If you saw the MTV and MySpace forum last night you saw four candidates willing to engage in a dialogue with the youth of the United States. Carried on MTV and shown on the big screen in Times Square Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Mike Huckabee, and Ron Paul took turns fielding tough questions from the audience gathered at Rutgers University as well as from the Internet. Clearly, this was a forum where Republican front-runners John McCain and Mitt Romney were more comfortable avoiding than engaging in.
Each of the candidates did quite well actually. There is little doubt the two candidates which appeared to shine brightest in this format were two that have drawn a large youth following to their campaigns. Barack Obama seemed comfortable in this environment as we might expect given he is the only candidate in the field younger than 50. He focused on his mixed background boding well in dealing with world issues. However, the real surprise was the comfort and acceptance of another candidate, a great grandfather and the oldest candidate, Ron Paul.
For those of you that missed the event you can find it at YouTube, Ron Paul @ MTV. I encourage you to watch each of the candidates to get a feel for the interaction. As can be expected, the instant online interactive polling showed strong favor for Ron Paul. This was no surprise to the hosts or should it be to any that have followed Ron Paul's campaign. Many of his supporters are young and very savvy when it comes to the Internet so he often dominates online polling.
What was interesting was the large crowd of Ron Paul supporters gathered in Time Square to watch their candidate. This group of boisterous, sign waving, enthusiastic supporters was there to let anyone driving by know Ron Paul is still in this race. Not only is he in the race but, based on his answers, he tackles questions directly and offers real solutions that are not always easy to embrace because they are so different from what any other candidate says.
When asked what he would do about the use of force in Darfur he said, ""I don't believe in using force in that manner. Under the Constitution, we're not allowed to do that." That is hard to grasp if you want us to go in and militarily intervene so the sad situation is ended yet it is accurate. Asked about the message he thinks is attracting young voters he simply stated, "When I talk about why I should be, or would like to be, president... I don't come up and say, "Well, I know how to run your life. I say the opposite. I want to be president because; I don't want to run your life. I don't even know how to run your life. I don't think I should run your life; I don't have the authority."
Listen to his replies and the interaction with the audience and you will no doubt see what I saw. Honest, truly straight talk whether or not it was what people wanted to hear. His answers are traced through a lifetime of work, a 20 year voting record, and a belief in the principles founding the nation 220 years ago with the introduction of the Constitution. Liberty and freedom, combined (as he reminded the audience) with the acceptance of personal responsibility. If you are not in favor of more government handouts, if you are not convinced the government has all the answers to all our problems, if you don't mind taking responsibility for yourself and only ask the government allow you the freedom to do that Ron Paul spoke right to you last night.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you enjoyed this article give it a thumbs up, bookmark it to your favorite site from the drop-down menu and suggest it to a friend. Thanks for taking the time to visit Nolan Chart, do come back often for the latest from all political views.
2008 by Gary Wood
- Permission to copy with attribution granted.
©2008 Gary Wood, all rights reserved. You must have written permission from the author in order to republish this work.
Published: Sunday, February 3, 2008
Last modified: Sunday, February 3, 2008
The views expressed in this article are those of Gary Wood only and do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Gary Wood is solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
Report violation by Gary Wood of Nolan Chart LLC's terms of use policy.
| More Articles By Gary Wood |
Reader Comments:
Posted By: Kansas Farmer
Date: 2008-02-03 10:01:29
I watched the show, watched all the candidates. The guy from the Washington Post who was running the interactive response portion of the program made sure to clarify that Ron Paul's supporters were very tech savvy, inferring that his overwhelmingly positive results were skewwed. If Obama and Hillary have so much money and so many supporters, you would think they would have some tech savvy folks as well, right? Yet the results showed that a majority of young people have already made up their minds NOT to vote for Obama OR Hillary. Did anyone notice how uncorfortable the guy was telling the two media darlings the bad news? Was he really saying that Ron Paul's supporters are the only ones on the Internet? I can't figure this out, all I know is there is a concerted effort by every mainstream media outlet to suppress Dr. Paul's message. Why?
