's governing Central Committee. "We're going to keep people involved, and we'll be laying the groundwork for the 2010 elections."

The 10th-term Texas congressman has long sought to end the Federal Reserve, arguing that the marketplace should control interest rates. His national economic model is based on savings, investment and production while discouraging deficit spending and excessive use of credit.

Along with libertarian social philosophy and a closed-border outlook, his platform won die-hard converts here. He ended up with 5 percent of Orange County's primary vote, a reasonable showing for someone thought by many to be a fringe candidate.

Amid the current economic meltdown, Paul backers like Huntington Beach insurance broker Gabe Stubin say the country would be in a lot better shape if his candidate's policies had been in place.

"There would be pain, but it would be much shorter lived," said Stubin, a former Libertarian who joined the Republican Party largely because of Paul.

While Paul's live-and-let-live attitude toward social behavior has critics among grassroots Republicans, his fiscal approach is a breath of fresh air to many in the GOP who have been frustrated with the policies of the Bush administration. That's helped Paul build his own extensive grassroots network.

Lori Cox Han, a political science professor at Chapman University, said the battle for the heart of the Republican Party will be among social conservatives, fiscal conservatives and moderates.

"The Republican Party is lost in the woods and part of what's been lost is the grassroots that Ron Paul represents," Han said. "The potential is there for Ron Paul and his people to really have a voice when it comes to fiscal conservatism."

When it comes to expressing that voice, efforts since the election have been middling. There were moderately attended demonstrations at various Federal Reserve locations last month, calling for the abolition of the institution. There was a phone-call campaign to urge Congress to vote down the $700-billion bailout. And there are ongoing gatherings and internet activity.

But the real test of the organization, dubbed the Campaign for Liberty, lies ahead.

The O.C. connection

Some Orange County individualists emerged as key factors in Paul's unexpected groundswell of support during the primary race.

Dana Point's Karl Suazo established the still-popular RonPaulforPresident2008.com site. Huntington Beach's James Sugra created a video that launched a massive one-day fundraising event on Nov. 5, 2007, raising an eye-popping $4.3 million for Paul and attracting press coverage worth millions more.

The Irvine Ron Paul group was one of the largest in the nation, with more than 200 members. And come Election Day, even though Paul ended up endorsing the Constitution Party's Chuck Baldwin, the renegade Republican garnered 3,118 write-in votes in Orange County – more than Baldwin and the Green Party candidate combined

There are at least five Paul-istas among the 54 elected members of the GOP Central Committee. Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor is probably the highest profile elected official in the county that endorsed Paul.

But there's also been a fall-off in the energy and activity of Paul backers here.

"I think the enthusiasm is still there, but we've just come down from a big high," Sugra said. "Right now, there's not really that much happening."

Plans are underway, but nascent. The Campaign for Liberty wants to have a leader in every precinct nationwide, but so far has just 1,228. Orange County alone has 2,109 precincts. And the group is still looking for a state organizer – the interim organizer is based in Arizona.

On the plus side, federal records show that Paul ended his campaign with a $584,000 surplus, which he can use to help keep the organization running. He recently used a small chunk of that to launch Young Americans for Liberty, and hired campaign aide Jeff Frazee to run the group.

Model for success

Paul's followers might consider the strategies employed by former Orange County resident Tim Carpenter, a veteran political organizer who helped turn Dennis Kucinich's 2004 campaign into a vital, ongoing group.

While their political philosophies differ broadly, Paul and Kucinich were both long-shot idealists with an ardent following. Both reside outside of their party's mainstream, but had strong grassroots support. Rather than a third-party tilting at windmills, both decided they could have more impact by trying to work within a major party.

"There are a lot of parallels," said the Massachusetts-based Carpenter, who lived in Orange County from 1969 to 2002. Carpenter worked on Kucinich's presidential bid and helped transform that campaign into Progressive Democrats of America, a group he serves as executive director.

Today, PDA has 135 chapters nationwide, has helped elect three members of Congress, and gathered the signatures of 500 of the 4,418 Democrat convention delegates on a petition for universal health care. PDA is not at the center of the party's policy making, but is effectively pushing and pulling at the edges.

"The inside-out strategy is a good one," Carpenter said. The Paul backers "have an opportunity to make a difference. It sounds like they have all the right ingredients – a solid and committed core, a grassroots organization and a charismatic leader."

What do they need to do now to be effective?

"Maintain an authentic voice, don't compromise," he said. "Keep the grassroots involved, don't become clique-ish."

Thank you for posting this. I'm currently educating myself about Ron Paul, anything I can read is fantastic. The best part is his ideas don't leave you with this unrealistic "omg, life is going to be perfect if I back this person." His ideas just leave you nodding your head in agreement, and to me makes perfect sense in a world gone crazy.

Dr. Paul is the man. I was stoked when he announced his candidacy.
Republicans should collectively kick themselves in the pants for pushing the Dr. to the sideline.

I voted for him in the primary in alabama, but he didn't stand a chance here. He is my hero.

I was didn't decide until days before the election,but I wrote him in.

If he had been in there instead of McCain, seeing how this election was about the economy, I feel like he would have spanked Mr.Obama.

Agreed.

McCain was a horrible choice by the republicans. As usual, a moderate/centrist republican can not win the presidency.

I hope Ron Paul can help spread his philosophy through the republican party, but I suspect that someone younger will need to emerge to win the presidential nomination in 2012.

did you mean Rupaul