Paul draws enthusiastic supporters wherever he goes, so it was no surprise to see the room packed with followers ready to give him (and his remarks) a warm reception. What was somewhat of a shock was to see the reaction to Romney, a man who’d won the Summit’s straw poll in 2007 (granted, many of his votes were online, causing many to question the result’s validity) – but now is the consensus establishment candidate in the Republican race. Seeing Romney talk was borderline painful – not for what he said, necessarily, which was standard boilerplate political speak – but for the pathetic reception his remarks received. I almost felt sorry for him as he tossed out what were supposed to be applause lines only to be met with barely audible polite claps and precious few cheers.
There weren’t any catcalls, but then again, maybe people were just being nice.
Paul on the other hand, could barely keep his supporters from speaking up, being interrupted numerous times and reeling off his ideas without even the slightest need to be “loved” at any point in time. Paul’s persona often gravitates between the image of a kind grandfatherly figure and the “crazy old uncle,” but today, it was all smiles and goodwill.
Grandpa was in attendance today, for sure.
The balance of the program included a rather monotone presentation by former Reagan Secretary of Education Bill Bennett, a stern lecture by Bryan Fischer (Director of the American Family Association) on the requirements for a presidential candidate, a somewhat sleepy panel discussion on gay “marriage,” and a captivating speech by retired Lt. Gen. William Boykin (perhaps most famous as the Delta Force commander in the Blackhawk Down incident).
Ron Paul – No longer the kook that everyone tolerates
It’s safe to say that Ron Paul would not normally be thought of as a “Values Voter” kind of candidate – after all, his firm belief in federalism would not prohibit either abortion or homosexual marriage at the federal level, and his objection to the killings of Osama bin Laden and Anwar al-Awlaki (on constitutional grounds) would not win him many friends in this gathering of social conservatives with strong neoconservative leanings.
Nevertheless, Paul’s introduction was greeted with wild enthusiasm, leading this observer to wonder whether he might compete for the Summit’s presidential straw poll title.
Herman Cain was probably the only other candidate who came close to generating this type of crowd reaction, and that’s due in part to Cain’s dynamic personality and speaking style. Ron Paul possesses only a smidgen of Cain’s oratorical ability, yet still gets his people really animated.
If anything, Paul talks way too fast, and still has a tendency to lapse into technical language that’s hard for people to understand.
To his credit, Paul began his talk with a discussion of Biblical values, specifically citing 1st Samuel, Chapter 8, with its reference to a ‘king’ as caretaker. Paul said “Samuel advised the people of Israel not to accept the king, because he would not be generous. And their true king was God.”
We all knew Paul was a religious man, despite his hesitancy to discuss his beliefs on the campaign trail. The Values Voters got a good dose of his thoughts on Saturday, however. “We’ve too often relied on our ‘king’ in Washington, and we need to change that,” Paul said to more wild applause.
“The law can never change the morality of the people, and that is very important to remember… Do laws take care of these things, or do we need a better understanding of our Christian principles?” Paul pondered.
Paul also drew Biblical references to his non-interventionist foreign policy beliefs, again with them being warmly received. “Blessed are the peacemakers, and they shall be the children of God. Christ never said ‘blessed are the war makers.’”
Though it’s not likely that Paul’s views, no matter how tightly packaged, would find wide acceptance in many circles of the conservative movement, when you listen to his in-depth explanations of why he believes what he believes, he makes a lot more sense.
Paul concluded with his thoughts on the basic role of government: “We’ve accepted this notion that the king will take care of us. But our government should be strictly limited to protecting our liberties that allow us to thrive.”
With that, Paul concluded his remarks a few minutes before his allotted time expired – when you know what you know, it doesn’t take a long time to explain it. And Paul certainly knows what he knows, a man who’s comfortable with it and doesn’t seem phased that he’s still regarded as an oddity by the GOP establishment. (CONTINUE READING)
