ron paul. the one we've been looking for. >> what do you like about him? >> about ron paul? >> yeah. >> what is there not to like about him? military, i came from indiana. i was raised on principles and morals. and go back 5, 10, 20, 30 years, ron paul has had the same, consistent message, something none of the other candidates can fake. message on principles, morals, our personal rights, our personal liberties, restricted government that keeps out of our pockets, out of our lives. something the government was never meant to do. our founding fathers were very specific about that. >> how old are you? >> 23. >> what do your friends say? >> most of them, i don't have friends many my age because most of them i'm kind of distant because i'm in politics, i'm a little above the age level. most the kids my age are worried about college, worried about what club to go to tomorrow night, not about their future. >> ron paul speaks to you. >> yes. >> you got up and said he's the only one. >> yes, sir, absolutely. >> what's the attraction? >> because he follows the constitution. that, for

-- reason -- ron paul campaign and he was thinking about going with the reason paul -- ron paul campaign. and i said it would be political suicide. >>eric: so now we have him leaving to go to ron paul and michele bachmann claims that ron paul offered him a substantial sum of money and ken comes on fox news saying michele bachmann is lying, and megyn wisely asks what about you who claims you said the same, and he calls you a liar. listen to this entrepreneur. >> i didn't have that conversation with her. it is unfortunate that we is come to this, in this particular race, we have come to this and i did not accept any money from the reason -- ron paul campaign. >>eric: do you have anything to gain by saying that he told you he was offered money by ron paul campaign? >>guest: no, and when i work with candidates they understand i am working with them because of their integrity, because of the changes they want to make and he clearly lacks integrity and i am sorry for the people who followed him for the constituents. i have been on the phone since 10:00 last night with call after call and e-mai

how about this today from ron paul? "talking points memo" today interviewing a pastor, the ron paul iowa campaign recently touted as a paul supporter. the supporter's name, robert fazier of the dominion church. turns out reverend cazer, praising his enlightening statements and support for ron paul. this guy also believes homosexuality in the united states should not just be outlawed but the punishment for being gay should be execution in the united states of america. how is that for small government? the ron paul campaign so far refusing to comment on tpm's reporting on this. so far, at least as far as we can tell, the ron paul campaign making no efforts to distance themselves from their kill the gays supporter who they've been touting. if there's a big picture story to tell about iowa a week out, it's a story of constant motion, desperation and chaos. yay. the bottom line today is probably ultimately the same bottom line you would have had a year ago today. for all of the ups and downs and headlines and gaffes and scan

i talked to ron paul voters in 2007 who liked barack obama and liked ron paul. i was one of those voters. once they were disappointed by what barack obama did in office, they've remained in his camp. if you talk to young people at rallies, you'll hear a lot -- the first things they'll list off, the reasons they go for him, are the social issues. then they'll list the economic crisis issues. they come over to his side the way they could have easily been convinced. you're at that age where you're receptive to ideas like that. he's added those people to the party. i think also because the economy collapsed in 2008, because he'd been predicting it for so long, doesn't really matter if he was wrong in previous instances, you know. the preachers who predict the rapture are ever right, are we going to forget he got it wrong 20 times? that happened to him. people in the republican party disagree with him on a lot of issues became more sympathetic to him. the coalition in iowa is partly the new voters and partly oldline conservatives who would have listened to him before

about, is that ron paul is in a position -- i talked to folks here who like ron paul and see him as someone that is bold and trying to take on washington and clean things up and shrink the size of the federal government. not just here in iowa but across the country. you need to get congress to work with him to do those things and there is not a long record of passing anything in washington, d.c. but when it comes to national security, people who like him and are concerned about, you know, not really crazy about his national security but we're not that worried we like him on this other stuff. the problem is, as you know in the constitution, the president's powers are really in the security. >> are you worried that he might be dangerous? >> my concern is that they will pull him back to this country and he can do that day one without congressional approval, without any oversight and move our troops from europe to the middle east and that's something he can do and that's one of the reasons i think you see a lot of folks having second thoughts about putting him in a position where he can

