READERS' PLATFORM: BEHIND A DARK HORSE
Friday, November 30, 2007
Rep. Ron Paul, the Texas Republican presidential hopeful,...
sfgate.com
That would be Rep. Ron Paul, GOP candidate for president who is either the wisest solon in the history of the Republic or the looniest, in the opinion of SFGate readers. Either way, the self-styled libertarian is far and away the most captivating candidate, judging from the number of comments posted this week on the presidential race.
Below is sample of those comments, edited for space. To read more (including exhaustive debates on some of Paul's issues), go to sfgate.com/ZBRI. To listen to a Chronicle podcast with the candidate, go to sfgate.com/ZBQM.
My support for Ron Paul began because medical marijuana is legal in Mendocino and Mendocino needs the feds to leave us alone. Paul is the only candidate who tells us that if president, he will leave us alone. The last thing I want to see for the USA is someone bringing the troops home to wipe out medical marijuana farms the way the U.S. military now works to wipe out poppy farms in Afghanistan or coca farms in the Andes.
- Jeanette Doney, 50, Fort Bragg
If I vote for Ron it will be a protest vote - my first one ever. I'm fed up with the direction we've been taking for a long time. Neocons are worst thing that ever happened to the Republican Party, and I don't see any Dems who are substantially better. I voted for Jimmy Carter in 1976 because I was tired of what was going on. I lived to regret it, too.
- Edwin Lewis, 52, Vallejo
Ron Paul is not my favorite candidate and frankly his supporters are irritating. I disagree with him on several issues, but at least he understands that the status quo is the wrong direction for this country. I have never even considered voting Republican in a presidential election, but Ron Paul would have the advantage for my vote in a Paul versus Clinton [race].
- Alfonso Nevarez, 27, Baltimore, Md.
Ron Paul is not a viable candidate, but he is a barometer of discontent within the Republican Party. Now that Bush's follies have pulled the curtain back and displayed all the lies and myths of conservative ideology, disillusioned Republicans are groping around for a new direction that does not include a Democratic voice. Give them a few more years of denial and fence-sitting, and they will be ready to fully abandon the Republican Party.
- James Millard, 55, San Francisco
I don't think most Ron Paul supporters voted for Bush. Most of us are civil libertarians, independents, fiscal conservatives who don't like Bush; anti-war Democrats who don't like the Dem choices; and the one-third of Americans who ignored the political process in the past because both parties have given us little to be pleased with. Until now.
- Nick Manning, 29, Clifton Park, N.Y.
I like him a lot but damn: anti-abortion and bad on the environment? Strong pill to swallow.
- John Roman, 20, San Francisco
Ron Paul does not believe global warming has anything to do with human activity. Wake up Ron Paul!! You're right on Iraq, you're right on civil liberties, but the looming threat of global warming is not a JOKE. We need to guarantee that we (my generation) will have water to drink, a livable climate, and a reliable food source.
- Ryan Loney, 19, Davis
Signs of the "intelligence" of Ron Paul supporters are the brothel owner in Nevada and the group collecting money to launch a Ron Paul for President Blimp. A blimp is indeed the appropriate image for Ron Paul, whose ideas generally are a throwback to the 18th and 19th centuries. In addition to the blimp, how about a Model T, some spats, outhouses, vacuum tube radios, and candles, instead of light bulbs? Grover Cleveland would be proud of this man!
- Barry Cammarata, 52, Tucson
He's a buffoon that welcomes support from Troofers [9/11 conspiracy theorists]. He does nothing more to the GOP than Kucinich does to the Left.
- Ryan King, 38, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
I hope he wins the nomination, but he's got no chance. He will be skewered and kicked out the door during the [GOP] convention. I'm no fan of the Demowimps, but this is their election to lose.
- Karl Thomas, 37, Pleasant Hill
When a candidate is raising the most money, draws the biggest crowds, and has the most volunteers, "dark horse" isn't really the right term anymore. I think the term you're looking for is "front-runner."
- Doug Daniels, 42, Lake Forest (Orange County)
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This article appeared on page A - 14 of the San Francisco Chronicle |
