Ron Paul's Counter Convention

This from a site called The Raw Story

Paul's supporters are really "looking to build a national organization that is going to run at a grassroots level, be organized at a precinct level, and to identify candidates to support," Benton said, "real constitutionalist candidates."

Paul camp expects to have about 50 delegates to the national convention. They will attend the Paul convention and the campaign is encouraging them to go to the official GOP convention as "active and positive." But, Benton added, Paul's supporters are independent-minded and aren't going to be told what to do.
There's some evidence that Paul's influence is beginning to stretch beyond the presidential race already. Libertarian magazine Reason recently profiled several "Ron Paul Republicans" who are seeking congressional seats in House races across the country this year.

I am following this story because I want to know about it. I in no way support these people.

i dont know Ed. i mean you are following it... kind of like you endorse it. but if you say so...

I'm following Russian expansionism, but not quite endorsing it.

I think you may be joking, yes?

Yes I am. I do not see you as the kind of person that would follow this kind of thing because you endorse it.

Texas Rep. Ron Paul played up his role as Republican Party outcast Tuesday, rallying thousands of supporters of his libertarian-leaning presidential bid at his own counter-convention in Minneapolis " just across the river from the official GOP convention.

The congressman said he wasn’t trying to launch a splinter party, or commandeer the Republican National Convention, or overhaul the party platform.

But he said he felt slighted by St. Paul convention planners, who he said gave him “second-class” access and restricted him from bringing his staff to their event. Paul was also denied a speaking slot.

So while the St. Paul convention kicked back into high gear, after a day of strictly business out of respect for the victims of Hurricane Gustav, Paul and more than 10,000 supporters gathered for his daylong “Rally for the Republic” " the capstone of three days of Paul-oriented festivities in the Twin Cities.

The affair was part rock concert, part rally, part protest and part reunion for supporters of Paul’s underdog, and ultimately unsuccessful, Republican primary campaign.

“There was so much movement and determination and excitement that supporters didn’t want it to be dropped,” Paul told reporters before the doors opened. “It was more or less something to satisfy the enthusiasm that had been built.”

Supporters said Paul was actually filling an enthusiasm gap in the Twin Cities, since the Xcel Energy Center convention site was empty much of the day Monday.

“It’s quite a contrast between there and here,” said Thomas Kiene, an Oklahoma delegate pledged to John McCain but supporting Paul. “There’s energy, enthusiasm here.”

Paul’s rally, at the 18,000-seat Target Center, was set up much like a national convention. The monitors showed images of American flags, and the floor seats were blanketed with blue-and-red “Rally for the Republic” signs.

Delegations, of sorts, even held up signs for their states on the floor as the program began.

Missing, of course, was the blessing of party elders and the unwavering focus of national media.

Outside, chanting supporters holding “Ron Paul for President” signs fished for honks as traffic passed by downtown.

“It’s a mini-convention,” said University of Georgia student David Dennard, who traveled from Athens, Ga., to attend the Paul rally. “A lot of people are here trying to make our voices heard.”

But those in Minneapolis were there to tout the Paul ethos, not the mainstream platform of the GOP. They chatted about reining in government, putting an end to nation-building, abolishing the Federal Reserve and restoring reverence for the U.S. Constitution.

“Our government should be controlled by the Constitution, not the other way around. … The Republican Party’s steered way off course with the neo-conservatives,” said Scott Williams, a Paul constituent in a “Ron Paul Revolution” shirt who flew up from Texas at 6 a.m. to catch the rally.

“We’re Republicans, trying to get (the party) back to its roots,” said Jessica Michael, whose husband Rick is a McCain delegate from Virginia. But said they’re both supporting Paul.

An ad hoc group of Paul delegates " who say they represent several hundred Republicans pledged to vote for Paul " are still trying to get the Texas congressman a speaking role at the St. Paul convention.

Bill Greene, an alternate delegate for Paul from Georgia, called the group a bunch of “old right Republican delegates,” and pointed out to FOXNews.com that Paul received some 1.2 million votes during the GOP primaries " much more than the 286,000 received by former Sen. Fred Thompson.

The Tennessee Republican has a prime time speaking slot Tuesday night at the convention, along with Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut.

“It’s really a matter of fairness,” said Greene. “Tonight you have (Sen. Joe) Lieberman speaking " he’s not even a Republican and he gets a chance to speak.”

The motion to get a speaking role would be based on a resolution passed unanimously by the Alaska delegation calling for Paul to be allowed to address the convention. As of Tuesday afternoon, Greene was unclear what kind of parliamentary rules his group would have to engage to get the motion advanced, or whether they would even be recognized on the floor.

But Paul said he probably would not go to the Xcel Energy Center where the Republican National Convention is being held.

Despite a report that McCain’s campaign was in talks to win Paul’s support and acquire the names of his backers, FOX News learned talks between the two campaigns had “stalled.”

Paul said Tuesday he would probably not be endorsing any candidate, though he spoke fondly of Libertarian Party nominee Bob Barr.

Journalist Tucker Carlson spoke at the kick-off Tuesday. Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura and Grover Norquist, of Americans for Tax Reform, were also on the speaker’s list.

