Sunday, November 11, 2007

Ron Paul Run Down

I was there, with at most 500 people by my own generous estimate based on a rough average of people lining crowd ranks and files. Heard it was his biggest turn out yet, which pumped the crowd. As for his stump speech, it was basically a list of talking points familiar to anyone who’s gone over his website. The whole thing struck me as crowd cheering to a Powerpoint presentation, even though the overhead projector was busted so the presenter had to read off notes on his blackberry.

I don't see how you can really buy into anything he’s selling, unless you accept the dogma that pretty much everything since the ratification of the Constitution that has happened in U.S. history and resulted in federal action has been intrinsically misguided. I did walk away seeing Paul supporters as at best what one might call "Constitutional Fundamentalists" which seem to have the same sort of blindspots as Biblical Fundamentalists. Both camps have a refusal to acknowledge the organic nature of human thought, whether inked or put down in stone tablets. In the case of their “enshrined” Constitution (though I’d say their enshrinement is more a set of blinders than any sort of reverence for the document and its history), they fail to remember that it’s a human document, in human custodianship and yes, subject to conservation - but conservation within a nation and world that’s considerably changed since it was first drafted to determine the security and social position of a bunch of land and business owners. A good number of people in the audience, including the white men, likely wouldn’t have the vote had we maintained the sort of static Constitutional view they seem to be clamoring for. As I've said before, it's like they think government has a reset button, and not realizing in pressing it they'd delete the "cheat codes" that got them where they are in the game.

Otherwise, sorry, not much of a fringe show, only one guy with some neck tattoos that might have suggested skinhead and one guy in head to toe camo with mirrored sunglasses and some sort of earpiece. The crowd was mostly young, by that I mean under 30, and I'd say in that crowd mostly under 25. I blame an educational system that has failed to teach the majority of Americans civic engagement. That's not teachers’ fault necessarily. Rather I see this as the result of the entrenched ignorance and disempowering parochialism that amounts to the “interest” in education displayed by a very vocal segment within the national discourse determining the content and funding of education.

A telling moment as the crowd on Independence Mall disbursed, walking behind me were two college aged women who sounded “well traveled,” been to Paris, Prague, Amsterdam, Ibiza, etc. I picked up that their tours of these cultural hotspots were enabled by study-abroad programs. You know, those opportunities ostensibly to broaden one’s understanding of the world, but have pretty much become a training ground for folks wishing to come home with a broadened “sophisticated” understanding of partying. Any case, the worldly young women (whose broadened understanding seemed to boil down to “people in Europe are weird about politics and stuff”) paused in their review of the event (a review consisting basically of noting points in Paul’s speech that marked their series of progressive minded ex boyfriends as “weird” like the people in Paris) to wonder, “Wait, isn’t there like some historical things or stuff around here? Like the Liberty Bell and stuff?” For those needing some spatial orientation, Independence Mall is basically a football field sized space across the street from Independence Hall.

There were plenty of men their age within earshot too. Unfortunately, I couldn’t gather much from them for comment beyond their call and response chanting of “Who You Gonna Call? Ron Paul!”

And with that, Bostodelphia puts a lid over this week's panfire.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Every other report -- including the NY Times and the Philly media that covered the rally -- put the crowd at anywhere from 1,500 to 4,000. I just watched a report from a Philly TV station whose reporter said the rally attracted several thousand attendees.

Cheesesteak the Impaler said...

Interesting. So you’re saying, if I check out the Times, Philly.com (for both the Inky and DN), cbs3.com, myfoxphilly.com, 10nbc.com, and 6abc.com I’m going to find coverage of the rally with the crowd estimates you’re providing. That’s funny, because while I couldn’t find anything in the Philly papers’ online outlet (but they’re interface can be a bit clunky), I could only find coverage among the rest in the Times and CBS3. The Times mentioned the rally in passing as part of a larger piece on the Paul campaign, but no crowd estimates were given. CBS3 did indeed cover the rally, but provides no crowd numbers, and all the crowd footage was “tight” no panning or aerial shots (which may be telling about actual numbers, as I’m pretty sure CBS3 could have captured the size of the event’s crowd from its nearby rooftop, if they thought they had an impressive crowd). I don’t know what Philly TV broadcast you caught, but if it was a local program it would have aired the segment yesterday, when it happened. That’s how TV news works. If you were watching a national program, and that's possible if your comment's timestamp is based in an Eastern Time Zone, I’d be curious to hear which network’s show you’re talking about.

I’m not saying you didn’t hear or see the numbers you claim to, even though they aren't "everywhere" you say they're coming from. I’d gladly admit my a miscalculation on my part and “upflate” my numbers if there’s solid evidence that my exercise in casual journalism was off. I haven’t done real crowd estimates since I stopped doing security work over ten years ago, so I may well be rusty when trying to figure a mass of people, and Bostodelphia ain’t above retraction.