help ron paul. it probably helps santorum because it makes bachmann look weak. but there aren't a lot of bachmann poom who are necessarily going to go to ron paul. so on so many levels i think santorum's doing well. >> well, john, also the polls make it look like romney will finish at least in the top two. is this big trouble if he doesn't meet expectations here? >> it's absolutely -- it is high-stakes stuff. i heard all through the day today that romney's people were going back and forth on whether they should position him in iowa on tuesday night or have him be in new hampshire. struggling with the question of whether he should be here to claim a big victory or get out fast to avoid any embarrassment. that's how high stakes this is. and remember, the dynamic of the caucuses are such that if you see the gingrich support and the santorum support come together and then throw in some bachmann and perry numbers there, santorum could well finish very high up in that number. >> and rick green, i've got t

gwen: ron paul, we have to ask you about ron paul. there's some possibility he could even best mitt romney on tuesday night. how strong is he now in iowa? then how much can he use that as leverage to get another leg up in new hampshire? >> you know, i've been surprised at some of the people i have run into at ron paul's events. four years ago they were sort of this kind of hard core libertarian crowd. but this year i have run into evangelicals and homeschoolers. i think his appeal this year is somewhat broader than it has been and also as ken sorenson, michele bachmann's recently departed campaign chairman as he was joining ron paul forces, he said these people who support ron paul, it doesn't matter if there's five feet of snow on the ground caucus night, which thankfully it does not look like there will be, these people are going to show up. gwen: intensity, jeff? >> i think there is intensity, no question. the only question for ron paul is what is his ceiling of support? you hear every other candidate, really every single candidate

all the attacks against presidential candidate ron paul just keep on coming since ron paul's surge in the polls in iowa seems the mainstream media has been focusing on taking him down hysteria over newsletters his staff wrote decades ago but what about everything else the candidate stands for like his foreign policy which clearly separates him from the others and is resonating with more and more americans today stopping the wars abroad shrinking government spending advocating civil civil liberties whereas the discussion on all of this in the mainstream media while to discuss this i spoke to journalist michael tracey take a listen. well the mainstream media frankly has never felt it necessary to afford ron paul substantive coverage it was only in the last two weeks when he ticked up so dramatically in the polls in iowa that they felt it necessary to vet him as they would any other candidate. ron paul actually has been leading the polls has been in the top tier of the national polling for a good portion of two thousand and eleven and until now when it's actually his candidacy is conside

ron paul? >> yes. ron paul can win in iowa. look, ron paul is the campaign here in the iowa that has the most energy. you saw it, you know, in my opening piece, i went to all of the headquarters. the only one buzzing with activity is ron paul's. you're not seeing at romney's events or at gingrich's events. but you're seeing huge crowds for ron paul's. >> there was a key piece of spin from the romney campaign at the debate last night they went out of their way to say that ron paul had a great night. they're saying as if, it's not going well for us it better not be newt gingrich, better be ron paul. >> ron paul has a very energized, roughly 20% of the republican base. after that, not just the 80% don't like him that much, they disagree with him. he's a pure consistent libertarian. >> but that 20% is going to show up in the caucus. >> and mitt romney will be driving them to the polls. >> again, according to the "new york times" two-thirds who say they're going to go to the iowa caucuses have said they haven't made up their minds.

