Paul: Campaign is on ‘verge of an explosion’
During a Monday night interview with Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul was asked about the enthusiasm of his core supporters and what he would do to broaden his base.
Jul 31, 2020237K Shares3.2M Views
During a Monday night interview with Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart, U.S. Rep. Ron Paulwas asked about the enthusiasm of his core supporters and what he would do to broaden his base.
It’s a question that’s been visited often by The Iowa Independent’s panel of contributors for the 2012 GOP Presidential Power Rankings, with some speculating that Paul must bring more people into his tent in order to get the first or second place finish at the Iowa caucuses that would give him a national boost.
“Your 15 percent, or 12 or 10 percent, will yell louder than [Mitt] Romney’s 30 percent,” Stewart said and couldn’t resist adding that Romney’s “30 percent don’t seem to like him much” to the glee of the studio audience that appeared heavily seeded with Paul supporters. “But how can you expand past that?”
“Keep delivering the message,” Paul responded. “The message is necessary and it is very popular. The country is in big trouble economically, and I have an economic message. The foreign policy is in shambles — perpetual war, the American people are sick and tired it. That message is truly spreading.
“I also work on the assumption that you don’t always have to convince immediately 51 percent. You do need a hard-core people who understand the message. Those are the people who will volunteer, work hard and donate the money. Then the persuasion comes. And I think that’s where we are. I think once you get to 10 percent, you have the number. We are 10, 14, 15 percent. So I think we very well could be and, most likely, are on the verge of an explosion of interest in this country.”
People, and specifically the national media, don’t understand Paul’s message of fiscal responsibility and personal liberty, Paul explained when asked by Stewart why some feel he is unelectable. “I think that’s the main reason why they are intimated by me having a presence on the stage.”
The full interview, in three parts because The Daily Show offered sections not originally aired, is embedded below.
Part One:
Part Two:
Part Three:
Paul is campaigning in Iowa today. Details of his and other political events can be found on our Factbook calendar.
Rhyley Carney
Reviewer
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