Spartanburg, Greenville Events Well Attended, Lively
Presidential candidate Dr. Ron Paul, Republican Congressman from Texas, addressed about 60 people attending the annual Americans for Constitutional Government covered dish dinner Saturday.
Ann Campbell, the energetic leader of the group already had a speaker lined up for the event. When she heard that Dr. Ron Paul was going to be speaking in Spartanburg and Greenville on the same day, and the Sugarcreek Clubhouse was in-between, she extended an invitation to the GOP candidate that is surprising pundits and critics by gaining traction with the American people and daring to stray from the politically correct scripts followed by most Republican and Democrat candidates.
Paul graciously accepted Campbell’s invitation and spent about an hour speaking and answering questions posed by ACG members.
He was accompanied by his wife Carol of 50 years and two aides.
Dr. Paul is known for his loyalty to the Constitution of the United States and measures his support for legislation based on the constitutionality of the proposed laws. He was clearly comfortable with Campbell and her constitutionalists.
Earlier in the day, Dr. Paul had spoken to a group of some 400 in Spartanburg at a fund raiser reportedly clearing an estimated $5,000 for Chairman Rick Beltram, a one-time Ron Paul critic, and the Spartanburg County Republican Party.
A Spartanburg newspaper estimated that half of the attendees were from out of state and that the local Republican Party faithful numbered no more than 80. Another 100 individuals remained outside with their Ron Paul political signs, unwilling to contribute $25 to Beltram’s group, according to one campaign organizer.
Dr. Paul identifies with South Carolina Governor Mark San-ford, a former member of Congress, and mentioned him several times during his remarks at the Republican function in Spar-tanburg. At one point he said: “If you found two people voting together, it was Mark and myself.” He added: “He would make an exceptionally good vice president.”
Following the ACG address, he spoke at a larger than expected rally in Greenville attended by more than 1,000, according to some reports, although the daily paper lowered the number to 500.
The Greenville Rally was held at the Palmetto Expo Center, a facility purchased by the city of Greenville and renamed the Carolina First Center for a price.
The rally began with a very impressive video presentation of rallies held in other early primary states. The video shown on a large screen with the volume turned up depicted large crowds of mostly young voters with individuals on-camera giving their spontaneous reasons for supporting the Paul candidacy.
WORD Radio program director and talk show host Bob McLain introduced Samuel Harms, Chairman of the Greenville County Republican Party Executive Committee, who explained the importance of Upcountry South Carolina to Republican presidential candidates and the fact that every GOP presidential nominee since 1980 first won the South Carolina primary and Greenville County has the largest number of Republican primary voters in the Palmetto State.
Pastor Mark Evans, of Hope Presbyterian Church, gave the Invocation. Following a stirring rendition of the National Anthem and a campaign theme song, Ron Paul entered the room to thunderous applause.
“Thank you very much for inviting me to the revolution,” were his first words before introducing his wife, Carol, ‘a very important part of the revolution.’”
Dr. Paul said the enthusiasm for the campaign and the well attended rallies comes from a desire for freedom. He believes it is no more complicated than that.
“In a free society, the confidence comes from the people.” We have lost our way and have become dependent on the government for our safety net.
He said it is not difficult to find our way again and correct the problems. “All we have to do is follow the Constitution.” Each statement was greeted by loud applause from an audience that appeared to be a cross section of American society, including more young parents with children than usually observed at political events.
Jason Spencer, writing for the Spartanburg Herald-Journal used the term “rock star” to describe the arrival of Dr. Paul in Spartanburg. That is a term used frequently to describe the greetings for Democrat Sen. Barak Obama. In Greenville, the Ron Paul crowd outnumbered and demonstrated more enthusiasm that an earlier crowd in support of Obama.
Paul is quick to point out that the federal government has taken on too many missions that the Constitution assigns to the states and the people. Americans would be better off without the IRS and the Federal Reserve, he said.
The crowd responded with standing cheers when he said: “I am convinced that you never have to sacrifice one bit of liberty” to be personally and economically secure.
Dr. Paul is a medical doctor who is consistently pro-life, and his voting record reflects it.
He was opposed to our invasion of Iraq and would like to see American troops leave the country. His one-liners at the rally regarding Iraq sounded simplistic and irrational to those who believe Americans must achieve victory before departing.
During the question and answer session at the ACG event, however, Dr. Paul made it clear that he understands that departing Iraq anytime in the near future will be difficult to achieve, and may lead to severe problems.
Dr. Paul believes the United States should follow the advice of President George Washington and avoid foreign entanglements. Declare war only when approved by Congress and when we have an identifiable enemy.
He believes the “War on Terror” is an unfortunate misnomer. In his view you must have an identifiable enemy to engage in war. Terror is defined as “Intense fear and panic or a cause of it.” It is a criminal activity or criminal enterprise. In his view, it should he handled as any other crime –track down and punish the criminal elements who commit the crimes of terror.
Statement of Faith
Dr. Paul has reluctantly issued a statement of faith in response to requests after saying he finds it distasteful for politicians to use their faith for “pandering that typically occurs in the election season.” In part, the following is his statement:
“I freely confess that Jesus Christ is my personal Savior, and that I seek His guidance in all that I do. I know, as you do, that our freedoms come not from man but from God. My record of public service reflects my reverence for the Natural Rights with which we have been endowed by a loving Creator.”
Ron Paul says he is running for president to “restore the rule of law and to stand up for our divinely inspired Constitution.” Americans are responding to the message, giving those who disagree cause for concern.
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