Posted on August 3, 2011

Ron Paul Expects To Be In Top Three In Ames Straw Poll

ANTHONY TERRELL, NBC NEWS: "You said you’d be rather saddened if you didn’t finish in the top three at Ames. What do you expect, what’s a good finish for you this time?"



REP. RON PAUL, GOP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: "Well, in the top three. That’s what I would hope to do and I expect to do it, but, we don’t know exactly. Nobody knows. Things are going well, so I expect us to do well."



TERRELL: "You have said that young people know they will inherit the debt, how do you plan on getting them to turn out for you in the Iowa caucuses this year?"



PAUL: "Well, it’s a little difficult when they’re not in college, because when I come here and they're in college, we get good crowds out. But you know still, in a crowd like we had today, there are a lot of young people there, and they’re energized more so, and a lot on our mailing list, so we do it through emails and direct phone calling."



TERRELL: "You are considered the Godfather of the Tea Party movement; you had this huge movement in 2007-2008; many people missed it, in the mainstream media as well. This primary, there are other candidates who are claiming they have Tea Party support as well; how will you convince those voters, who the other candidates claim are Tea Party types, to come back and vote for you in Ames and then follow through and vote for you as well in Iowa?"



PAUL: "I don’t look at that as a project; I just have to keep doing what I’m doing. History, you know, will bear me out, that when it all started. But, I don’t like to be claiming too much, and I don’t think others should as well. I think the people can sort that out."



TERRELL: "So, how will you convince them, say, this candidate or that candidate doesn’t share the same values as I do and you should vote for me instead?"



PAUL: "The only way I can do is counteract it with my beliefs, and today in that talk I gave today I explicitly explained my position on foreign policy, monetary policy, the Patriot Act, personal liberties, and it’s different than the other candidates. I think most people will come to realize they’re closer to the establishment; they’re closer to the status quo and neo-conservatism."



TERRELL: "Final question for you – you said the August 2nd date was an "artificial" date, that these guys just wanted to get on their "junkets." Was that a date created by the Treasury officials, or by the Obama administration; what made you think that date (August 2) was an arbitrary date?"



PAUL: "Well, it was created by the Treasury. I think it was created because that was nearing the date nearing when we were going to adjourn for the summer. But there’s nothing magic about tomorrow or the next day, where they couldn’t have written some checks. They bent the rules already; they’re about $75 billion over the actual debt limit, so they say move this money around here. Just think what the fed has done. They’ve spent these trillions of dollars bailing out other countries; don’t you think they could have found a little credit here and there to tide the Treasury over? So, it’s really just a distraction more than anything else."