paul candidate for president and i approve this message well i don't always agree with ron paul but he's honest and you always know where you actually agree with the most of the time i really do you want to get out of iraq pronto cut government spending protect personal privacy personal freedom live for you. i'm a declared but i'm going to go over public and move on i'm going to vote for well he is obviously kicking it up a notch there now with his recent surge in the polls and aggressive campaign has the time come for the mainstream to take seriously our people finally getting his message and could he realistically be the next president of the united states well the answer just then i have liberty activist and blogger trevor lyman here now hi there trevor ron paul has always had his loyal base of followers but now he is gaining more supporters who is jumping on the paul train. well i think more and more mention republicans are starting to come around on message one because the other candidates have so many weaknesses and are very careful and two because they're one of joshing it ne

this is from the ron paul report in 1992. "if you live in a major city you've probably already heard about the newest threat to your life and limb and your family, carjacking. it is the hip-hop thing to do among the urban youth, who play unsuspecting whites like pianos. what can you do? more and more americans are carrying a gun in the car. an ex-cop i know advises that if you have to use a gun on a youth you should leave the scene immediately, disposing of the wiped off gun as soon as possible. such a gun cannot, of course, be registered to you, but one bought privately through the classifieds, for example. i frankly don't know what to make of such advice, but even in my little town of lake jackson, texas, i've urged everyone in my family to know how to use a gun in self-defense. for the animals are coming." the "new republic" a few years ago also unearthed this gem from the ron paul newsletters on the subject of foreign affairs. the end of apartheid's white rule in south africa described in a ron paul newsletter as "a destr

you know ron paul. he isn't as far out there this cycle as he was last cycle. >> that's absolutely true. >> with the new proportional rules we could get to tampa and ron paul could be to this republican party what jesse jackson was to the democratic party in '80s. >> a genuinely nice guy. when you see him on tv you think he's going to be so out there and some of his views, his social views are an anathema to most republicans. but he is consistent, sincere, and that does resonate this year, and clearly when it comes to not his isolationist policies but his economic policies, the timing wasn't right for years ago. it is right this year. as a romney supporter and a lot of the areas the republican party, governor romney and others are right there with him. >> why? >> look, republicans and young people, young people you references we're in the middle of this terrible, terrible depression. people want an explanation. and ron paul has something that sounds like an explanation. it's not an explanation. it's exa

paul. >> ron paul, colby king, is the antithesis of what has been republican orthodoxy of muscular, even interventionist military policy. he asks why we are still in korea when we were there when he was in high school and he is 76 years old. >> i will go to him but i will go back to bachmann, because she has been effective the last couple of weeks, particularly in debates against mitt romney. she mbit it to him like a pit bull -- i'm sorry, newt gingrich -- and wouldn't let go. likewise, with what paul, she correctly calls him a dangerous candidate, in terms of his foreign policy, is used towards iran and theowards ability to have nuclear weapons. of all the members there, she is best equipped from eight foreign policy stand by to talk about these issues in the middle east because of her membership on the intelligence committee. >> it is fair to say that if ron paul said what he said about foreign policy years ago, he would have been booed out of the room. this year, he says the same thing and there is a receptivity to those remarks that was in prison. -- there is that wasn't presen

that's how ron paul rolls. want to drain the swamp, ron paul, do it. >> i'm ron paul. i approve this message. >> that was republican presidential candidate ron paul's latest tv ad in the early voting states of iowa and new hampshire. ron paul is one of the few republican candidates who has not had his turn as front-runner, but he's now polling in second in iowa and third in new hampshire. ron paul, the only anti-war and anti-torture republican candidate, is now the most eloquent anti-trump candidate. he issued this statement in response to the announcement that donald trump would moderate a republican presidential candidates' debate. "the selection of a reality television personality to host a presidential debate that voters nationwide will be watching is beneath the office of the presidency and flies in the face of that office's history and dignity. to be sure, mr. trump's participation will contribute to an unwanted circus-like atmosphere." yesterday congressman paul added this observation about the constant stream of desperate republican candidates going to new york

they said about ron paul. ron paul is a dangerous man. while his domestic libertarian views are quite attractive to some voters fed up with politics as usual, it's paul's position on issues of national security that are truly dangerous. it's about time new hampshire voters showed him the door. it seems to me that the new hampshire ron paul supporter may be at the fringe. appealable to some other camps. but who is the most likely beneficiary of defections from ronç paul's camp? i think you have to say huntsman or really anybody. let's not forget the new hampshire model is live free or die. liz libertarian stance has an appeal in that way there. but han has proven itself to be famously impervious to whatever happens in iowa. so i think it will be interesting to watch. and christina's point is well taken that new hampshire is really his only hope at this point. of all the candidates remaining in the field he must be wondering why he hasn't been able to get more traction avenue all the on paper qualifications. it hasn't worked for him. >> t

