A student reporter at Iowa State gets a chance to see Ron Paul up close:
That Ron Paul’s supporters love him is obvious. I’ve met many congressmen before. I’ve been to a senator’s birthday party and even rubbed elbows with two presidents. So I’ve had plenty of contact with politicians, campaigns and supporters of many candidates over the years.
But none of the campaigns or supporters seem to love their guy like the folks pulling for Paul. A young girl stood up before the whole crowd prior to the congressman’s speech and read a report she wrote for her grade school class on her hero, Ron Paul. Her message: I believe in Ron Paul because he believes in me. Powerful stuff.
Then when A.J. Spiker walked over and knelt next to me, I figured something was wrong. The life of politics is one of change, and I assumed my interview was bumped off schedule due to time constraints. But what Mr. Spiker asked me was to become one of the highlights of my political involvement. “Would you be willing to ride with Congressman Paul on the way to the airport?” A silly question in hindsight.
Ron Paul finished his speech, interrupted several times by the enthusiastic crowd, and hurried out the door to catch his plane. Spiker looked at me and gestured toward him. “You’re on, get going” was the unspoken message. Rushing to catch up, I followed the congressman to his waiting car. “Here,” Paul said, “you hop in this side. I’ll go around.” Say what? A congressman deferring his seat to a regular guy like me? Someone get me the weather report in Hell, quick.
We got in the SUV and took off. “So,” Ron says to me, “what did you think of the speech? Was it OK?” Yes, I told him. I enjoyed it very much. “I hope so. You know,” he said with the wave of his hand, settling himself into the backseat, “I feel like I repeat myself a lot. I feel bad that I have to say a lot of the same things all the time, but the message of freedom is important.” Clearly this was a humble man I was dealing with here, with a refreshingly human touch of insecurity.
Read the whole thing. (Thanks to Lew Rockwell.)