Hot on the heels of Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich in Iowa, Ron Paul is rallying the youth vote and drawing big crowds.
Speaking to a standing-room-only gathering of more than 1,000 college-age students in Ames, Iowa, Thursday night, Paul declared again that the war on drugs had been a failure, reminding the audience that more people had died in preventing people from using drugs than from the drugs themselves.
“I’m just not frightened by a free society,” said Paul. “I’m frightened by those who prevent us from having a free society. That’s where the real threats are.”
The Paul campaign has picked up steam and has its sights set on new national front-runner Newt Gingrich, by going after the anti-Washington, anti-establishment voters.
Brian Naylor at NPR writes:
At first glance, it's not easy to figure why Ron Paul is so popular with young people. At 76, he's old enough to be their grandfathers, something he alluded to at a packed rally at Iowa State University in Ames Thursday night.
"I understand this is a busy week, some of you are involved with studyin' so this was a chance not to have to study for a couple hours right? But I have a lot of children, a lot of grandchildren but I'm always advising them study hard get your courses down," Paul told the crowd.
Several hundred young people, mostly students, packed the Great Hall of Iowa States Union building. Many wore flannel shirts and knit caps on a cold snowy night. They listened intently as Paul, standing behind a lectern touched on some of his more esoteric views, on Austrian economists and returning to the gold standard. But they responded with enthusiasm when he got to issues they could relate to, like the threat he says is posed by the Patriot Act.
"There's a serious attack on our personal liberties — your rights, your privacy, passing bills out of a panic mode and passing things like the Patriot Act. it does not help your personal liberty. I'd like to get rid of the Patriot Act to tell you the truth."
Paul also struck a chord when he called for a sensible foreign policy, one that does not feature thousands of American troops fighting and based overseas...
After the speech dozens of students stood in a long line to have their pictures taken with Paul. The photos would later be posted on the Ron Paul Facebook page.
The article makes clear to layout out that his "big crowds" are at the 1K mark and that he is behind Newt and Romney. I just don't trust the MSM. If they are reporting something, they always want to push an agenda.
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