Crowd gathers for Ron Paul town hall

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September 20th, 2011

Omaha, NE – The 2012 presidential election campaigners are making their way across the battleground state of Iowa. Tuesday, about 150 people gathered across the river in Council Bluffs for a town hall meeting with Ron Paul.

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It was a town hall with Ron Paul, without Ron Paul. The Congressman from Texas was unable to attend his own gathering due to flight problems. But his campaign piped him in through the phone system to his audience at Iowa Western Community College.

“Government should be very, very limited in its scope,” he said over the loudspeakers. “It shouldn’t be there to be the policeman of the world and have central economic planning.”

Ron Paul is running on libertarian values of limited government, an idea that appeals to some young people, like Mark Utterback, 27, of Omaha, and Chris Bettel of Lincoln. (Photo courtesy RonPaul2012)

Paul stuck to his message of constitutional purity at the meeting. It’s one he’s maintained throughout this campaign, as well as his 2008 bid for the Republican nomination, which went to Senator John McCain. Paul is a libertarian who focuses his message on reforming monetary policy, doing away with the Federal Reserve and significantly scaling back government – by limiting the United States’ role in foreign affairs and dismantling some domestic agencies including the Department of Education.

“No one has his views that’s in politics really,” said Chris Bettel of Lincoln, who drove up to Council Bluffs to see Paul. Bettel said Paul’s message strikes a chord because no one else is focused on bringing the troops home, or dismantling government interventions like the so-called “war on drugs,” which Bettel calls an “abomination.”

Bettel said he voted for President Barack Obama in 2008, though he said he “held his nose” while doing so. But he said Paul has his support for 2012. Mark Utterback, 27, of Omaha agreed.

Eric Glover and Ivah Glover walk back to their car, after attending a phone-in town hall with Ron Paul. (Photo by Robyn Wisch)

“He’s very plain spoken,” he said. “He doesn’t come across as scripted at all. When you ask a question, he’ll answer it, not just give a talking point that addresses a broader issue. He’ll answer a specific question with a very good answer usually.”

Utterback also voted for Obama, but says he hasn’t instituted the change he promised.

Paul has not been painted as a frontrunner in the race by the media – that role’s been shared by Rick Perry, Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann. But Paul raised over a million dollars in a single day this weekend, and a USA Today/Gallup poll out Tuesday placed him in the number three slot with 13% of the vote, displacing Bachmann who fell to five percent.

All of the candidates will likely be stomping the Iowa grounds for a while – the Iowa Caucuses are five months away. And then, of course, we head to the general.

5 Responses

  1. Jackson Baer says:

    Ron Paul is the only honest man running for president. Even when you
    don’t agree with him, at least you know he’s telling you what he really
    believes. He doesn’t just recite talking points. He’s gaining momentum!

    RON PAUL 2012

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjRcO1Sm0HU

  2. Darryl Schmitz says:

    This is a peaceful revolution to reclaim our country from those in Washington who arrogantly flout our nation’s founding principles. It is not an exaggeration to say that the survival of our republic is at stake.

  3. Arie says:

    This Ron Paul guy is the only one with the guts to tell us how it is.
    The country is completely bankrupt yet none of the other candidates offer any decent or feasible solution.

  4. Julian Alien says:

    ╔═╗─────╔═╗───────╔═══╦═══╗╔╗╔═══╗
    ║╬╠═╦═╦╗║╬╠═╗╔╦╦╗─║╔═╗║╔═╗╠╝║║╔═╗║
    ║╗╣╬║║║║║╔╣╬╚╣║║╚╗╚╝╔╝║║║║╠╗║╚╝╔╝║
    ╚╩╩═╩╩═╝╚╝╚══╩═╩═╝╔═╝╔╣║║║║║║╔═╝╔╝
    ──────────────────║║╚═╣╚═╝╠╝╚╣║╚═╗More Rock Stars die from plane problems than other folk.Please address that issue first Ron.Florida needs you.

  5. Eric Glover says:

    Thats me and my daughter :). I like Ron Paul’s views on scaling back welfare as you shrink the federal government and match/lower the international rate of income taxes for businesses.

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