Isn't it funny how he draws the largest crowds and has the best organization but no one ever votes for him?

Ron Paul draws crowd to St. Charles on campaign tour

BY MARK SCHLINKMANN

Presidential candidate Ron Paul brought his anti-big government, anti-war message here Saturday to stir supporters to turn out for Missouri's upcoming Republican caucuses.

More than 2,500 people crowded into Lindenwood University's Hyland Arena to hear the Texas congressman. After his talk, Paul declined to predict to reporters how many of Missouri's 52 national convention delegates he might get.

He noted, however, that the process differs from last month's nonbinding Missouri primary, in which he finished third with 12 percent of the vote.

"All I know is there's a fertile field here and when I go and get crowds like this, I know the enthusiasm there," said Paul, who was to visit Springfield, Mo., on Saturday night.

The Missouri primary winner, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, also campaigned in the state Saturday — in Springfield and Cape Girardeau.

Paul, in his speech here, attacked bailouts of big banks, said there are far too many laws on the books and criticized welfare and entitlements. He said federal spending and other actions resulted in a poorer and smaller middle class.

"One sure thing is there is no way we can dump all this debt and all these problems on the next generation," he said.

He complained that the nation had a foreign policy of "interference and occupation" and said if elected, "I will not be fighting any unconstitutional, undeclared wars."

He also criticized "the runaway war on drugs," which he called an excuse to bust into houses without search warrants.

After speaking about 35 minutes, he took a few questions from the audience. One concerned the controversial federal plan to require insurance companies to pay for contraceptives, which he opposes. "The people who use birth control pills should pay for birth control pills," Paul said.

Asked about the Middle East, Paul opposed intervening in Syria and said there's "absolutely no rationale" for the United States to go to war against Iran now. Israel, the U.S. and other nations worry that Iran is working to develop nuclear weapons.

He said Israel has many nuclear weapons but Iran has none. "What's the reason to lose sleep over that?" he asked. Paul also said "we shouldn't tell (Israel) what to do in defense of their own borders."

Before Paul arrived, the crowd got pep talks from campaign activists. "Let's make national news, let's make Missouri a front-page story, let's take Missouri for Ron Paul," said Brent Stafford of St. Charles County. Earlier, about 500 Paul supporters took part in a mock caucus.

Many in the arena held signs or wore buttons promoting Paul. Wearing a green campaign shirt was Alan Schmidt, 49, of Granite City. "When he says something, I take it to the bank," Schmidt said, "I don't think of him as a politician."

Dan Gaynor, 59, of Webster Groves, cited Paul's call for abolishing the Federal Reserve Bank. "He's the only one talking about it" among the candidates, Gaynor said.

Lynn Cone, 53, of Ballwin, said she likes Paul's desire "to put American interests first" instead of sending troops "to fix everyone else's problems all around the world."

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/ron-paul-draws-crowd-to-st-charles-on-campaign-tour/article_614304a4-6b6b-5fa2-939f-b3cec2670132.html#ixzz1opXL6JYi