>> for ron paul, no, it does not, john. but a first-place showing in iowa from ron paul, which is a real possibility, would bring newt gingrich's surge outs of the water. gingrich would then get his first opportunity to win in south carolina, and even if he won that he hey not get the nomination this. would be dynamite because ron paul would get a normal national attention, he would rise in new hampshire, not to the point where he could beat romney but wipe out newt gingrich there. i think asset of mitt romney now is ron paul and i'm sure they're go, ron, go! >> i don't think it's ron paul's intention, but he is serving the republican establishment that wants to slow or stop newt gingrich. if ron paul wins in iowa, everybody will say isn't that nice? but he won't be nominee. there are two things you can say about ron paul, though. he is consistent, and he is principled. and once you understand those principles, you understand how he can be for legalizing marijuana and for not doing everything possible to stop iran from gett

today, i was with ron paul. but let me start with gingrich, because you're right, i interviewed him yesterday. he clearly knows that he's got a problem here. and he's trying to play up this aspect, oh, you know, it's going to be a real muddied field, and then i'll beak through in south carolina. there's no doubt that south carolina is sort of the final stand for any potential conservative candidate. but there was a little bit of a pattern i detected at the gingrich rallies i went to yesterday. and that is a lot of people i ç pulled aside to have the chats, and we all do it now, and a million of us are here to have those conversations. you know, about a third of every audience is political tourists, which i love. i love that people come out here, visiting relatives, and they want to see this stuff too the way we do. but the iowans i talked to at these newt rallies, chris, they're saying, coming away from them going, well, i'm undecided, this or that. i had a couple newt folks even volunteer that the virginia ba

on foreign issues, he went after ron paul for isolationism. on economics, he is a down-the- line conservative treaty does not have the baggage and the apostasies on issues. >> ron paul is running one-two out of every poll in iowa. heresy, apostasy, what does he have going for him, evan? >> more good news for romney, because he cannot get elected. what is hisuse h appeal? >> isolationism place well in the midwest. they don't want to be in afghanistan, iraq. isolationism does not play well nationally but it does in iowa. also, he has been there a long time, has an on-the-ground network, and that the difference. >> i saw him at speak before a veterans group this week. a number of young people went up to him and said, "dr. paul --" they refer to him as dr. paul -- "i am honored to be in your presence." he is almost like a cult figure for some young people out there, and veterans as well. veterans will support him. >> he has the biggest veterans' support of anybody in this state at the moment. to follow up on what colby king had to say, are we maki

adding "i love ron paul." that won clarkson some backlash among fanswáoóo who were enrag because of the recent controversy over ron paul's racist and homophobic newsletters. clarkson later tweeted an apology of sorts saying she does not support racism or homophobia but she is sticking by her support for ron paul. meanwhile,ç rick santorum spen his day on the xhan trail in iowa amid lots of chatter about whether his recently improved polling numbers in the state actually mean anything significant. for reasons that have everything to do with google i hesitate to use the word "surge." a concern this headline writer for the "philadelphia daily news" did not share. his headline prompted the absolutely best twitter exchange of the day, if not ever. dan u-a tweeting rick santorum to say "great to see this headline on philly.com. santorum surges from behind in iowa. can i get a retweet?" and rick santorum did it. he retweeted. but he is still not going to win in iowa or anywhere else for that matter. not so for m