Paul is expected to address the crowd Tuesday night.

Paul said his goal was to simply influence the direction of the Republican Party.

“For every vote that might leave McCain because of what I said, maybe two will leave (Barack) Obama,” he said. “(Obama’s) every bit as hawkish as Senator McCain.”

The moral and constitutional obligations of our representatives in Washington are to protect our liberty, not coddle the world, precipitating no-win wars, while bringing bankruptcy and economic turmoil to our people."
Freedom Under Siege, Ron Paul 1988
So called free trade deals and world governmental organizations like the International Criminal Court (ICC), NAFTA, GATT, WTO, and CAFTA are a threat to our independence as a nation. They transfer power from our government to unelected foreign elites."
Ron Paul, RonPaul2008.com, May 2007
"For the sake of the future of our Republic, it is important that we are not just consistent, but correctly consistent. We must defend not just the sections of the Constitution we find popular, we must defend the entire Constitution. Most importantly, we must jealously guard the philosophy of freedom upon which it is based. If we do, the sound we will hear is that of liberty once again loudly ringing across our land."
Ron Paul, Texas Straight Talk, June 21, 1999
"Few Americans give much thought to the Federal Reserve System or monetary policy in general. But even as they strive to earn a living, and hopefully save or invest for the future, Congress and the Federal Reserve Bank are working insidiously against them. Day by day, every dollar you have is being devalued."
Ron Paul, Texas Straight Talk, April 9, 2007
"The war in Iraq was sold to us with false information. The area is more dangerous now than when we entered it. We destroyed a regime hated by our direct enemies, the jihadists, and created thousands of new recruits for them. This war has cost more than 3,000 American lives, thousands of seriously wounded, and hundreds of billions of dollars. We must have new leadership in the White House to ensure this never happens again."
Ron Paul, RonPaul2008.com, October 2007
"I believe our founding fathers had it right when they argued for peace and commerce between nations, and against entangling political and military alliances. In other words, noninterventionism. Noninterventionism is not isolationism. Nonintervention simply means America does not interfere militarily, financially, or covertly in the internal affairs of other nations. It does not mean we that we isolate ourselves; on the contrary, our founders advocated open trade, travel, communication, and diplomacy with other nations."
Ron Paul, Texas Straight Talk, December 18, 2006
"America was founded by men who understood that the threat of domestic tyranny is as great as any threat from abroad. If we want to be worthy of their legacy, we must resist the rush toward ever-increasing state control of our society. Otherwise, our own government will become a greater threat to our freedoms than any foreign terrorist."
Ron Paul, Texas Straight Talk, May 31, 2004
"The biggest threat to your privacy is the government. We must drastically limit the ability of government to collect and store data regarding citizens' personal matters."
Ron Paul, RonPaul2008.com, May 2007
"The talk must stop. We must secure our borders now. A nation without secure borders is no nation at all. It makes no sense to fight terrorists abroad when our own front door is left unlocked."
Ron Paul, RonPaul2008.com, May 2007

When I read the above words I come to the conculssion that his party(rep) had not acknowledged or honourned his views.

Supporters come from a variety of horizons

In spite of the meager attention he receives from big media, his message seems to create interest. The proof: 35 million dollars received to date. With the money that continues to pour in, on Tuesday, September 2nd, the former candidate was able to organize a meeting in St. Paul, Minnesota, the city where the Republican convention was held. Ten thousand people were present, and came for a wide variety of reasons: “They came from the left and the right,” explains Ron Paul. “Others are here because I support civil liberties and because I am against a government that is present in our personal lives. Some are ultraliberals, or people who simply have had enough of our foreign policies and our sending troops all over the world.”

The former candidate for the United States presidency can count on partisans who don’t hesitate to reach into their pockets. This allows him to continue his “Campaign for Liberty": “We are using this money to promote our ideas by bringing people together to inform them of what we believe. Some of us are going to campaign to be elected to Congress, and funds will be spent with one goal: to promote individual liberties.” Even away from the media lights, Ron Paul has not finished speaking.

Le Monde, France

Ed, I like the idea, but they gotta invite the wackos to fill the ranks.

We need a third party, but not with ALL the leftover positions of the other two...

Republicans had picked up a guy who is too tooo tooo old and his immatured girl strive hard to uplift the image ( after this barbaric, banal, primitive comapassionate culprtis)
The world will never accept this barbarism anymore.

If- If the repulicans are sane enough they ought to have picked up this guy as a rival candidate( not my choice but my respect to this guy)
But republicans are so banal to pick up two unworthy non-entities to ruin their country after Bush

May i draw the kind attention of all the highly qualified rational republicans to clarify my idiotic question?
my question is this.
Why the hell a die hard conservative Ron paul had failed to get the admiration of this Bush party.
What kind of nonsensical views he had to reject blindly by the compassionate comrdes?
If USA is as civilized- say- like india or Germany they would have thrown these non-entities out of the window.
by my comments i am not supporting Ron P but i wish to expose the American conservative hypocracy.

One among the few courageous Anti war conservative with free market philosophy (There i differ) has been driven out from the political spectrum.
What a banal two party nonsensical drama that is going on going on going on for 200 years.?