Mormons for Ron Paul
23 December 2007 11:20 pm by Taylor Marsh
Classic interview. It was
the topic of discussion at our family Christmas get together earlier tonight.
So tonight we had my husband’s wonderful children, their spouses, as well as
their children in for a Christmas celebration. These are lovely young people
with beautiful families, with two of my husband’s boys not yet 16; and his grandchildren
going down to as young as 6 months. They are all Mormons, but know my husband
has left the church, but also taken his name off of the rolls. I won’t go into
what that means, but suffice it to say that he had to petition the bishop via
certified mail, which prompted three visits to our house that led to another certified
letter to get the job done, plus an angry phone call from my husband. Anyway…
We were all standing in the kitchen munching on food having a lovely conversation.
All of them know of my work and that I’m a devout Democrat. I asked them if
they’d seen Ron Paul on “Meet the Press.” They shook their heads no,
which prompted me to say that I had it on tivo if they’d care to watch it. They
all lit up and said YES! simultaneously. We went into the tv area, with my husbands
eldest son, and two son-in-laws, plus one of my husband’s daughters following excitedly.
All of them are Ron Paul supporters.
That means that in a house full of devout Mormons not one of them was for
Mitt Romney.
We had one thing in common. None of them were terribly impressed with Tim Russert
either. They laughed at his questioning.
In addition, when we talked about my work and that I’d been spending a lot
of time pushing back on negative press Clinton had been getting, they all nodded,
understanding and appreciating that reality. No one had anything negative to
say about her. Their focus was elsewhere.
I did tease them a bit about the Republican party, saying conservatives were
going through quite a crack up, which was giving me a lot of pleasure. They nodded, laughed and just shook their heads.
All of them after seeing Ron Paul said they like him for a lot of reasons,
but that he sounds like he’s talking straight to them. The foreign policy non-interventionist
strategy clearly appeals to them, but so does Paul on government overspending.
Now I’m not going to get into a debate here on Ron Paul, but I do think it’s
very telling that these very interested, intelligent young people, all Mormons,
have great respect for Ron Paul, but none of them are even giving Slick Mitt
the time of day. Paul’s genuineness is a big reason they like him. Clearly, they feel they can trust him. The same cannot be said for Mr. Romney. One of my husband’s daughters offered that Romney is using his religion to try to make headway, but it’s not working.
I also had a moment to talk with two of them about public financing of presidential
elections, mentioning that public financing of presidential campaigns would actually give Ron Paul a better
chance, something that neither of them had thought of in context with Paul’s chances.
As for Paul running an independent bid, they all hope for it, because they realize the Republican machine, my words, weren’t going to let him win.
There is no question that Republicans are in a tail spin. Slick Mitt seems almost to be the draft pick of the establishment
Republicans. But even if they hand pick him it won’t quiet the discontent in
the die hard Republican ranks. There is something not believable about anything
Romney says and you can’t fool the people, because they can see through his
facade. My husband’s son-in-laws made it clear that neither Romney nor John McCain would do. One of them said something about moving to Australia if McCain was the nominee. I didn’t have the heart to tell him the liberals are now in charge there too.
Ron Paul has something that the other Republicans just don’t offer. It’s tapping
into the conservative discontent. Witnessing the enthusiasm of the young men and one of my husband’s daughters for Paul it seemed obvious that, regardless of some of the specific details of his politics, there is something fundamental in the way Paul is speaking to the people that is getting through. If he’d run as an independent I believe all hell would break loose politically with Democrats jumping across to vote for him on the issue of Iraq and foreign policy alone. People are sick of what’s happening and that our democratic republic has turned into an empire seeker. Many voters are willing to do whatever it takes to stop it from happening into the future. As was witnessed on “Meet the Press,” the traditional media just doesn’t get it. I’m not sure Republicans do either, but make no mistake about it, the movement behind Ron Paul is real. I witnessed it first hand earlier tonight.
Christmas get togethers, politics and divergent views. Listening, watching and learning tonight there is no question that the Republican party is cracking apart. Like John McCain in 2000, Ron Paul has a chance to break out and make a real difference if he’d choose to run as an independent. He didn’t rule it out, but I don’t get a sense he’ll make the jump. The two parties still have a choke hold on insurgent candidates. Until someone has the courage to make a break and test the system, the two party power structure will remain intact, the norm and the only game we’ve got. I used to think that was a good thing. I don’t anymore.