i don't think this will come down to a battle between romney and ron paul because i don't think ron paul is seen as a credible nominee for the party. there will be an alternative to romney that is other than ron paul. we don't know whether it will be gingrich or perry or somebody else. >> i was talking about iowa, not long temperature. >> ifill: what is not credible about ron paul? his foreign policy? >> there's a ceiling on ron paul particularly on foreign policy. but also on some cultural issues. drugs and the like. his support is very intense. it's very deep. it's just not very wide. he's the kind of person who can get every single ron paul supporter out to the caucuses on, as they say, a cold, snowy winter night. that makes him a force in iowa. but in terms of breadth in other states, it just isn't there. but let me just say this, susan. you're picking a fight with me. if ron paul finishes first or second, he becomes a very complicating factor for others in the race, particularly other than mitt romney. romney would be, i think, rather happy or at least contented if ron paul happens

could ron paul play spoiler? the paul campaign is up with a new ad taking shots at his rivals. >> serial hypocrites and flip-floppers can't clean up the mess. one man stands alone. >> this hour, the ron paul factor. >>> plus, desperate measures? rick perry sues to get on the virginia primary ballot. >>> and death of a dictator. an elaborate farewell to north korea's kim jong-il. >>> i'm chris sill lis cillizza andrea mitchell today. with six days left to go mitt romney is rising while newt gingrich may be running out of steam. all those negative ads seem to have having an effect on gingrich's poll numbers and his effort to stay above the fray. >> if you want to attack people, at least be man enough to own it. you look at ron paul's total record of systemic avoidance of reality and you look at his newsletters and then you look at his ads, his ads areç about as accurate as his newsletters. >> jonathan capehart is an editorial writer for "the washington post" and an msnbc contributor and my friend and the best dre

. >>> plus, ron paul with a fringe on top. you're hearing more and more about ron paul's fringe supporters and more about what he really thinks of gays and israel. meanwhile, on the under card, while no one was watching, rick santorum has been making a move. could it be that he's the tortoise raising in a pack of hares? >>> plus, it turns out it's not just the rich that get richer. so do those getting elected to congress. why has the personal net worth of the body gone up so much while everybody else has gone down? >>> and almost every american has seen this photo. it's the photo of elizabeth eckford trying to enter high school in little rock, arkansas, in 1957, after it was ordered to resegregate. but what most of us don't know is the fascinating story behind that picture and how she and the white girl screaming at her eventually became friends. we'll have that story for you later. and let me finish with why conservative republican voters in iowa can rally -- cannot rally around a champion to face obama. >>> we start with new

he got into it on mitt romney, he got into it on ron paul. he was a lot tougher on ron paul. i was going to ask him, you know, would you be able to vote for mitt romney but i didn't, the clock was ticking, and i knew he would say, yes, i would vote for mitt romney but no way he's going to vote for ron paul. >> he made that pretty clear. >> yeah, he says, look, ron paul's not going to get the nomination. i said hypothetically if he were to get the nomination would you support him. his answer a flat-out no. >> you're interviewing mitt romney tomorrow. is there one question you're looking forward to asking romney? >> well, i'm going to play for him -- they'll have overnight, i'm sure his aides will tell him -- i'm going to play what newt gingrich said and give him a chance to respond and ask him, does he have the guts, does he have the courage to sit down one-on-one with newt gingrich and debate these issues 90 minutes without a moderator? i pointed out to newt gingrich, you know, they've had more than a dozen debates. they've been on the stage together. they've been very close

ron paul in the future. they believe this uneligibility argument about ron paul, they believe that's nonsense. look at recent polls that show head to head matchups with barack obama and ron paul. ron paul is consistentingly polling neck and neck with the president. so they don't think that the eligibility argument -- they don't believe that argument. they think their candidate can go on. >> he's facing heat from fellow candidates on foreign policy. some people even call him dangerous. what are they saying about that? >> right. ron paul has this golden rule foreign policy. he's telling his audience what will we think if a powerful nation did that to us? they think this is a strong message. it's getting huge krounds. last night over 700 people came out. every time ron paul talked about an anti-war message, they got a standing ovation. so he believes that message will carry him further. >> thank you for joining us this morning. good luck to you today. >> the new nbc poll shows texas republican rick perry fourth

