Paul Receives More Endorsements Hours After Boos at Myrtle Beach Debate
Texas Rep. Ron Paul wins over South Carolina Sens. Danny Verdin, Lee Bright, Kevin Bryant and Tom Davis.
Editor's note: This story has been updated.
COLUMBIA -- Texas Rep. Ron Paul received what he calls "another shot in the arm for the campaign" after three South Carolina senators join Sen. Tom Davis --- who on Sunday announced his support for Paul --- in endorsing the GOP presidential candidate.
Sen. Danny Verdin (R-Laurens), Sen. Lee Bright (R-Spartanburg) and Sen. Kevin Bryant (R-Anderson) have all said Paul is the right choice for president during a press conference held at the State House Tuesday morning.
The endorsements come less than 24 hours after a weak performance at Monday night's Fox News/Wall Street Journal/SCGOP debate in Myrtle Beach.
Some undecided voters that attended the debate told Patch Paul's foreign policy was "scary" and his performance Monday changed their minds about supporting him.
A Lexington Republican political activist went so far as to say Paul couldn't "be trusted with national security issues."
Paul was booed Monday night when he said the 'Golden Rule' should be used in foreign policy.
Paul is in favor of a limited foreign policy and has previously said the "country should never go to war unless the war is declared, win it and come home."
He also said he would make large or deep cuts in the military budget, and said there was a difference between the military spending and a strong national defense.
A new poll released Tuesday from Monmouth University shows Romney with an 11-point lead, earning 33 percent among likely voters while Paul earned 12 percent. Paul and Rick Santorum, who earned 14 percent, are competing for third place.
Last Friday, a Public Policy poll had Paul at 15 percent, gaining 6 points to move him into third place.
Speaking to a crowd of mostly media outlets and a handful of supporters, Paul said he would continue his campaign no matter the outcome of South Carolina's Primary this Saturday.
When asked by a reporter about former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney taking South Carolina, Paul said "he's not going to win the nomination Saturday."
"Why should everybody walk away if he wins this primary?" Paul said. "I'll just wait and see where the delegates are."
"To think that debating is not productive? The Republican establishment might think "so-and-so's going to win, so we better not discuss the issues anymore. I might just continue talking about cutting $1 trillion out of the budget."
Regardless what Saturday's outcome will be and Paul's Monday night showing, the three South Carolina senators and supporters believe Paul is the person to move the country forward.
Bright said Paul is the only candidate that had a message “that resonated in my heart” as it relates to preserving, promoting and defending the United States.
“Anyone that is keenly interested in the welfare of this country... Dr. Ron Paul more than any other candidate has the vision, the courage and the convictions to take the steps necessary to put this country back on track.”
Verdin said he could no longer stand on the sidelines when he knew there was “one man that’s going to stand and fight for the constitution.”
“When it comes to making a stand, you got to do it," Verdin said. "I’m just asking South Carolinians to go past the 30-second media sound bites and pay attention to what Dr. Paul is saying because he is standing by the constitution.”
"I cannot be a hypocrite and stand in this chamber and talk about the rights of states, and not stand firmly with the man that’s standing with the constitution and wants to give rights back to the states."
For Bryant extreme measures have to be made to turn the country around and he considers Paul to be one to make that call.
“Some would view some of these issues as extreme, but remember what hero, Barry Goldwater, said ‘extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice,” Bryant said. "For the sake of our children and grandchildren, please listen to the issues that Dr. Paul is talking about."
Lexington resident Patricia Wheat is an evangelical Christian who thinks Paul’s monetary and foreign policies are what’s needed to bring back the “humanness” in America.
“I believe preempted wars do more to silence the gospel around the world than anything we can do,” Wheat said. “You can’t set embargoes against people and starve women and children, and bomb their countries when these people have not attacked us and then think that they’re going to accept our missionary.”
“Every problem we have in this country comes from a corrupt and unjust balance. When the founders wrote that only gold and silver could be viewed as money that was because you have to have a balance. The federal government has usurped all of the humanness and all of the authority of the individual, of the family, of the church and the state by creating digits in the computer.”
