Paul: President must protect freedom

By SARAH PALERMO

Monitor staff

Last modified: 1/7/2012 12:00:00 AM

Ron Paul, previously known - and adored by supporters - for his rambling speeches and roaming tangents, is back in New Hampshire just in time for the Republican presidential primary. This time, he brought a laser-pointed focus on crowd pleasing lines.



At a rally yesterday afternoon in Nashua and a town hall meeting in Durham, Paul succinctly summed his small government, non-interventionist platform, and hammered home policy points.



"The job of a president is to protect your freedom," he told a crowd of about 400 in Durham. "It isn't to run the world, it isn't to run your life and it isn't to run the economy."



When asked about the possibility that Iran could build or buy a nuclear weapon, Paul said we should look at the world from their viewpoint.



Besides, "all nuclear weapons scare me," he added. "The use of force should be the very last thing you do."



Later, Paul faced a question in Durham similar to one that led to negative publicity for rival Rick Santorum - about how the country should handle health care for those with pre-existing conditions or who are otherwise uninsurable.



Paul took a longer time to answer that question than others, saying he's been misrepresented as having a harsher position than he really does.



"Some people say like I'm going to cut these medical programs, but really I have a very modest proposal on this," he said.



"These Social Security beneficiary promises have been made. We should try to provide the promises. . . . But to take care of some of those programs, you have to cut the spending elsewhere," he said, pointing to his commitment to cutting all aid to foreign countries.



"Medicare is the same way, child health care is the same way. My budget doesn't diminish or get rid of those programs. . . . I just hope someday we will work our way back to self-reliance."



Other candidates and pundits "call us dangerous," Paul said, eliciting a chorus of boos from the Nashua crowd.



"In a way, we are," he continued. "To their empire! They're in danger of getting routed from the system."



Otherwise, Paul steered clear of even mentioning other candidates for the nomination, but in Nashua, his son Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, took a few shots at a new rival.



The "former senator from Pennsylvania, whose initials are R.S.," isn't the type of conservative primary voters are looking for, Rand Paul said.



While in office, Rick Santorum voted to increase foreign aid and double the size of the Department of Education, a department Paul the elder would eliminate entirely if elected.



Rand Paul told the crowd they couldn't just be satisfied with pushing to replace President Obama. Previous Republicans in the White House and Congress contributed to the debt and deficits facing the country, he said.



"There are some people who think if we get rid of Obama then we'll be fine. . . . The day of reckoning is coming. There is a debt crisis coming to this country. It's already in Europe and it's coming here," he said.



"The debt is the biggest national security threat to the country," he said. ". . . Not just any Republican will do."



Henry Schade of Amherst agreed, but said he's not sure Paul is the right Republican for the job.



He attended the event with his six children so they could see the primary in progress but didn't hear enough from Paul to say he'll support him Tuesday.



"I like where he is on having a balanced budget and removing needless agencies like the Department of Education. . . . I like that he's a family man, but there are other policies of his that I can't get on board with. . . . And I'm concerned about electability," he said.



Twelve-year-old Tyler Schade, camera in hand to document the rally and the press outside, said it compared well with his memories of a 2008 primary rally for then-candidate John McCain.



"It was loud, too" Tyler said, "and strange. Just strange."



(Sarah Palermo can be reached at 369-3322 or spalermo@cmonitor.com.)





