Ron Paul revs up local GOP

A hangar at the Colorado Springs Airport shook with noise Tuesday afternoon. But it wasn’t a jet engine. It was Ron Paul.

More specifically, it was his local supporters who turned out to hear the Texas Republican talk about why he’s running for president. It’s a fairly simple platform often boiled down to one word that he used dozens of times in his speech — liberty.

Paul, one of the final four GOP candidates for the presidential nomination, has been a mainstay in Republican politics for years. He’s something of a cult classic — he has devoted followers, but has never really broken into the mainstream the way more moderate, poll-driven candidates have.

His refusal to soften his stances means he’s never gained widespread voter support and he’s built a loyal following that never wavers.

Paul hammered at establishment characters in both parties, though he didn’t name any of his GOP rivals. He blamed both parties for the enormous federal debt, as well as for perpetuating wars overseas. The pair are linked, he said, and the wars drove the national debt through the roof.

“If we have an enemy that’s attacking us, yes, declare war, go fight it, win it, and get it over with,” he said. “We should start bringing our troops home from around the world.”

He said foreign policy should be based more on input from those who have direct military experience with the wars — veterans.

“They know what’s going on,” he said. “And we ought to listen to the veterans, because they know that this is such a futile exercise.”

The central theme, of both the speech and Paul’s political career, was a libertarian view of smaller government and lower taxes. He doesn’t stop at the typical Republican viewpoint of reducing government — he wants it practically eliminated.

One of his signature stances, for example, is eliminating the Federal Reserve. The crowd at the airport Tuesday even chanted at one point, “End the Fed! End the Fed!”

He called new taxes a “vicious burden on all of us,” and said it’s immoral to force Americans to pay the government.

“If you have a moral right to your life and a moral right to your liberty, why don’t we have the moral right to keep the fruits of our labors?” he asked.

The crowd loved when Paul took to task the Patriot Act, which has been popular with many Republican voters since it was passed in 2001. He said it’s an invasion of privacy.

“It wasn’t very patriotic to vote for the Patriot Act,” he said. “If it had been called ‘Repeal the Fourth Amendment Act,’ nobody would have voted for it. But that’s what it did.”

Many of Paul’s fans at the airport said they’re going to caucus for him next Tuesday, when the state GOP holds caucuses. (There are 70 caucus locations in El Paso County. To find yours, visit caucus.cologop.org.)

Perhaps the bluntest was Paul Rohman, 26, a local maintenance man.

“He’s the only guy who’s not full of s***,” Rohman said of the candidates.

Landscaper John Rodda, 24, said he sees Paul as the only candidate who’s truly trying to put the government “back in its place.”

Iraq War veteran Brian Flanagan, 30, said Paul’s right on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“It’s time to bring them home,” Flanagan said.

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