John Perna, who said he is a co-organizer of Ron Paul events in South Carolina, is from Lake Murray and calls Paul the only candidate that’s an alternative to his opponents.
“All the other candidates are for big government, there’s none of them that promised to end the war, and here we are taxing poor people to bail out billionaire bankers who are foreclosing on the same poor people who are paying the taxes to bail them out,” Perna said.
Perna also agrees with Paul’s foreign policy saying the United States “should mind our business.”
“All this stuff about the foreign policy, it really doesn’t matter who gets to be president because we don’t have the money to continue the kind of foreign policy we have right now,” Perna said. “Eventually they’re either going to adopt the foreign policy that Dr. Paul advocates or this country will go completely into economic chaos.”
Davis, whose endorsement many presidential hopefuls desired, said he had questions about Paul but was won over after doing his own research into the policies Paul proposes.
“When you’ve been doing something the same way for a long time, any time you propose something that’s different a lot of times people get upset, or get suspicious or have concerns because it’s not what they know,” Davis said. “I truly believe if you sit down and get beyond just the one-liners and sound bites, and you look at his policy…. I’ve taken the time. I’m very comfortable. I have no doubt that Dr. Paul is committed to the defense of this country and to our troops.”
Jonathon Wallen
12:15 pm on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
I hope enough smart people show up and vote for Ron Paul in sc...if we let the obliviots vote Romney in we will only have ourselves to blame.
Buster000
8:49 am on Wednesday, January 18, 2012
The obliviots will show up to vote which is why we must show up in record numbers, fully united from all walks of the political spectrum. The only goal in mind will be a vote for Ron Paul....period!
Donna
1:04 pm on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
If the crowd was made up of primarily media outlets, where's the coverage? If this were Romney, Gingrich or Santorum it would be headline news. Google search this event, this is about the only page that comes up, no CNN, no FOX, no CSPAN, no ABC, NBC, CBS, really? But everyone jumped on Dr. Paul taking a first class flight, no THAT is news!!!
estanislao
1:06 pm on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
An EPIC endorsement if there ever was one... one that SHOULD dominate the news cycle for a week... and CNN doesn't do an audio check, loses audio, and doesn't have back-up audio... blatantly obvious black-out.
iawai
1:42 pm on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Ron has the only foreign policy that shouldn't leave us "scared". The others continue to create more terrorists that want to bring destruction to America, the others continue the drug war that has made our southern border into a war zone, the others continue to prop up foreign despots and create unstable relations with unstable nations.
Sorry, but the scary people are the ones that want to bankrupt our country to perpetuate the wars. Costs don't matter to those people. Our lives and our fortunes are just playthings so they can enrich their crony buddies and secure international natural resources. It's socialism.
And way to boo the Golden Rule. I hope your pastors excoriate you all this Sunday.
Al Sesona
4:18 pm on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Reporting and representation during all debate occurances since square one have been unbalanced and unfair proportioning equal time to "ALL" participants,,, or for sure, Dr. Ron Paul would be miles ahead of all those involved. Saturday will tell once and for all how strong Ron Paul's position registers with YOU-S-A voters,,, especially young folks who want something more than to be cannon fodder coming home in a box fighting for issues that are none of our business. Ron Paul will fight putting an end to such madness and get the Nation back on track into becoming the best place on Earth it once was... As an 85 year old WW II overseas vet, I say keep up the fight Ron Paul and all his supporters. Our survival is at stake...
Kathy
4:39 pm on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
There is no coverage because the 1% are scared to death of truth. They go scampering away when the LIGHT of TRUTH and FREEDOM is illuminating. The bought and paid for media is propaganda...and the 1% think we are all too stupid to care ..or notice. GO South Carolina...let them know that Ron Paul is the only sane and true choice. Romney vs Obama = Goldman Sachs wins Paul vs Obama = 99% wins RP2012!!!!
