The Other McCain

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Ron Paul Campaign Flyer Emphasizes Opposition to Gay Marriage, Abortion

Posted on | January 9, 2012 | 25 Comments

HOLLIS, N.H.
Ron Paul has won many converts in New Hampshire with his libertarian-influenced anti-war message, but a flyer circulated by the Texas congressman’s campaign here emphasizes Paul’s Christian faith, pro-life position and opposition to same-sex marriage.

“I believe marriage is between one man and one woman,” the flyer quotes Paul as saying, expressing his support for the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that would “ensure that no state would be forced to recognize a ‘same sex’ marriage license issued in another state.” The flyer also reminds voters that Paul “was an original co-sponsor of the Marriage Protection Act, HR 3313, that removes challenges to [DOMA] from federal courts’ jurisdiction.”

The Paul flyer (full image below) describes him as having “worked tirelessly to defend and restore” pro-life protections: “The right of an innocent, unborn child to life is at the heart of the American ideal of liberty.” Evidently aimed at wooing social conservative support for the congressman’s campaign, the flyer also includes these quotes from Paul:

  • “I have accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior, and I endeavor every day to follow Him in all I do and in every position I advocate.”
  • “We must recognize that true national defense means defending our own borders and coastlines. … Borders should be the number one national priority, plain and simple.”

You can click on the image below to see it full-size:

UPDATE: What struck me about this flyer is that so many of Paul’s young supporters I’ve spoken with are in favor of gay marriage and they seem to assume that Paul is as well. Yet the Paul campaign is distributing this flyer to emphasize the candidate’s social conservatism. Meanwhile, another candidate has a slightly different problem here:

Mitt Romney Campaign Disavows
Pro-Gay Rights Flyer From 2002
— Huffington Post

On this issue, as on so many issues, Romney goes both ways. NTTAWWT.

Category: Abortion, Election 2012, Fear and Loathing in New Hampshire, Gays, Immigration, Ron Paul

Comments

25 Responses to “Ron Paul Campaign Flyer Emphasizes Opposition to Gay Marriage, Abortion”

  1. Anonymous
    January 9th, 2012 @ 2:13 pm

    Actually, yeah, there is something wrong with wanting to have it both ways on a political issue, short of a Road to Damascus conversion – and I’m pretty sure the former Governor of Massachusetts hasn’t had one of those.

  2. Datechguy's Blog » Blog Archive » Photos and videos from Paul and Santorum in NH 1-9-12 » Datechguy's Blog
    January 9th, 2012 @ 2:26 pm

    […] it took Stacy McCain to notice what others did not: Ron Paul has won many converts in New Hampshire with his libertarian-influenced anti-war message, […]

  3. Adjoran
    January 9th, 2012 @ 2:29 pm

    Did you actually read the flyer?

  4. Adjoran
    January 9th, 2012 @ 2:34 pm

    Paul, of course, was an ardent proponent of “open borders” for many years, and ran on that platform as LP candidate for President in ’88.  A few years later, when he decided he wasn’t making enough money off his newsletters and wanted to run for Congress again, the sentiment toward illegal immigration in the district and state had changed from one of benign neglect to anger and resentment. 

    So what would a “man of principle” do in such a case?  Why, a full 180 – but Paul had been scamming his minions for years already, he knew they weren’t about to be dismayed by little things like that.

  5. Anonymous
    January 9th, 2012 @ 2:45 pm

    Paul’s libertarian supporters tend to be credulous.

    He says what they want to hear when he’s talking to them and they have their checkbooks out.

    Then he goes and says the opposite to social conservatives.

    He counts on both groups to convince themselves that he’s really on their side.

    Works better with the former group than the latter.

    One of the major problems in understanding Paul is that both his supporters and his opponents continue to think of him as “the principled guy.” His opponents disagree with his principles or think they’re not getting the whole story on those principles, but believe he genuinely holds them and is consistent to them.

    Fact is, Paul is the classic example of a successful politician. He shovels the pork fast and furious and carefully crafts his message to maximize fundraising by telling each group what he thinks it wants to hear. How can ten terms in Congress be wrong, right?

