Smartphones rise when he emerges on the stage. Ron Paul. The oldest of the Republican presidential contenders, who probably has the youngest fans. The 76-year-old gathered his followers for a photo shooting in a Washington hotel. While the other contenders are already speaking in the neighboring hall before huge crowds, the learned gynecologist fights in the back room. On the main stage he acts as radically liberal (german for libertarian). Abolish the government, hail to absolute liberty. RP: "We have accepted this notion..."<RP/> This message seems to resonate especially with young voters - many men - some of them nerds. That would be an accurate description of the queue at the campaign booth. "RP 2012!" (1:15) Reporter: "What have you got?" - "A DVD, which I will definitely show my parents!"... "So many young people gather around Dr. Paul because his ideas are young and freedom is on the stake." ... "When you go into your bedroom and take drugs, you don't harm anybody else. The government shall not prohibit anything, that does not harm anybody else. It's a decision of your own, to do with your life as you wish. That's what RP stands for." Reporter: An understanding of liberty, that is not necessarily ready for a majority of votes - but majorities seem to be of secondary concern for the seasoned politician (RP). It's already his third try for the nomination - probably without a chance of getting the Republican consent. (That is unlikely e.g.), because we wants to isolate the USA on foreign policy. RP: "All other options have to be tried..." (war, UNO, NATO stance) In this huge crowd, all of a sudden, there are less people left who want to fight for him with their smart phones in their hands. But one thing is for sure: RP polarizes.
One thing that the reporter did, was to overemphasize his social conservatism. ("Don't take the king for god" excerpt from the speech ) I think she didn't know better. Someone like Bachmann or Santorum with their "values" is extremely foreign to a german crowd. The small government stance on the other hand seems increasingly popular since the sovereign bailouts and could lead to some further investigations in his philosophy.
