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January 25th 2008
Inside A Republican Debate
By Alex Newman
Created 2008-01-24 20:03
Approaching St. Petersburg, on I-275, the signs were already everywhere. People were standing on overpasses with banners as long as school buses. Hundreds of signs were planted along the shoulder of the road. Once in the city, more signs, bumper stickers and T-shirt clad supporters with more huge banners were everywhere. And, all of it for one candidate.
Why was this candidate’s name plastered everywhere? Why hadn’t the St. Petersburg Times written about him in that day’s front-page story about the Republican debate? They gave plenty of coverage to Giuliani and Romney, but not a sign or supporter for either of them could be found.
In a park near the debate area there was an airplane in the sky towing a long banner about voting for this candidate who was not “top-tier” according to the media. Booths promoting a variety of causes were busy — Dennis Kucinich supporters were there, carrying signs and wearing shirts saying he would restore the Republic and the Constitution. Across the street, a catamaran with loudspeakers on deck and a banner draped across the side was coming into the harbor — apparently this “long shot’s” “Re]love]ution” had a navy, too. Another ship anchored out in the bay was covered in banners for this candidate as well.
A straw poll was being held and a strange phenomenon was noted: Romney supporters had bought the majority of tickets and were voting over and over and over again, some up to 80 times. Chairman of the Pinellas County GOP, Tony DiMatteo, said people were allowed to vote as many times as they wanted because it was a fundraiser for the party and every vote was worth $20. The St. Petersburg Times did report the voting oddities the next day, so at least it didn’t escape unnoticed.
A trolley, decorated, and filled with enthusiastic supporters carrying signs and American flags and wearing everything from cowboy hats to tie-die shirts, happened by. They spoke in glowing terms and passionately about their candidate. “America’s hero,” they called him with adoration in their eyes. They explained that pollsters were not including their candidate’s name in polls, and that the media was purposely ignoring him. And yet, the candidate had more supporters in the area than all of the other candidates combined. Above, yet another plane with L.E.D. lights scrolling huge messages across the wings in support of the candidate could be seen in the darkening sky.
Before the actual debate, in the press room, reporters from all sorts of publications were furiously typing away on their laptops. Carl Cameron, a Fox News talking head, was asked if it was always like this at Republican events, with all these supporters for this one candidate that nobody on TV talks about. Cameron had no response — he stalked away. Why was it taboo to tell the truth about what was going on?
Finally the debate opened with an almost seemingly staged battle about illegal immigrants between Giuliani and Romney. At long last, after 40 minutes, they finally let him, the candidate, speak. The candidate that had hundreds, if not thousands of fans cheering outside, got a “Youtube” question asking whether he believed in “conspiracy theories.” “This is an ideological battle; some people believe in globalism, others of us believe in national sovereignty,” he responded, after mentioning that the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and the Trilateral Commission are real. He also discussed a unanimous vote by the Texas legislature to halt progress on the “NAFTA super highway,” a corridor between Mexico and Canada that would cut through the United States, an aspect of the North American Union that had been the subject of CNN reports. Why would CNN and Youtube pick such a dumb question for the candidate that hadn’t been allowed to say anything yet?
John McCain was asked if he would support repealing the IRS in favor of the “fair tax.” He answered “no,” but took the opportunity to tell the audience that the candidate who was causing such a buzz was an isolationist. It was an attempt to take a swipe at the man who calls himself a “non-interventionist.” McCain was booed so loudly that the moderator had to step in to quiet down the audience.
The candidate received his last question off the giant YouTube screen: “I think we both know that the Republican Party is never going to give you the nomination. Are you going to let American down by not running as an independent?” “I am a Republican,” responded the candidate. “You know that we raised $4.3 million in one day? This country is in a revolution. They’re sick and tired of what they’re getting, and I happen to be lucky enough to be a part of it.”
Afterward, in the spin room, anxious reporters paced nervously while waiting for the candidates to reappear. Duncan Hunter arrived first, followed by the candidate everybody was talking about, but nobody was writing about. Chuck Norris and Mike Huckabee arrived a bit later, but none of the other candidates bothered to show up. The candidate’s coordinator for Florida, Mark Cross, said he was “very happy” with the candidate’s performance. “The message of peace, freedom and the Constitution is catching on.”
The only after-debate rally being held was at the Palladium down the street where the candidate the media ignores was going to give a speech. The place was filled to capacity and more with cheering and whistling folks; old and young, black and white, hippies and veterans, and babies too. The candidate spoke: “I’ll have a lot of free time as President because I don’t want to run your life, and I don’t want to run the economy, and I don’t want to run the world.” He spoke about the Federal Reserve causing inflation and hurting the poor and middle class. He spoke about America’s disastrous foreign policy that he called empire building. He spoke of hope for America, and how surprised he was that his campaign was raising so much money and attracting so much support.
People were prone to comment in the afterglow. Miriam Lancaster, a 92-year-old with American flag bows in her hair said about her preferred candidate; “He isn’t a normal sleaze-bag politician. There is nobody else up there that could do the things he will. We need him so badly,” lamenting the loss of an America she said had died somewhere between WWII and today. Samm Simpson, a democratic congressional candidate for the St. Petersburg district said, “We lost our Constitution and our rights and if we don’t start speaking out and doing something about it we aren’t going to get them back. We can start by stopping the bombing around the world and bringing our troops home. We are turning into a fascist nation and the people running America right now are evil, they’re just evil.” She added, “The media darlings may laugh, but this is just the beginning. This movement that is forming is going to take America back for the people, trust me. Even though I may be dead by the time we succeed, freedom and goodness will prevail over tyranny and the ideology of evil.”
This was what the candidate’s supporters have called the “Ron Paul Revolution,” and it’s not being televised. But it is there and it is real — I know because I saw it at the St. Petersburg Republican debate.
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