Mark Langager
4:41 pm on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Even Fareed Zakaria lists newsmax predictions of the economically unthinkable happening soon while joining others in blacking out Ron Paul, the only candidate with real concern and historic insight into the economic dilemma we are in.
Nancy Zeitz
4:46 pm on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Our country is in more trouble than any election can fix if voters truly find the golden rule "scary"...how do you feel about the Ten Commmandments folks? Guess they don't want us to follow the Constitution either!
Trev16
6:10 pm on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Yes…Ron Paul did not have his best night last night. After all he is not a Ken doll and does not memorize all the cute slogans that dumb downed uninformed citizens want to hear.
I love all the talk last night about Bin Laden. Funny how the FBI never had him on their most wanted list for 9/11. I know, I know, I know….never let facts get in the way of an argument.
It’s also really sad how clueless fellow Americans are when it comes to the debt. The bottom line is the country is bankrupt and there will be a currency devaluation of at least 40% in the coming year(s). Maybe at the time when smokes & beer double in price they might start to get it…. however I doubt it….because they will turn on Fox news, etc and hear that this is all caused by the boogey man in a cave in the middle east.
No one ever mentions in these debates who is going to pay for the military!!! Does any one ever mention what happens when China stops buying our Treasury Bills? ..... The country is broke....why pretend or live in a fantasy land that things are OK? If we did not have food stamps....46 milliion people would be in soup lines just like the Great Depression....
Lastly, I wish Ron Paul would say to all those people booing last night….that it would be great if they go down to their local recruitment office tomorrow to sign up for the military so they could go and be on the front line.
Ron pepper
6:39 pm on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Everyone got booed at some point last night. Huff post,sucks as bad as CNN and Fox and NPR now with their bias. Bunch of whiners. The Ron Paul meeting was slammed today yet you report handful. I like how everyone got interviewed after the debate last night EXCEPT RON PAUL. Screw the media and all their puppets!! I think the obvious manipulation tactics of the media alone should be enough to convince everyone that Paul is the man for the job. I like how Paul always has common sense answers while all the other clones speak rhetoric.
Buster000
8:59 am on Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Dr. Paul was trying to explain champagne politics to a Budweiser crowd. They wouldn't get it if the obvious was stapled to their forehead.
Jacqueline
8:36 pm on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
It's awesome that these Senators voted with their conscience; and I would hope actually represent the people of South Carolina much better than Fox's hand-picked audience. =)
Bill Walker
9:31 pm on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Nice story Shireese... especially since you seem to be the ONLY reporter in America who wrote up these Tea Party senatorial endorsements.
Shireese Bell
2:42 pm on Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Thanks, Bill!
I
Hugh Becker
10:21 pm on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
If you are going talk trash, at least omit the typos. It's called a spell checker, not word checker, and it doesn't work when you use the wrong word.
You wrote:
Perna also agrees with Paul’s foreign policy saying the United States “should mine our business.”
Unless he is referring to bombing businesses, it should have stated "should mind our business".
Well, at least the gentleman with the quote got it right.
Shireese Bell
2:45 pm on Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Hello Hugh,
The intent of the article was not to "talk trash." I don't think anyone said anything that would be considered as such. Thank you for catching the error. It has been changed.
Rob Hanbury
2:32 am on Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Ron Pauls ideas are not his own. They are the ideas of the constitution and the founding fathers.
If we don't re-establish respect for the constitution...
well.... you'll see...
aversion2bigG
4:38 pm on Wednesday, January 18, 2012
They want Ron Paul out before they get to the States where it would be one on one with Mitt Romney, I mean they need to be asking Newt, Perry and Santorum to back out they can't even get votes in several States what is that about. Ron Paul and only Ron Paul!
George Grace
5:32 pm on Wednesday, January 18, 2012
"can enrich their crony buddies and secure international natural resources. It's socialism"
Not Socialism, Fascism. Why isn't that as scary a word as Socialism?
Johnny Jones
1:26 am on Thursday, January 19, 2012
The author claims that Ron Paul had a weak debate performance but the Twitter analysis afterwords suggest otherwise.