Behind a townhouse in northern Silver Spring, a half-dozen paint-spattered people are raising awareness for maverick presidential candidate Ron Paul.
Lawyer Chellis Gonzalez, former Green Party member Jennifer Frith, 9/11 widower Patrick Welsh, technology marketer Pete Stelynk and Java programmer Chuck Glenn, all passionate supporters of the 72-year-old Texan Republican, are making signs.
“It’s a really disparate bunch,” said “Reason” magazine associate editor Michael Moynihan of supporters drawn by the anti-war, small government or fringe political messages. Moynihan attended a different Paul event recently. “There are a lot of disaffected people after these last eight years.”
A broad swath of Maryland “Paulanteers” have rallied to push the nine-term congressman to high single-digit support here, well above his low single-digit support nationwide. The polls were taken before conservative former Sen. Fred Thompson dropped out of the race. Many who like his character and controversial positions are first-time political activists who don’t fit the Paul supporter stereotype of young Internet nerds.
The support has translated into financial success – contributors have given more than would be expected from a state of Maryland’s size and political leanings.
Gonzalez, a 50-year-old single mother of three, is one of the many in the “Ron Paul Revolution” drawn to the former obstetrician for his “unassailable” positions, including his foreign policy.
“He gets criticized a lot for saying we should treat countries the way we would like to be treated,” said the Hillandale resident. “I believe in the golden rule and I think it applies equally to countries.”
She watches YouTube clips of the candidate to boost their ratings, discusses Paul on dates and participates in sign-wavings. She’s even become a one-person event while waiting for carryout or outside the Metro, pulling a sign out of her Honda Civic hybrid to raise awareness of the candidate who favors abolishing the federal income tax, ending the war, and restoring sound monetary policies.
Welsh, too, is an enthusiast. He lost his wife, United 93 flight attendant Debbie Welsh, when hijackers crashed her plane on Sept. 11, 2001, to prevent crew and passengers from taking control. Drama comes to the fore when the actor speaks of Paul’s character.
“When I was a little kid I was so fascinated with Patrick Henry standing up, ‘Give me liberty or give me death’,” said Welsh.
“That’s the first guy I’ve seen who’s anything close to that.”
Frith, a former Republican, registered with the Green Party but now has returned to the Republican Party to back Paul. Her boyfriend’s brother, who died a few months ago from leukemia, might have benefited from holistic medicines illegal in the U.S. if Paul’s ideas on them prevailed.
She explains her support, “It started with health freedom and it blossomed to his platform.”
“Once you get it, you’re not likely to be going back to politics as usual,” said Bruce Voris, a space satellite engineer who serves as captain of Paul’s Howard County Meetup Group, an Internet organizing technique that allows like-minded individuals in an area to find one another.
These groups