Buffalo and I were at the Ron Paul rally on Independence Mall, Philadelphia, today. The rally started at 1pm, with a musical number (Jordan Page), followed by a few speakers, including former CIA officer and Bin Laden Unit leader Michael Scheuer.
The weather today in Philly was far from ideal, with a thin rain in the beginning of the rally becoming a downpour before 2pm. The crowd was very animated, with lots of people in the age group of 20s to 30s. My estimation of the number people attending was of about 500-1000. The Ron Paul campaign is claiming 4300+ attendees, which is a claim I find very hard to believe.
Congressman Paul talked for about 30 minutes or so, delivering his standard message with the usual confidence. It was quite motivating, actually. The man has a type of charisma that comes from believing in what he says and in being able reason his positions in a manner that does not come across as preachy or pretentious. He didn't try to work the crowd much, other than a quip or two about "Sunny Day" patriots, as the rain poured incessantly.
We took a few snapshots of the crowd and the rain. The mall being relatively flat and with all the umbrellas it was not possible for us to catch more than a glimpse of Dr. Paul now and then, so we don't have any pictures of the man himself.
The weather today in Philly was far from ideal, with a thin rain in the beginning of the rally becoming a downpour before 2pm. The crowd was very animated, with lots of people in the age group of 20s to 30s. My estimation of the number people attending was of about 500-1000. The Ron Paul campaign is claiming 4300+ attendees, which is a claim I find very hard to believe.
Congressman Paul talked for about 30 minutes or so, delivering his standard message with the usual confidence. It was quite motivating, actually. The man has a type of charisma that comes from believing in what he says and in being able reason his positions in a manner that does not come across as preachy or pretentious. He didn't try to work the crowd much, other than a quip or two about "Sunny Day" patriots, as the rain poured incessantly.
We took a few snapshots of the crowd and the rain. The mall being relatively flat and with all the umbrellas it was not possible for us to catch more than a glimpse of Dr. Paul now and then, so we don't have any pictures of the man himself.
Despite the weather, it was a great rally indeed.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that struck me was the simplicity of the arguments. Ron Paul has often been discarded as an antiquated relic, whose ideology does not take into account the complexities of today's economy and global affairs - essentially, they say, today's world is not that simple, and Ron Paul should go back to the 1870s.
But, if you accept the role of government to be constitutionally limited, with a strong emphasis on personal liberty and responsibility, the answers really ARE that simple.
Unfortunately, despite the meteoric rise of the Ron Paul movement and libertarian ideals, there are not enough people willing to accept such a role for government. Yet.