Ron Paul draws Vermont devotees
Toolbox
By Peter Hirschfeld Staff Writer - Published: December 9, 2007
Ben Mayer had sworn off politics entirely. Disenchanted by the platforms espoused by mainstream presidential candidates, the Burlington resident found no room for his libertarian beliefs in the voting booth.
"I just hated politics," Mayer says.
Now, though, the 25-year-old product designer is on the front lines of the Ron Paul Revolution. He's devoted a MySpace Web page to the leader of his movement, and spends much of his free time courting allies in the march toward change.
"This is about freedom. It's about the Constitution," Mayer says. "This is the first candidate we've had in a long time who's willing to stand up for these ideas."
The Ron Paul Revolution has been cast aside as a quirky novelty by political odds-makers covering the 2008 presidential race. But in Vermont, ever a bastion of independent minds, the Texas congressman has won a devoted and vocal following intent on sending this anti-politician to the White House.
"I do a fair number of talk shows in Vermont, and the Ron Paul supporters are almost always the first ones to call in," says Eric Davis, a political scientist at Middlebury College.
To be clear, Davis thinks the Republican candidate has no chance at a primary win in the Green Mountains, let alone the rest of the country. And in Vermont, arguably the least consequential state in the primary process, a lack of polling data offers little insight into the scope of Paul's popularity.
But with five Internet "Meet-up" groups – online communities that network and organize via the Web – and hundreds of die-hard supporters pounding pavement, it's clear that Paul has struck a chord with more than just a handful of Vermonters.
"I had never wanted anything to do with politics until Ron Paul came to the forefront," says Travis Spaulding.
Spaulding, a 27-year-old Stowe native, belongs to the Stowe area Meet-up group started by his wife, Rebecca.
"I think the message itself is simply freedom and following the Constitution, and I think that's what people are excited about," Spaulding says. "It really strikes a chord with anybody who believes that's what America is really all about."
Paul serves under the Republican banner, but the elephant costume hides a Libertarian ideology. He wants to legalize drugs and outlaw abortion, and he promises a more immediate withdrawal from Iraq than any of the Democratic candidates (save perhaps for Dennis Kucinich). Often dubbed a radical for his extreme views on government, Paul, if elected, would abolish the Department of Education, the Federal Reserve and most cabinet departments. He would eliminate the income tax and even make gold and silver legal tender (hold on to those fillings).
"I think Ron Paul attracts a rather eclectic mix of people, some of whom are pretty far away from conventional Republican ideas," Davis says. "It's mix of libertarians, tax protesters, people who want to legalize marijuana, people opposed to the Iraq war. I would describe Ron Paul supporters as an eclectic collection of people who have causes."
John McLaughry heads up the Ethan Allen Institute, a free-market-oriented public policy think tank headquartered in Concord.
"If all of Ron Paul's supporters got together in the same room there'd be a riot," McLaughry muses.
Indeed, many of Paul's supporters are enamored enough with aspects of his platform to disregard those they may abhor.
Mayer, for instance, believes women should have safe and easy access to abortions should they so choose. Nonetheless, he stands by Paul, an obstetrician who says the more than 4,000 babies he's delivered have cemented his pro-life views.
"In high school I swore I'd never vote for a pro-life candidate," Mayer says. "Now here I am voting for a Republican who's pro-life … His views may not be perfect for everyone, but hey."
McLaughry is actually a friend of Paul's. The two met at a conservative caucus in Houston shortly after Jimmy Carter was elected president. Paul was a rookie congressman at the time.
"Ron is a sweet guy, a decent, honorable, liberty-loving sort of common man," says McLaughry.
Given his similarities to another rogue Beltway figure, it's perhaps fitting that Paul enjoys a following in Vermont.
"The only comparison that comes to mind is the flipside, which is Bernie," says McLaughry, referring to Bernard Sanders, Vermont's junior senator. "There's sort of a working-class mentality that says, 'Well, Bernie stands for little guy against management.' And Ron stands for freedom-loving Americans against Republican Party big shots."
Lincoln White, an Essex resident, started the Chittenden County Meet-up group that now boasts more than 80 members. White, a self-described "socially conscious Republican," was drawn to Paul after reading his opinion pieces on the Federal Reserve.
"He was the one voice of anybody in government saying this was doomed to failure, that it would result in hyper inflation," White says. "He seemed to be the lone voice of sanity."
Paul's desire to decentralize government's power and restore state sovereignty, White says, more accurately reflects the intent of the Constitution.
"I think what Congressman Paul is saying is let's get the federal government out of this and let's have 50 great experiments going on around the country in how government works," White says. "Which is what I think the Founding Fathers intended."
Paul himself invokes Revolutionary imagery at every turn. No one from his campaign headquarters responded to an interview request. But on his Web site, Paul leaves inspirational messages for what he calls his "army" of supporters.
"… (T)he establishment has no idea of what they are facing. We have an army of freedom, prosperity, and peace," Paul writes. "As the LA Times political blog noted the other day, the British also thought they had no problem with the Americans – until Yorktown."
Vermont's pro-Paul contingent works independently of the candidate's campaign headquarters. They knock on doors, hold signs at busy highway intersections and distribute campaign literature at tables in pedestrian malls, all the while collecting signatures needed to get their man on the primary ballot here in Vermont. They have about 700 of the approximately 1,000 signatures they need.
"I was never contracted by the Paul campaign when I set up this Meet-up group," White says. "It seems to be completely self-directed, for better or for worse."
McLaughry sees parallels between Paul's run now and Ross Perot's third-party candidacy in the 1992 election. Bill Clinton eventually won that race, arguably because many conservatives, dissatisfied with the Republican incumbent, sought new blood from outside the establishment.
"In 1992, there was a lot of disgust at President Bush and at the Democratic contenders," McLaughry says. "And there were an awful lot of people who said we've got a problem – these people don't offer anything but tired old partisan solutions …
"I think Ron Paul is to some degree tapping into that now. … I've seen a lot of candidates and Ron is not a particularly skilled candidate, to put it mildly. … He just says what he thinks and doesn't care much how he says it or what they think about him. He may not have everything quite straight and you have to wonder about his judgment. But he's a guy who's trying to do the honest right thing for his country."
Mayer, Spaulding and White all say (publicly, at least) they believe Paul has a legitimate shot at becoming the next president. Though still a long shot, Paul, who once ran for president on the Libertarian Party ticket, is gaining momentum. A CNN poll conducted in late November saw Paul's support grow from 4 percent to 8 percent among likely Republican voters, placing him fourth in the primary race behind Mitt Romney, John McCain and Rudy Giuliani.
Even if he doesn't pull off the unlikely win, though, Vermonters for Paul say his candidacy will have had a beneficial impact on the political climate in this country.
"I think he has a great shot at the primaries because his numbers and contributions keep going up. … There's incredible potential for success with Ron Paul," White says. "But no matter where the campaign ends up, it's gotten a bunch of people excited about a great message, and that's going to carry through not just for an election cycle, but for decades from now."
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