Ron Paul: Republican brand is 'in big trouble' David Edwards and Muriel Kane

Published: Friday October 24, 2008





Print This Email This CNN's John Roberts spoke to Rep. Ron Paul on Thursday about the upcoming presidential election and the possibility that the Republicans could take a beating at the polls. However, he started off with a question about former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, asking, "Do you even listen to him any more?"



"I have to, because somebody like you might ask me a question about him!" Paul joked.



"I used to listen to him when he was writing back in the 60s," Paul continued, "because he agreed with free market economics and no respect for the Federal Reserve. Lately though, he's been part of it -- and right now, he's really gotten bad, because what he was saying yesterday was that the only place where he might have made a mistake is he didn't advocate more regulations."



In the 1960s Greenspan was a prominent follower of Ayn Rand and contributed articles to her Objectivist Newsletter. Paul has stated that he was also strongly influenced by Rand's ideas at that time, although "she didn't like libertarians."



Roberts then asked, "If Republicans really take a beating ... where does that leave the Republican brand?"



"I think they're in big trouble," Paul replied. "They've sort of lost their way." He added that whichever candidate wins the election, "The country's in a mess regardless. But I think the Republican Party's really in a mess."



However, Paul implied that it wouldn't bother him greatly even if the Republican Party takes 20 years to recover, as it did after Watergate, because "if both parties have bad ideas, it doesn't matter a lot."



Roberts also asked Paul about his presence on the presidential ballot in Montana, where he is polling 4% and some Republicans worry he might tip the state to Barack Obama.



"I think it would be a pretty far stretch, if McCain loses the election, to blame me," Paul replied. "I haven't been campaigning in Montana. People who are supporting me out there are spontaneous, they're enthusiastic, they don't like either candidate."



"I don't think the person whose name they picked is the one that does the spoiling," Paul concluded. "I think there's something else that is wrong."





This video is from CNN's American Morning, broadcast October 23, 2008.









Download video via RawReplay.com







