The Washington Times profiles the unlikely alliance that has arisen around Ron Paul’s campaign for the Republican nomination:
PHILADELPHIA — They are crusty Iowa farmers enticed by doing away with the income tax, libertarian-minded college students in heavy-metal band T-shirts, antiwar Republicans looking for a champion, and folks worried about the Federal Reserve Board and paper money.
They say they are the disaffected in politics, and this year they are finding a political home with Ron Paul, the congressman from Texas who is shaking up the Republican presidential contest with phenomenal fundraising and the potential to convert that into enough votes to be a spoiler come January.
Even without the fife-and-drum players, they are the loudest of crowds. Even without the “Don’t Tread on Me” flags and cloak-and-mask movie costumes, they are the most colorful. And Mr. Paul’s supporters certainly are the most suspicious of the political process.
“I don’t want to sound like one of these nut cases, there are probably some of them here,” said Tom Levins, waving his arm toward 2,000 fellow supporters rallying with Mr. Paul on Nov. 10 in Philadelphia. “But you have to wonder about the establishment. I’ve had it cross my mind, could he be the next political person knocked off?”
But not all of the Paul coalition is made up of people who see conspiracies around every corner:
Mr. Levins, who first came across Mr. Paul in the 1970s and has received his Freedom Report newsletter for years, said as a non-Texan, he had been waiting for the day he could have a Ron Paul bumper sticker. With a mixture of sheepishness and pride, he and his wife admitted to having the Ron Paul cookbook at home.
“I look at some of these people, and I say to myself, ‘Yeah, it’s weird’ or whatever — I just think finally there may be a trend in this country where people are fed up with what they’re hearing,” he said. “There’s no sheep here, there’s wolves here, questioning our nation’s government.”
And the more people that do that, the better.
