From left, Lansing Community College freshman Rachel Chaffee, her fiancé Nicholas Williams and LCC student Nickolas Noble, gather signs Wednesday evening during a Ron Paul supporters meeting at Hedrick Co-op, 140 Collingwood Drive.
Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul’s MSU supporters are armed and ready.
More than 40 people take their places against walls, in corners or on the scarce supply of sofas. Supporters continue to flow into the room, pushing a tide of people closer together and toward the mahogany-colored walls. Members of the congregation, comprised of both students and their elders, swim throughout the room, placing brochures, fliers and signs in shopping bags.
But despite Paul’s cult-like following at MSU and other campuses, setting a one-day online fundraising record and leading all candidates in fundraising, the Texas congressman has finished fifth in both the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary.
Still, Paul’s campus supporters have paid for their own campaign literature, waved signs, peppered campus with bumper stickers and coordinated an airplane flyover with a “Ron Paul for President” banner during former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s East Lansing visit in November.
And while Paul is behind in the polls, it hasn’t dissuaded his supporters.
“He has such a strong base of people who are really concerned with the direction our country is headed,” said Chris McTaggart, an international studies and anthropology senior. “Yeah, we’re nuts, but it’s a democracy. Whose supporters do you see out there? You only see Ron Paul. That’s what’s nuts to me.”
The Paul campaign employs an e-campaign strategist and has reached many younger voters through the Internet. He has the most support of all Republican candidates on Facebook.com’s U.S. Politics application, with 36 percent voter support as of Thursday. That’s nearly double the number of votes for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, the second-place candidate with 19 percent.
“I thought I would never be involved in something like this,” said Adam Enfroy, campus officer of MSU Students for Ron Paul. “It seems like all Ron Paul supporters are a minority, but they’re really great. They found a candidate they believe in. They just love the guy.”
Kerri Price, the Southeast Michigan field coordinator for Paul’s campaign, said student involvement for Paul is different than when she worked on the 2004 George W. Bush campaign. She said frustration with the war and economy has attracted college-aged students to the candidate.
“There’s definitely more student activism,” she said. “What’s really drawn them forward is failing foreign policy and the failing economy.
“This isn’t the Britney Spears or ‘N Sync generation anymore,” she said. “We’re interested in real world things.”
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