Paul's message thrills Seattle fans

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul brought his anti-war, anti-tax message to Seattle on Thursday, delighting a youthful throng of devotees with calls to "obey the Constitution" and drastically pare back the power of the federal government.

In a speech at a Lake Union boathouse and later before hundreds of supporters on the University of Washington campus, the Texas congressman traced many of America's problems to what he characterized as a flawed monetary policy controlled by a wealthy and secretive elite.

Paul ridiculed efforts by Congress and the Federal Reserve to stem a possible recession spurred by the home-mortgage meltdown.

"The most important thing you can do is nothing," said Paul, who voted against the recent $146 billion economic-stimulus package passed by the House.

The government, he said, should quit trying to protect people from the consequences of bad decisions and allow the market to correct itself.

Paul has yet to win a single primary or caucus and is considered an extreme longshot for the Republican nomination, but he vowed to stay in the race and his supporters said they hope to make a splash in Washington's Feb. 9 caucuses.

At the UW, Paul delivered a short speech without a microphone outside the student union building to hundreds of enthusiastic supporters who cheered his calls to abolish the Federal Reserve and the income tax and generally get the government to butt out of everyone's life.

"The Constitution was written for one specific purpose and that was to restrain the government, not to restrain the people," Paul said.

His supporters pressed close as he entered the student union building and then went out a side hall to a waiting Kia minivan headed to an appearance in Spokane.

Paul's early opposition to the Iraq war — he was one of just six House Republicans to vote against authorizing the invasion — combined with his staunch opposition to the "welfare state" have earned him the adoration of an eclectic and zealous group of followers some have nicknamed "Ronulans."

Heather Wood, 29, a student at Bellevue Community College, said she previously had leaned toward the Democratic Party.

But Wood said she was swayed by Paul's appeal to personal liberty, including his support for legalizing marijuana. She also liked Paul's oft-repeated criticism of spending billions blowing up bridges in Iraq while they're falling apart in the U.S.

At the Lake Union event, Mike Dussault, 30, a Seattle programmer, said he volunteered for both Paul and Democrat Dennis Kucinich because of their anti-war stances.

Now that Kucinich has dropped out, Dussault told Paul he'd been trying to get other Kucinich fans to join him in Paul's camp.

But, he said, Kucinich's liberal supporters were having trouble accepting Paul's opposition to government health-care subsidies for the poor, such as Medicaid.

Paul assured Dussault everyone would be better off in the long run if the free market ruled in health care because he said it would be more efficient and less costly. And in the short term, Paul suggested the government could free up billions of dollars just by leaving Iraq.

That was enough for Dussault. "He's totally honest," he said of Paul.

Jim Brunner: 206-515-5628 or jbrunner@seattletimes.com