Ron Paul Alternative Rally: Liveblog

Well, I walked a few feet in the Hy-Vee Center and am now at the "Celebration of Life and Liberty" featuring Texas Congressman Ron Paul. Paul was excluded from the forum hosted by the Iowa Christian Alliance and Iowans for Tax Relief and decided to have a rally by himself.

Read the whole live-blogging below the fold.

7:09 pm: Says liberty is young, tyranny is ancient. big applause. Talking about importance of individuals. "The Constitution was designed for one key purpose: to restrain the government." Mentions that this is a very diverse crowd: "There might even be Democrats here." Young people are excited about the Constitution, he said. Rule of law.

Mentions stem cell research but says the federal goverment shouldn't decide on the issue. Asks, "What's my energy plan? Well, the market should take care of it." "Less government… preservation of our liberty." He's done. big standing ovation, applause. Cheering of "Ron Paul Ron Paul."

6:57 pm: Criticizing the Patriot Act and those who voted for it. "Why do we have a rejection from habeas corpus? … Why did we as a Congress change the Insurrection Act?" The president has too much power, he said. "The government is supposed to exist to protect you, not the state." "This country was born as a republic… democratic elections… not to protect empire."

"I'm for revolution. I want revolutionary changes." Mentions Jefferson's quote. "They're usually carried out by a small group of individuals. They usually get challenged. They are totally ignored by the status quo. And we as a group have been totally ignored for a long, long time… They can ignore us no longer." applause, standing ovation "For even joining this campaign, why would you support this silly notion? The ridicule has been going on for a good while… I think we're moving gently away from that." He's mentioning a quote often attributed to Ghandi: "First they ignore us, then they laugh at us, then they fight us… then we win." A person in the crowd just yelled "Bring them on" to huge applause.

Says the same ones who are undermining democratic elections here are the ones who are sending your kids over to spread democracy in the Middle East. "The ridicule isn't working, and they're getting tougher. … You win in the end."

"My goal is to protect your liberty… obey the Constitution." He credits the internet with helping to fuel his campaign. "We didn't do it. You did it." Sounds a bit like Howard Dean… Says young people are starting to realize they need to get involved to protect their futures. "Maybe, just maybe, this new generation…"

6:42 pm: "They're ducking their responsibilities" on congressmen who supported the war. "There is a very strong strain of non-interventionism in the Republican Party. … Peace is a winner, war is a loser… Now, the Republican Party is tragically in the position of defending a war that is indefensible. They now will have trouble because of that. There's no way that Republicans can continue to do well without [addressing] that." Talking about Nixon and Vietnam now. Says Bush criticized Bill Clinton for nation-building "but now he we are." Says nation would benefit from change in policy, Republicans from change in politics.

He is part of the Right to Life movement–says it goes against the idea of the draft, registering guns, registering kids. A lot of cheers now about the 2nd Amendment. Says "we have the right to use violence against the state when they use violence." Says we need to bring the national guard home from Iraq. Says we need border protection here, not there. "I resent very much that we sent kids over there to enforce U.N. resolutions." Lots of cheers, some standing. "…it's in our interest to get out of the United Nations." cheers, standing ovation. "War did lead to our undermining of our liberties." War against Drugs hampers civil liberties too. War against our right to own guns. Says Clinton was "an abusive president in that regard." Talking about endless war. "War on terrorism is not a war. Terrosims is just a tactic perpetuated by individuals. … give them a license to go anywhere they want, anytime they want, and expect us to be there to send our kids, and it's time that that attitude ended." applause. So I guess Paul agrees with Edwards on GWOT.

After 9/11, Bush immediately focused on Iraq, he said. "We are now at a stage… the war propaganda directed toward us." Iran. Criticizing fellow GOPers about Iran war-mongering. "Why are we so scared? We should be confident. We're capable of defending ourselves."

6:29 pm: Talking about inflation for middle- and lower-income Americans. Talking about "the military-industrial complex" and stolen money.

Trade and immigration, we're losing jobs. Illegal immigration is a mess, he said. "The inflation, the booms and the busts… none of that could happen with the Federal Reserve system and we have to work to get rid of it." "The money issue … enhances the role of government. Says most congressmen are irresponsible. More than tax cuts are required. He's talking a lot about working class people being squeezed by Wall Street.

"What we need are a lot more people like you running this country who understand the principles of the Constitution, the princples of the sound money… so we don't have this destructive monetary system."

Says war helps the state, liberties are trampled. "[It] expands the state." Mentions "the mayor of New York City" and there are lots of boos. "They were over here because we were over there." Foreign policy… "More serious thought about how do we get in those situations … keep eye on the ball. Ask serious questions" about why it happened, how it could be prevented, what to do now.