Posted By: mistermr
Date: 2008-02-03 12:39:10
If any of you Ron Paul supporters are having a little bit of your faith slip out from underneath you, consider this. The month of February, blustery, snowy and dark. This is half the country right now. As warm weather approaches and people start getting out, the name Ron Paul will become household. Can you imagine how it will be when the Ron Paul Revolution explodes into the summer streets and yards. Sporting events and picnics. Don't worry as much, instead, spread the word because this election year is going to be a doozy and this summer is going to change everything.
Posted By: Mark
Date: 2008-02-03 14:41:42
I agree MisterMr. Ron Paul has already changed this election and this summer will be historical.
Posted By: Trans-Mutant
Date: 2008-02-03 15:49:48
You know, summer is right for this but JULY 4th is ripe!!!
Ron Paul freedom campaign, THE NEW INDEPENDENCE. I think that we shoud start organizing now for a RON PAUL Independence Day america will never forget.
Posted By: the statist
Date: 2008-02-03 18:06:14
The Obama campaign has more support on the internet and MySpace than Ron Paul does. For some reason young people want a black president that sounds like Dewayne Johnson Aka The Rock.
Posted By: Freedom\'s Light
Date: 2008-02-03 20:48:56
Ron Paul is the only candidate that can win over Clinton. And folks, with most of the media steering your choices, you need to be computer savvy to investigate the issues. His message of "Hope for America" resonates with Patriots that are sick and tired of the Constitution of this great nation being disregarded, the Bill of Rights tattered as well as our personal liberties,and the Patriot Act which is a nasty incursion into a police state. Check out his web site at www.ronpaul2008. Investigate all the issues and the voting records of all the candidates before you give your precious vote to any one person.
Posted By: Dan
Date: 2008-02-04 00:45:14
www.cdbaby.com/bruisedheel Please. Many have asked why all of the free media coverage has been given over the last year to GOP'ers McCain, Huck, and Mittens. I would like to know why too. It's not like Ron Paul is Tom Tancrado, or Sam Brownback! RON has a huge base of support. RON has a continually growing base of support. RON is the LARGEST FUNDRAISER in the fourth quarter of all the GOP candidates! And all of this was grassroots, $19.9 MILLION DOLLARS of support by the people! The news media didn't cover this. They say all the campaigns are broke, except romney. iT'S NOT TRUE. McCain is IN DEBT.....TO WHO???? Romney is IN DEBT.....TO WHO???? Hucakbee is IN DEBT...TO WHO???? Ron Paul is not in debt, and he is funded my you, and me, and your neighbor, and the news media is not covering it. GOOGLE RON PAUL. Look at the issues. He stands for and has stood for what YOU WANT. Filter your choice through the constitution, not the news media,. Think for yourself! There is no other choice. George Bush has ruined our country, and Ron Paul is poised to take it back, for us! http:www.ronpaul2008.com
Posted By: Jim
Date: 2008-02-04 04:47:50
I'm glad to see so much support for Dr. Paul. Still have to laugh when I come across articles like this though:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/2/prweb674493.htm
at least it puts Ron Paul in a good "light"!
Posted By: Brice
Date: 2008-02-04 18:53:36
My entire family is supporting Ron Paul to the end. One thing that is making me a bit nervous is that the campaign has asked for a 5 million dollar boost which would bring the donations for the quarter to 8.4 million. What has happened? We are not even close and I don't see anyone talking about it.
Is it because he asked for the boost? Are we only inspired when it is spontanious and started by us?
Please help me understand this and what are the implications of this?
Posted By: Goobs
Date: 2008-02-04 19:02:58
Ron Paul - The ONLY candidate that George Washington or Thomas Jefferson would endorse today!
Posted By: Gary
Date: 2008-02-04 20:02:36
Brice, this is only my take on your question. Its not that supporters are inspired with Dr. Paul asking for the boost. The campaign has been long, many of us have given all we had in two directions, the official campaign and countless other local projects and events like blimps, tables at events, etc. Personally I'm down to giving boot leather from my shoes out canvassing and writing as many positive articles as I can. The economy has wreaked havoc on us and I don't think we're the only supporters in this situation.
The implications are a scaled back push to the convention. The strategy has to be adjusted to funnel money into states and events that will garner the most opportunity for success. I know MN is being attacked hard while here in UT it is up to the MeetUps as the chances of victory here are so weak with the large Romney base. Hang tough! It was a lot harder to be a soldier at Valley Forge...