The New Republic: Young and in Love
Posted January 2nd, 2008 by Michael Nystrom
by Eve Fairbanks | The New Republic
January 2, 2008
The congressman from Texas has the race's best batch of student volunteers.
I get to Ron Paul's headquarters in Des Moines just as an army of student volunteers is surging out of the doors, yelling and clutching signs. "This is the herd we can't contain!" one staffer laughs. ABC's Jake Tapper is taping a live segment in front of Mike Huckabee's neighboring headquarters, and it's time to make some mischief. The volunteers conform to a Washington reporter's expectations about Ron Paul youth--almost all boys, rowdy, eager to disrupt--until they don't.
The ABC guys are clearly charmed by the volunteers' enthusiasm, but they're also worried the kids will mess up the sound for the shot. As soon as the thirty or so volunteers figure this out, they politely troop back across Locust Street, gather in a neat clump on the corner, and fall silent. When Paul fans driving by honk at the crowd, this doesn't elicit a single happy "Woo!" from the now eerily well-behaved volunteers while the cameras are rolling. "McCain wants Huckabee to beat Romney, Huckabee wants McCain to beat Romney ... David?" Tapper is saying into the lens. Behind him, dozens of Ron Paul signs bob furiously and silently, giving the scene from the camera's perspective a ridiculous quality; I imagine it's something like watching a naval reporter talk about the positioning of two warships off-screen while, in the water behind him, dozens of frantic but polite shipwreck victims try to get the world's attention without shouting.
Bookmark/Search this post with:
digg it
http://digg.com/2008_us_e...
Nice article but...
Let's not forget how TNR printed the false story about Jesse MacBeth which was written to deliberately smear our troops that are in harm's way. TNR sucks!
Michael, oil pices will destroy America.
I could go into all the stats, but I get tired of posting this stuff. Simply stated, oil demand is greater than oil supply. Oil prices must go higher this year. America is the main problem and is the most vulnerable to high oil prices. The dollar has only begun to tell the story. It only gets worse .... unless.
Ron Paul supporters should initiate the change and ride all available public transportation. This is the most pro-American, patriotic, thing a citizen can do.
The state of the union comes Jan 28. I believe. Be the first campaign to take action. Be the doers. US transportation oil demand is killing America financially and is indirectly the cause of so much conflict around the world.
This is not feel good do goody liberal bs. This is reality. Oil.
nhorbust, the operative word there is "available"
Nhorbust, I assume you live in the city. Out here in midwest suburbia there is no such thing as public transportation! Anyway, it's a nice idea...
I love the article especially because my son has been out there for the past week -- one of the 250 students that signed up in time. I spoke with him last night; they've been working non-stop, and he's getting tired (not to mention cold). But he says it's worth it for the cause, and he's met many cool people. And I'm a really proud father :o)
Loved it! Thanks for Posting.
"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman." -Thomas Paine
Thanks for posting
That was a fantastic piece, and the author should be praised 100 times over. That truly is a great depiction of how the campaign transforms people into open, free-thinking individuals.
I think this a great piece!
Thanks for posting this - I really enjoyed it. One of the most honest pieces, and an important point: this is not about a fetish regarding Ron Paul, it's about the ideas of liberty.