Yesterday I was toward the end of a seven mile run when I ran past two Ron Paul supporters -- a man and a woman -- holding signs up for passing cars. So I stopped to engage them. Here is a transcript of the exchange:ME: "Ron Paul wants to seal the border with Mexico, right?"
WOMAN (enthusiastically): "Yes!"
ME: Is he a racist?
WOMAN: No, not at all.
ME: "So he supports sealing the border with Canada too?"
WOMAN (raised voice): "I am just practicing my right to free speech!"
ME: "Yes you are. But Ron Paul's position isn't logical...."
MAN (screaming): "NEO-CON!"
ME: "Actually I tend to vote Democratic and support bringing the troops home...."
MAN: "SOCIALIST! COMMUNIST!"
ME (calmly): "...but on economic issues I am more libertarian...."
MAN (screaming): "FASCIST!"
WOMAN (screaming): "WHERE DO YOU GET OFF JUST RUNNING PAST US ASKING QUESTIONS?!"
ME (confused, but calm): "A word of advice..."
WOMAN (screaming over MAN): [unintelligible]
ME (calmly): "A word of advice..."
MAN (screaming over WOMAN): [unintelligible]
ME (calmly): "A word of advice.... You won't gain supporters by screaming at them."
WOMAN (screaming over MAN): [unintelligible]
MAN (screaming over WOMAN): [unintelligible]
ME (raised voice): "You two are definitely representing Ron Paul well. The three of you are all whacked!"
As I ran along the rest of my route I could hear fading screams of "Fascist!" "Communist!" "Socialist!"
I am sure there will be some Ron Paul supporters that read this exchange and claim that these two crazies do not represent their candidate. However, my hunch is that they do so very very well.