then you have ron paul, get out of my life. it was a little bit unpredictable and maybe we shouldn't take is as seriously as we are. >> john, you're over there, whags what is the mood like at ron paul headquarters versus mitt romney headquarters? >> i think both campaigns are on high. there's no question as you pointed out that the romney decision to stay here is do the morning interviews after the caucuses reflects a very high degree of confidence. not just on the basis of the public polling we saw yesterday, the times cnn poll that put him ahead. i think they believe they have a good chance of winning caucuses. it is a very risky thing to do to stay here. if somehow he comes in second, it wouldn't be quite so bad to ron paul. if he somehow slipped to third it would be quite embarrassing to have him here then off in new hampshire where he must win but reflects a high degree of confidence. the paul people believe that they are a campaign of destiny. and i was in a ron paul -- >> a campaign of destiny should be the new slogan. s

ron paul, 22. up until today, ron paul was leading. does that surprise you? >> you know, everything is so in flux right now. about half of iowans are completely undecided. that's why we decided to embark on our 99 county tour all across iowa. i'm in winterset, iowa right now, we're deep in the heart of madison county. this is our 94th county. what we've seen is something really remarkable. it's almost like an electric light switch was flipped and we're seeing people making their decision right now in these last few days. we've been overwhelmed with the support that we've seen across the state. i think what people are looking for is who is the genuine conservative? who has the core conviction? most importantly, who can take on barak obama and win? i think when people saw the last sioux city debate, they saw how i took on ron paul over the issue of a nuclear iran, and how i took on some of the other candidates on crony capitalism, they saw that that's exactly what i will do if barak obama in the debates, i'll defeat him and win in 2012 and get the country back

what is it about ron paul what does he thimble live with. i think to to try and put it in the most the same terms. ron paul symbolizes revolution he's giving us an opportunity without war without bloodshed without fighting to be able to go back to our founding principles to be able to find something better in this world better in this country than what we have now which is a return to this principle idea that the most holy grails is that of liberty and if we're not seeking it we're not constantly trying to find liberty as the base for loss of the for all the decisions that our government makes then what are the decisions being made on the idea that you can make policies without a philosophy. i think many people they made here to that but it comes from their own willful ignorance they're not looking into it if you're not choosing based off a philosophy you're choosing based on some trait thank you so much for weighing in on that with co-founder of ron paul swag. the net thank you. well as the presidential race heats up in the u.s. rhetoric ov

sort for ron paul and for gippi as a whole. be able to step to the plate here and deliver something right barack obama when he had the reverend wright scandal erupts he stepped up to the plate he delivered something you might not have solved the world's problems it might not even erased the right problem but it did it did mount some kind of push here response that i think was in the end what most people were looking for the american people in spite of everything are pretty forgiving and even with something like this where it's kooky and it's it's got these this rate these restrictions these conspiratorial overtones if paul steps forward and deliver some kind of purity direct response i think that's going to get a lot of. our james i want to thank you so much for joining us and i think a lot of people out there are waiting for that response because you're not that i want to think so you know ron paul really is bringing a very very different kind of argument on many levels to this presidential race and i think a lot of americans

that's right one point ron paul even walked out of a c.n.n. interview when he was questioned about this story. and you know it is that legitimate i mean is it a legitimate question to ask that something went out when you get real name and when you get the answers legitimate that you sort of take the answers i get you know what the answer is i didn't really write them i didn't read them at the time and i disavow them that is the answer. now the story itself is a lot more nuanced than just saying is ron paul racist stories in fact al for years has been recycled many times over but it's paul's explanation that's changed a little bit over time some points he said he never read the newsletters and others and said he's aware of some of the content but he stuck to the fact that he did not write it but some of the questions that need to be asked here are whether or not this could hurt his campaign as he surges in games more than just his dedicated followers and whether these letters should carry more weight than policies of his that actually protect c