Certainly if the numbers broke the multiple thousand mark, all the Philly media outlets should have been there. I mean, almost all of them with the exception of the newspapers are basically a block to a ten minute walk to the Mall. I still assert I didn’t say that many people, and less media as a result. Besides folks with non professional gear (bloggers and the like, maybe, but also people just documenting for personal reasons) I saw 2 maybe 3 camera units, but I got a vibe 1 might have been an in house or grass roots Paul campaign media unit trying to get footage for press kits; 1 guy with an audio rig; and a couple of folks with notebooks asking questions. I can’t say they weren’t, but I didn’t see any major media vans with extended.

I imagine the Mall could have held several thousand people comfortably. However, about half the mall, maybe more, was covered with simulated grave markers for an anti-war installation that didn’t look like it was connected or timed to coincide with the Paul event.

Again, I could be off; but I’m going to stick with what I believe I saw until I get something more substantial contesting it. Feel free to follow up comment or e-mail me any documentation of “every other report” that’s going against what I think is a fair account of what I witnessed. Being accurate does matter, even though the “just the facts” of this post was never its thrust. I came by the Paul thing to get more of a sense of who these supporters are. I think I came away with that, as well as some comfort in seeing there aren’t really that many of them. Maybe you can upset that comfort.

Thanks for reading, whoever you are. You can stay anonymous by all means, but pick a moniker. I swear the only person who gets dumped on for his name around here is Coddy.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, "at most 500", whatever.

http://www.nbc13.com/gulfcoastwest/vtm/news.apx.-content-articles-VTM-2007-11-12-0007.html

I'd ask you how you like your crow served, if I didn't suspect the distortion to be intentional.

Cod Peace said...

Ok, Mr. Anonymous, let's look closely at NBC13's coverage from Birmingham...

To quote the link: http://www.nbc13.com/gulfcoastwest/vtm/news.apx.-content-articles-VTM-2007-11-12-0007.html

PHILADELPHIA, PA.– Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul today addressed a crowd of over 5,000 enthusiastic supporters in Philadelphia. The Veteran's Day weekend rally took place from 1:00 to 3:00 PM at Independence Mall.

Hundreds of veterans and their friends and families heard country music superstar Rockie Lynne open for the Texas congressman and rising GOP contender, Dr. Paul. John Holland, the founder of Rolling Thunder, a leading advocacy organization for troops, veterans, and POW/MIAs, delivered an enthusiastic endorsement of Congressman Paul, before the congressman addressed the crowd.


And now let's compare that text to the PRESS RELEASE made by the Ron Paul campaign at: http://www.ronpaul2008.com/press-releases/36/ron-paul-philadelphia-veterans-rally-draws-5000/
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA– Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul today addressed a crowd of over 5,000 enthusiastic supporters in Philadelphia. The Veteran's Day weekend rally took place from 1:00 to 3:00 PM at Independence Mall.

Hundreds of veterans and their friends and families heard country music superstar Rockie Lynne open for the Texas congressman and rising
GOP contender, Dr. Paul. John Holland, the founder of Rolling Thunder, a leading advocacy organization for troops, veterans, and POW/MIAs, delivered an enthusiastic endorsement of Congressman Paul, before the congressman addressed the crowd.


Hmmm...look familiar? That's because NBC13 printed the press release word-for-word!

Don't choke on your crow, Anonymous, that'd break my fucking heart.

Anonymous said...

I was there leaning on the side of the media stage with my Ron Paul sign. I am 44 years young. CNN, Fox 29 NBC 13 and several other media cameras all were on the stage. Channel Six news van was also on sight although I did not see them on the stage. I estimated the crowd about 4000. If you realize there were over 3000 memorial markers for the troops lost in Irag covering half the mall. The other half of the mall was packed with supporter standing a lot closer than the markers.The crowd ranged from young children of 4 to 5 years old holding Ron Paul sign to senior citzens and every age in between. Search youtube for Ron Paul Philadelphia and you will see the range of supporter as well as how many were actually there. I and my wife actually appear in several of the videos. By the way the memorials were set up by a veterans group to correspond with the rally. If you had walked around you would have seen the sign stating this fact. Ron Paul speaks without cue cards and rarely looked at any notes, He doesn't need them since his message is so consistent. The lack of media coverage speaks poorly on them.

Anonymous said...

so you are saying that the constitution, which was one of the most influential documents in human history that advanced power to the people, rather than the government, was a step in the wrong direction? For nearly all of human history, a despot has reigned over some territory. You are willing to lay the groundwork (making the constitution an arbitrary guideline, rather than an absolute rule - a contract) for a despot coming to power in America, and you call it progress? What you fail to realize is that the American people can change the Constitution, but not the government. If the government is not following the Constitution, it is disobeying the people that granted it power. If the people will a more powerful government, then they should grant it more power. Trust me, government won't resist. If government simply assumes the power, and the people have no power to stop them, then the people have no power whatsoever.