  6. ThePaganTemple
    January 9th, 2012 @ 2:58 pm

    Since Paul is claiming to be such a big, faithful Christian somebody should follow along behind him with a sign saying “By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them” and remind them of his unhinged followers, the 9/11 Truthers, Stormfront and Klan racists, etc. And to all these people on here that bitch and whine about how Paul is unfairly blamed for them, kindly explain how it is he meets in restaurants with leaders of white separatist movements and gladly accepts their money and endorsement, and practically has a sleeping cot on the set of The Alex Jones Show.

  7. The Wondering Jew
    January 9th, 2012 @ 3:51 pm

    Typical whining again by those who continuously distort Paul’s record.  Paul wrote two books against abortion– a strong opposition to abortion has also been a key linchpin of his campaigns and legislative activity for decades. Repealing Roe. V. Wade is a part of that and its no secret.  Support of DOMA ditto.  And yes, of course, like any successful political figure Paul emphasizes different parts of his message to different audiences, but his positions on these issues are hardly a secret. Many of  his supporters who oppose him on these issues are willing to trade that off given the other things about Paul that they like.

    Its true that Paul doesn’t preen about his religiosity or seek to use religion to divde us like Big Government conservatives such as Santorum or Huckabee, but I personally found his statement of faith (issued in 2007) to be one of the more moving and sincere political statements I have read.  It didn’t get a lot of publicity because, as Paul notes at the beginning.

    “I
    have never been one who is comfortable talking about my faith in the
    political arena. In fact, the pandering that typically occurs in the
    election season I find to be distasteful.”

    Would that more GOP candidates listened to that advice.

    http://www.covenantnews.com/ronpaul070721.htm

  8. The Wondering Jew
    January 9th, 2012 @ 3:57 pm

    The idea of Paul as a panderer is just idiotic.  He may be many things that some in the GOP don’t like or even (Incorrectly in my view) find crazy, but he’s certainly not afraid to take and stand by unpopular positions– even for decades.  To the extent his positions on immigration have changed, its because the country has changed a lot since 1988 (in case you haven’t noticed) , and he’s altered his own position in response to a new set of facts.  If Paul wanted to pander to the GOP base, he’d just adopt the neocons idiotic foreign policy, in which event 90% of the  virulent opposition to his cadidacy would suddenly disappear.

  9. Anonymous
    January 9th, 2012 @ 4:01 pm

    More Ron Paul heartbreak for Andrew Sullivan!

    And if you were wondering why the EU is about to fall apart:  You can’t make this stuff up…

  10. Anonymous
    January 9th, 2012 @ 4:38 pm

    I was referring to the Romney flyer Stacy mentioned in the update.

  11. AngelaTC
    January 9th, 2012 @ 4:57 pm

    Yes, we know you don’t like Paul.  “Scamming his minions?”  Please – he’s never forced anybody to donate a dime to support him. Meanwhile, all the other candidates supported the bailouts, farm subsidies, and a myriad of other programs that they made us pay for, regardless of how we felt about them. 

  12. AngelaTC
    January 9th, 2012 @ 5:01 pm

    I love it  – the political correctness of his supporters is a bigger issue than the actual big government, big spending voting records.   

     I’ve worked for a myriad of campaigns, and they’ve all got a scary share of crazy people who support them.  

  13. AngelaTC
    January 9th, 2012 @ 5:03 pm

    That surprises me – the libertarians I know all say that Paul is too conservative for them, hence the reason they’ve got to go find their own candidate yet again.

  14. Anonymous
    January 9th, 2012 @ 5:08 pm

    Angela,

    I resemble that remark, but …I’m no longer involved in the LP per se, but in 2008 internal polling (the real stuff, not random Internet jiggery-pokery) said 70%+ of Libertarian Party members supported Paul as a Republican and would support him for the LP nomination if he asked.My impression this time around — anecdotal, but I keep my ears to the ground — is that that level of support is even higher this time.

  15. AngelaTC
    January 9th, 2012 @ 5:13 pm

    Not being on the ground in NH, but none of the Paul supporters I know think that he favors gay marriage.  They all know that he thinks that, at the maximum, it should be handled by the states, and that if it wasn’t a by-product of the entitlement mentality, that the government wouldn’t need to be involved at all. 

  16. ThePaganTemple
    January 9th, 2012 @ 5:34 pm

    Do the candidates appear on radio shows targeted to that “scary share of crazy people who support them”?

