Paul Hits Hallmark Themes to the Delight of Supporters in Iowa

By Hannah Hess
IowaPolitics.com

DUBUQUE — A packed town hall audience here drowned Texas U.S. Rep. Ron Paul's speech with applause when he proclaimed he was "sick and tired of all this spending overseas."

In his second visit to Iowa in as many weeks, Paul stuck to his themes of cutting military spending and bringing the troops home — striking the non-interventionalist tone that has been consistent throughout his more than four months campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination.

"We need to do less overseas and start bringing our troops home, and take care of ourselves here in this country," he said, drawing applause from the 130 people gathered at Northeast Iowa Community College in downtown Dubuque.

The longtime Texas congressman's opposition to military activities abroad sets him apart from the rest of the GOP field. He scores points with libertarians for his pro-peace stance, but draws criticism from opponents like former Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum.

Paul Goldstein, 50, of Dubuque, voted for President Barack Obama in 2008, but said Paul's libertarian appeal may sway him from the Democrats in 2012.

"When they talk about national defense, they mean national defense," said Goldstein, referring to libertarians. "They don't mean going all over the globe trying to fix everybody's problems."

Paul, who has served in Congress since 1976, has a long record of voting against international intervention, including the Iraq war. Although he voted for the use of force and emergency appropriations in Afghanistan after Sept. 11, he now says he regrets the votes and calls for a withdrawal of the troops.

"He's not a warmonger like other people, so I think for a global audience, Ron Paul has the best message," said Sanjit Pradhananga, an international student from Nepal, enrolled in Loras College in Dubuque.

"Part of America's troubles with the debt and everything is because of the wars overseas. If America wants to get safe with its debt, then a non-interventionalist policy has to come," said Pradhananga, 23, who wore a T-shirt that said, "Dubuquers for Ron Paul."

During his 30-minute speech, Paul also focused on cutting foreign aid, which he described as "taking money from poor people in a rich country and giving it to rich people in a poor country."

In fiscal 2011, the federal government allocated more than $52 billion to the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development for international affairs including foreign aid, peacekeeping, global hunger and health, humanitarian assistance, and other goals.

Paul called for the nation to confront "status quo" ideas about spending, and said foreign aid would be the easiest place to start cutting.

"Now there's a lot of those programs I don't like — I don't think they should've been started — but we have conditioned a lot of people (to) become very dependent on checks coming from the government," he said.

Paul said if he was elected president, federal programs that support the elderly, children and sick people, such as food stamps, unemployment insurance and Social Security, would be safe at first. But eventually, he said he would support cutting federal entitlements.

People in the crowd, many of whom carried blue-and-white Ron Paul campaign signs, nodded their approval.

"We have to convince the American people that it is in their best interest to opt for freedom rather than dependency, and we'll all be better off for it," Paul said.

Judie Heiderscheit, 58, of Holy Cross, said she stuck a Paul yard sign into the ground at her rural dairy farm, hoping cars driving up the highway would see it.

"The middle class is trying so hard just to make a living. We don't have any energy left at the end of the day to get involved in things that we should be interested in — in getting this country back on track," she said.

Heiderscheit said she found time to attend Paul's town hall, which included 20 minutes of audience questions, while taking her elderly parents to the doctor. Business obligations typically prevent her from early political activity, she said, but she decided she needs to be involved this campaign cycle.

"Keeping your nose to the grindstone gets your bills paid and nothing else," she said.

Heiderscheit never got a chance to shake Paul's hand, as he dashed off to the airport to head for Clinton. He held town halls there and in Muscatine, before attending a Story County Republican fundraiser in Nevada.

See photos from the town hall: http://www.flickr.com/photos/iowapolitics/sets/72157627766903136/

See video of Paul taking questions from the audience: http://youtu.be/2Dk74ImJ_Ww