Ron Paul fires up supporters in Virginia as Arizona and Michigan vote

By: Lindsey Boerma
Topics: Campaign 2012

Texas Rep. Ron Paul in Springfield, Virginia

(Credit: Alex Wong)

SPRINGFIELD, Va. -- Taking the stage Tuesday before an over-capacity crowd gathered for event billed as a "celebration rally" for Arizona and Michigan's presidential primaries, Rep. Ron Paul chose not to acknowledge those votes were taking place.

"I guess the revolution has arrived in Virginia!" the Texas lawmaker said to more than 1,700 shouting supporters while another 500 were unable to enter the ballroom after the fire marshal deemed it too crowded.

Mitt Romney bested rival Rick Santorum in Arizona and Michigan, one of the most competitive races of the campaign so far.

Having cut his losses early in Michigan after spending a mere three days in the state, Paul opted to spend election night near Washington so he could question Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke Wednesday when he appears before the House Financial Services Committee.

Romney in Michigan: "We won by enough"
Gingrich talks trees, not losses, in primary night speech

Why Michigan was so close, and how Romney won

But over the weekend Paul seemed equally lukewarm to Virginia's primary, which offers him the unique opportunity on Super Tuesday to face off against Romney one-on-one, as they were the only two candidates to collect enough signatures for the ballot. Asked about it Sunday, Paul said he didn't know "to what extent" he'd play in Virginia.

Paul has consistently said he is trying to amass as many delegates as he can.

"They keep asking about winning particular states in this campaign, but guess what? We're still winning a lot of delegates!" he said to massive cheers.

"Every once in a while they include my name in the polling," Paul said, telling the cheering crowd that a "recent poll that showed we do the best against Obama!"

Full Michigan results
Michigan exit poll
Analysis: Mitt Romney avoids a Michigan disaster

Lindsey Boerma
Lindsey Boerma covers the 2012 presidential campaign for CBS News and National Journal.
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by anoldfella March 3, 2012 12:16 PM EST: Just watched the CNN program "The House of Cards" here in France, and if you have not seen it then do so, and you too, will be filled with disgust at the arrogance, and dishonesty of the Financial sector and the ignorance of your political ruling class. As a follower of your elections, (after all, we breed the Poodles that tag behind the US) I fail to understand how the only Person in the whole of US who had the BALLS to stand up in and tell the world "not just the USA" what the outcome would be, can now be IGNORED and treated as if he was some form of lunatic.; Reply to this comment

by occupy_cbs February 29, 2012 11:32 AM EST

Mortarman1SG29: "The president was given the power by the States to decide where and when we attack in a war, in order to win and provide for our defense. So, again, this is a political question, not a Constitutional one!"

"In order to WIN"?

Considering that hasn't happened since WWII, the WAR LOBBYISTS have no reason to "win," just continue these endless WARS forever, while building-up the military-industrial complex beyond belief, for their endless corporate welfare payments from the taxpayers!

What a racket!

And people like you are afraid of others in your back pocket! LOL!

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by sbeutler February 29, 2012 1:44 PM EST: How do you like the weapons that the Amercan taxpayer has paid for that the opposition has? We armed al-Qaeda when they fought against the Soviets. We armed Iraq when they fought against Iran. Hell, Iran is still flying F-14 Tomcats that we sold them!


by sbeutler February 29, 2012 1:51 PM EST: How do you like the weapons that the American taxpayer funded that is in the oppositions hands Mortarman? We funded the Taliban when they fought the Soviets. We funded Iraq when they were fighting Iran. Even Iran has F-14 Tomcats that still fly today! This makes mine and your job harder and makes us less safer.


by occupy_cbs February 29, 2012 11:19 AM EST: ratpatootie: "Oh my gosh, I can hardly believe it. An article about Paul in the mainstream media! And here I thought his campaign was being completely ignored.."

And which of the TEN states having primaries next Tuesday, will your candidate win, so he won't be ignored any longer?; Reply to this comment

by occupy_cbs February 29, 2012 11:15 AM EST

sbeutler: "Newt and Rick aren't even on the ballot in 5 states that award 564 delagates. They are the ones that are "unelectable". In a recent poll, only Romney and Paul best Obama in a general election match up."

Sure, but maybe you should try more than ONE poll:

General Election: Romney vs. Obama

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/us/general_election_romney_vs_obama-1171.html

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by sbeutler February 29, 2012 11:31 AM EST: Romney vs. Obama = Obama vs. Obama


by occupy_cbs February 29, 2012 11:40 AM EST: The vast majority of polling has left out ron paul due to his unelectabilty for even the GOP primary voters.

by occupy_cbs February 29, 2012 11:02 AM EST

Mortarman1SG29: "Not have access to higher education? What are you talking about? Everyone has access. The problem is that people want to force others to pay for their education."

Unfortunately, it's getting harder and harder to afford higher education and health care for that matter, and soon, only the wealthy will be able to afford either one of them!

The problem is rising tuition, even in state schools, with CA raising state tuition 21% just last year, and far too many students graduating with a mountain of debt.

Don't worry mortar, nobody has their hand in your pocket like so many delusionally believe.

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by occupy_cbs February 29, 2012 11:21 AM EST: The cost of both higher education and health care is entirely too high, and has been rising for too long. NOBODY seems to have the answer, but can sure pump the taxpayer money into the military-industrial complex!

by Forty-Four February 29, 2012 10:58 AM EST

I decided not to go all the way to the polls. My vote wasn't going to matter anyway since I was just going to write someone in.

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by occupy_cbs February 29, 2012 11:23 AM EST: Laziness seems to be quite a characteristic of Americans today!

by occupy_cbs February 29, 2012 10:34 AM EST

Mortarman1SG29: "Occupy, the Constitution gives the power to the Federal government to decide when and where is in our best interest to go to war.
Your issue is a political one, not a Constitutional one."

Ron Paul could argue against your point all day as can I, so it is useless to waste any time on that issue, especially since the Preamble says it best: "provide for the common defence."

Actually, the powers of Congress have gotten quite misconstrued in recent history, especially by giving "war" powers to any President, making ridiculous preemptive strikes on an ideology of "terrorism," and making it a habit to remove despots around the world -- just in order to keep the military-industrial complex defense contractors and private contractors "fat and happy" with taxpayer dollars!

You and I will NEVER agree to the constitutional powers of the federal government when it comes to endless WARmongering!

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by occupy_cbs February 29, 2012 10:51 AM EST: While the PREAMBLE is short and to the point, the definition is still:

"The introductory part of a statute or deed, stating its purpose, aims, and justification."

We will NEVER agree on WAR POWERS, and suffice it say, many Americans including ron paul and his enthusiastic supporters, believe that the justification of "providing for the common defense" is nothing close to what we have today!


by occupy_cbs February 29, 2012 11:26 AM EST: Sorry, but OFFENSE can NEVER be construed as DEFENSE, no matter how hard you try!

by ratpatootie February 29, 2012 10:19 AM EST

Oh my gosh, I can hardly believe it. An article about Paul in the mainstream media! And here I thought his campaign was being completely ignored so that people would stop getting ideas about retaining their constitutional rights.

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by dj_chi February 29, 2012 10:32 AM EST: Just think how much press he'd get if he actually starting winning something meaningful. There's no time like the present....

by occupy_cbs February 29, 2012 10:12 AM EST

alleneinstein: "How many times did Lincoln fail before winning?"

That's a non-sequitur, since Lincoln was elected U.S. Representative at age 38 and President at age 51, and ron paul will never be President at age 77, despite being a U.S. representative for almost half his life!

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