  17. Ron Paul Haunts New Hampshire « News « @griffinrc
    January 10th, 2012 @ 6:28 am

    […] mainstream journalist, for example, seemed to notice the flyer the Paul campaign was distributing at their Hollis event that was obviously meant to pitch Paul to social conservatives. “I have […]

  18. ThePaganTemple
    January 10th, 2012 @ 9:35 am

    He doesn’t have to force them to donate to him. All he has to do is mouth off about dem Jooos and rattle off bullshit phrases like “policeman of the world” and all he has to do is sit back and wait for it to come flowing in. Then he can laugh all the way to the bank. Have you sent him money? Because if you have, he’s laughing at you.

  19. ThePaganTemple
    January 10th, 2012 @ 9:36 am

    I see you have no answer to this one.

  20. ThePaganTemple
    January 10th, 2012 @ 9:40 am

    Why shouldn’t candidates talk about their faith. Yes, of course there is a lot of pandering, and I don’t defend it, but by and large a person’s faith is a big part of who he is, that is to say if he or she is really a person of faith. Of course they should talk about it. As far as the pandering goes, for every person that might be inclined to vote for somebody because of their faith there will be at least as many who it might turn off. The real question is will they let their faith influence their actions in office in inappropriate ways. If anything, they should address the subject of their faith if for no other reason than to address this issue.

  21. Ron Paul and the ‘Not Romneys’ : The Other McCain
    January 10th, 2012 @ 4:09 pm

    […] 10: Rick Santorum Dodges an Issue?Jan. 9: Among the Paulistas in New HampshireJan. 9: Ron Paul Campaign Flyer Emphasizes Opposition to Gay Marriage, AbortionJan. 9: Media Mayhem in the Granite StateJan. 8: Bitter Fruits of a Bitter Seed: Envy, Feminism, […]

  22. Anonymous
    January 12th, 2012 @ 8:44 am

    I am a supporter and I support Gay Marrige. I agree with Paul when he sais leave the issue to the churches and the states. I don’t doubt that Paul does not like the thought of gay people marrying, but he acknowledges that it is not the presidents responsibility to enforce his own personal morality upon the people. Unlike Santorum or Romney he will not make Gay marrige a federal issue. It is not the federal governments job to give us a dictionary definition as to what people can or can’t do

  23. SmudgeServices
    January 12th, 2012 @ 10:11 am

    The author obviously picked out his favorite lines and didn’t read the flier to comprehension, so i thank you for positing the flier itself and allowing me to read it without your misguided propaganda.
    Although it says his personal view is that marriage is between man and woman, he wants to preserve the rights of the people and what they, as a state, decide. His position is to reject any federal blanket umbrella definitions and keep the power of definition within each state (which people have much more power and control over). Obviously his pro-life position on the subject is based off his religious beliefs, but he’s also not trying to push his beliefs on anyone else, he is doing the opposite by empowering them to do what they want. To push his beliefs on everyone else would have been if he took a position of empowering himself, and supporting a federal blanket definition that would force all states to practice his pro-life beliefs.

  24. Loves_what_igot
    January 12th, 2012 @ 12:57 pm

    Have you been watching the news? We are the police man of the world. There is more time spent spreading propaganda about Iran than there is addressing the disappearing of the middle class. Your apathy is pathetic

  25. Zachr87
    January 12th, 2012 @ 2:10 pm

    The million-dollar question: Will you go to Heaven when you die? Here’s a quick test. Have you ever told a lie, stolen anything, or used God’s name in vain? Jesus said, “Whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Have you looked with lust? Will you be guilty on Judgment Day? If you have done those things, God sees you as a lying, thieving, blasphemous, adulterer at heart. The Bible warns that if you are guilty you will end up in Hell. God, who the Bible says is “rich in mercy,” sent His Son to suffer and die on the cross for guilty sinners. We broke God’s Law, but Jesus paid our fine. That means He can legally dismiss our case. He can commute our death sentence: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) Then He rose from the dead and defeated death. Please, repent (turn from sin) today and God will grant everlasting life to all who trust in Jesus (as the One to take over your life and the One to save you from damnation). Then read your Bible daily and obey it.

    Romans 10:9

    needGod.com
    Livingwaters.com