Paul Supporters Protest Giuliani
MIAMI -- "Fascist! Fascist!" shouted a handful of Ron Paul supporters at Rudy Giuliani as he left a hotel and got into his car.
Giuliani donned his signature grin while someone screamed at him and his staff, calling them "traitors to the constitution, all of you!" Another guy yelled, "Pathetic!"
"Sell-outs! Got to war, you hypocrites! Cowards! Where's your support? You don't have anybody!" one protestor continued.
That man was Frank Gonzalez, who noticed Giuliani's "suits" at the hotel entrance earlier while he and others picketed along the South Dixie Highway in Miami. Gonzalez, a self-proclaimed "Ron Paul Democrat" has unsuccessfully run for Congress three times.
What's the difference between a Ron Paul Democrat and a Ron Paul Republican? If there's no difference, is Ron Paul a Republican?
"Good question. What addresses that more than anything is the underlying philosophy," explained Gonzalez. "Ron Paul is, what they were calling until now, a Goldwater conservative, or a Ronald Reagan conservative, but the real definition of what Ron Paul is all about is libertarianism... By that definition, anyone can run, really, in either party – Ron Paul can run as a Republican, I ran as a Democrat, but our issues are identical, with very, very, very few exceptions." He listed abortion as one area of difference, although that could be resolved because Ron Paul believes the federal government "has no business" deciding whether abortion is legal or illegal.
By 3 p.m. – four hours before the debate was scheduled to begin – about 25 Ron Paul supporters were baking under the sun, holding up signs across the street from where the Univision debate would be held. Every minute or so, a car would honk as it passed by.
John Bulten and his wife Penny brought their two children – ages 2 and 7 – to the gathering, which had been organized via a MeetUp group.
Their daughter, Hannah, was wearing a Ron Paul t-shirt she had made as, her father said, "a home school project." Among the many Ron Paul tenets she had painted on the t-shirt were pictures of flowers, grass, and sunshine.
Bulten asked his daughter why Americans should vote for Ron Paul.
"Lower taxes, less government, more protection for our borders, and um…get our troops home" she said.