"I voted against the war 15 years before it started." Said the first Persian Gulf War was the beginning of this war. Criticized the bombing of Iraq after U.S. left region. "There was no evidence that Iraq was any threat to us… But we as a country, accepted this administration… regime change in Iraq." "If you're going to do it, do it io nthe proper matter. There should be an up or down vote on a declaration of war."

6:21 pm: Says the economy is in "crisis." "This country is not nearly as wealthy as we think we are or how other people think we are." "We're operating on the idea that we have permanent prosperity … but we're borrowing money." National debet skyrocketing. "Borrowing from China." I hope he talks about bringing back the gold standard.

"We're spending way beyond our means. We've endorsed the notion" of a permanent welfare state, and "a world-wide responsiblity to spread democracy, and quite frankly, it will end soon if we don't change our policy. Or it will end anyway because" it can't be sustained. "The sooner we end that notion … the better for all of us."

Monetary policy–"and the need to get rid of the reserve system." Sweet–gold! The crowd is on it's feet.  "I can't imagine that people will accept the notion … of paper money … and trust the federal government." Said people were very interested in monetary policy during the Revolution. "Historically, it led to trouble when you debase the currency." Talking about gold coins at the bottom of the ocean. "Guess what, they're still there."

6:12 pm: He's
talking about the New Hampshire and Iowa mottos. Iowa: "Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain." Works well for his campaign. Talking about how the states should have more power than the national government.

"You can't have a decent life without liberty." life, liberty, property. "I believe every one of us, each life comes from a creator. … Government should protect life, protect liberty … the genius of the Constitution." Says it was not meant to totally centralize government. "I want very, very limited government." Talking about a woman with a baby who was murdered … "recognizing the importance of a life. When we can preserve life… how do you preserve liberty. We have a lot to do…" I wonder if his liberal supporters know he is anti-abortion?

"The idea that we live in an age… where the federal government owns all our income." Says we should get rid of that notion. "We don't own land. We don't own it because we can't use it the way we want. We have to get permission or we have to pay huge taxes. We have really undermined the concept of private property and contracts." More about a free market economy. applause

Says we need to eliminate the Selective Service (draft), lots of applause.

6:10 pm: And he's here! Big standing ovation, lots of cheers. He's doing some thank yous now. A couple of his grandkids are here. They get big cheers. He celebrated his anniversary with his wife recently, applause. 

6:07 pm: No one on stage but a country music song is playing. Lots of anticipation (which also means waiting. How long will people wait here before Paul comes on?). OK, this is weird. There's no one on stage, and everyone is just kind of quiet listening to this song about America that neither Chase or I have ever heard. It's over and the people clapped. 

6:03 pm: OK, now a big applause for an anti-war clip… Off the debate but still more video. I'm kind of surprised it's going on for so long. More Entourage music. Ok, now it's finally over.

5:54 pm: They're showing clips of one of the GOP debates. When he introduced himself, he called himself "the champion of the Constitution." The room erupted. Two minutes later, an anti-war clip aired–near silence. Interesting…  I just heard a Paul supporter say some, not quite flattering words about Giuliani when he went on screen. "I hate that f***er," he said. "I wish he had been aborted."

5:50 pm: Now they're showing us a video of Paul supporters across the country. The background music? The theme song to Entourage. Nice.  

5:47 pm: Kent Snyder, national chair, now talking: "The campaign is growing by the day. And why is that?" Snyder credited Paul's family, the staff, supporters and volunteer, Paul's message that he has "consistently, quietly, confidently" spread, and of course the candidate himself. 

5:42 pm: Someone's talking now, I think a state rep, and he's saying a lot of people think Paul supporters are just online. Well, there are about 1,000 people here according to the campaign, and the speaker just announced that they hope to have 10,000 supporters at the Ames Straw Poll on August 11. "In order to vote, you must be an Iowa resident … it's a lot of fun. You can volunteer, we want Iowans to come and we want Iowans to vote. You can be a Republican, you can be a Democrat, you can be an independent"

"I can promise you that the mainstream media, the big players with their big money, are going to see us … and we need you to make that happen." The speaker is telling them ways to get involved. It's a very energized crowd."

5:46 pm: The national campaign manager just got up. "There is a praire fire all across this nation," he siad. "With their prayer and their faith … we're going to do this thing. We are going to save America. There is hope for America." big applause "Thank you again so much. God Bless America."

5:37 pm: I'm in a pretty packed hall right now. There were a lot–a lot–of people outside of the official forum with signs, posters, etc objecting to Paul's exclusion and now they've moved into the hall. But it seems a lot of people who attended the first forum came, too. One of the draws? Free food. But perhaps they're a bit curious about Paul, who has seemed to generate a lot of grassroots support.