Going Undercover at a Ron Paul Campaign Event

by Michael Kuykendall [courtesy of Blog for America]

A report from an undercover liberal/progressive at a Kansas City area Ron Paul campaign event.

Last night the inestimable Murph and I put on our crack journalist hats and attended a meeting of Ron Paul supporters presenting campaign training for Missouri and Kansas. We wanted to get a feel for how well they are prepared, how many supporters they have, and also, of course, simply for the thrill of doing undercover work as a card-carrying member of the DNC at a GOP campaign event. You never know when some aggressive staffers will attempt to manhandle you out of the building or something.

My first impression was the size of the crowd- Johnson County, Kansas, which covers a bunch of Kansas City suburbs just south of the city, is about as red as a place can get. It is the fastest-growing and most populated county in the state, and ranks 43rd in highest per-capita income in the entire country. There are places here where Hummers, Porsches, and Ferraris are a common sight. The turnout for this particular event, billed as grassroots training, was pitiful considering the blood-red status if the area- Murph counted 35 people when we walked in, with 5 or so stragglers coming in late.

Ever since I started having regular running battles with Ron Paul supporters on this site and elsewhere, I have wondered who these folks are. It's not like Ron Paul has always had a huge, nationwide grassroots following, so who are these people? Where did they come from?

Here's my unscientific, pseudo-sociological assessment of the crowd last night; there were 4 or 5 "crazy old men"(you know the type, those guys who seem to have lost the acquaintance of not only a comb, but clearly a chunk of their sanity), quite a few young guys with that ill-dressed, brush-cut look that screams former Bush supporter, and a smattering of NASCAR types ranging from just out of high school to one foot in the grave. Suffice it to say Murph and I were clearly the only guys with fashion sense in the whole room, despite the 25% or so attendees under 25.

If I were to sum the crowd up in one word, it would be fringe.

One guy seemed like a professional handler of some kind, and a few of those standing seemed to be campaign staffers . The handler arranged the seating and stood in the rear, arms crossed, ensuring everyone signed in on a notepad.