Oooo!! This reminds me of my favorite Dad story!!
My father used to be the general manager for the state fairgrounds (he passed away several years ago while still in that position).
One year they had a show at the fair involving mules diving off a diving board into a pool of water. PETA was all over the fair that year (and the state fair authority) for allowing such inhumane and cruel treatment to be suffered upon animals. As a result, the fair got tons of free press that year (blowback, we're all familiar with it here).
My father was preparing to do a radio interview and asked the host to please refrain from asking him the same ole same ole tired question about the mules not diving and oh my what will the fair do (yeah, as if that was the only thing the fair had for an attraction). He made it very clear he would embarrass the interviewer if they didn't allow him to talk about the many other things going on at the fair of much greater excitement.
As I'm sure you all have guessed, not long into the interview the radio host ventured into dangerous territory by asking...
"Well Mr. XXXXX what will you do if PETA is successful in preventing those mules from diving at the fair this year?"
My Dad: "I suppose I'll have to find some other jackass to fill in, are you busy?"
LOL, Man I love that story.
In my fantasy world I'd love to see Dr. Paul put some reporters in their place with a similar response to the worn out stuff. But, since I do live in the real world (contrary to how the media likes to portray us), I realize this might not go over all that well.
Here's my stab at it:
1. Will all this online support translate into votes? I would suggest my "online" support has already translated into votes if you look at the various straw poll victories around the country. The more intriguing question the media should be asking is why are all these supporters through their own initiative raising so much money for my campaign? The bulk of my supporters are out on the street, attending straw polls, local functions, printing up their own literature at their own expense and showing up all over the place to help spread the word about this campaign. Does it seem logical these same energetic and tireless supporters would stay at home during the primaries? Yes, I am certain my online support will directly translate into votes.
2. Will you run as a third party candidate? I suppose my previous responses to this question were not clear enough so let me say, again, I have no intention of running as a third party candidate. My seat in Congress is an important way for me to continue to spread the message of a truly limited government that exists to protect the liberty of all its citizens rather than what we have now where the people serve the government. Besides, most agree this election is anything but "in the bank" for any of the candidates. It is really far too early to even speculate a run as a third party.
3. Why do you have so much support on the internet? I'm just as baffled as the rest of the crowd, but I would suggest it is the only medium available today where everyone is able to join the discussion. It is not static, like television or radio media. (O.K. lame-ish answer but I'm experiencing writers block on this one).
4. What departments would you eliminate? I believe it is disingenuous for any candidate to speak of eliminating any governmental departments without first acknowledging that in order to do so, you have to cut spending. Certainly the Dept. of Education, Dept. of Energy and Dept. of Homeland Security would be a good start, but it isn't nearly enough to cut spending as much as America needs to. Of greater or equal importance is to rid our country of fiat currency. The ability for the federal government to print up money whenever there is a shortfall is hardly an encouragement to spend taxpayer money wisely. Rather it creates the opposite. There is no fear of overspending or carefully allocating funds to where they are needed most. You cannot say I will eliminate this Dept., the IRS and so on unless you first address two things, controlling the budget and ridding ourselves of fiat currency.
5. See 1 & 3
