Ron Paul may be dragging in the polls for the Republican presidential nomination, but that did not deter the thousands who gathered at Ritchie Coliseum last night to greet the GOP contender with chants of “President Paul.”
“Sounds to me like freedom is popular in Maryland,” Rep. Paul (R-Texas)said, responding to raucous applause.
Paul’s platform of limited government, fiscal conservatism and decreased military intervention has resonated with many students at this university, prompting several to form a chapter of the group Youth for Ron Paul and compete for the chance to hear the candidate’s message firsthand.
Yesterday, Paul addressed an audience of nearly 2,000 students, marking the culmination of more than six months of the group’s petitioning and campaigning.
“A lot of people are waking up,” Paul said. “I think the younger generation is certainly waking up.”
This university’s chapter of Youth for Ron Paul collected the most signatures of all the chapters countrywide, according to the group’s secretary, Paul Rowe.
“This has been the goal since we were set out,” he said. “The goal is to get his message out and the best way to do that is to have him here to get him to deliver it.”
Free tickets available online ran out within two days after the university formally announced the arrival of the GOP hopeful to Ritchie, Rowe said.
The event drew a mix of college students and avid Paul fans from around the area, despite the fact that he currently has just 71 delegates, compared to the 569 claimed by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, according to a recent CNN estimate.
“People are skipping classes, getting off work, driving 50 miles; it’s definitely what we wanted it to be,” Rowe said before the event. “We would have really liked to have a bigger venue because it seems like we definitely have the audience for it.”
The speech opened with Paul’s rejection of government initiatives such as the Affordable Health Care Act, which he said “represents intrusions into our personal lives.”
“When you think about it, what is government other than a big mandate? All they do is mandate everything we do,” he said.
Paul also touched on this nation’s military involvement abroad. He said the country should temper its role as “world police,” and should no longer engage in nation building.
“We have become an aggressor nation,” he said. “A lot more can be achieved with peace than with war.”
He drew a strong response from the crowd with his discussion of the Federal Reserve, which he said encouraged inflation, prompted the burst of the housing bubble and slowed the nation’s recovery post recession.
“The Federal Reserve is a facilitator, it facilitates the growth of big government,” he said to an army of “end the fed” chants. “It’s immoral to counterfeit money, and they’re the big counterfeiters.”
Many students said they were enthused to see the candidate in person. Freshman psychology major Jay Willging said, “there were incredible amounts of energy,” adding the event was “surreal.”
The event also drew students from across state borders, such as University of Delaware freshman Tim Heider, who made the two-hour drive with his friends to see Paul’s speech. Heider said the candidate’s message appeals to the values and concerns of many youth.
“The fact that he’s economically conservative, kids really like that because they don’t want people taking their money,” Heider said. “But he’s socially liberal and kids like that too.”
bach@umdbk.com
