Anti-Israel Ron Paul: “We Have Staying Power” & Gaining Leverage

David Streeter — January 17, 2012 – 12:03 pm | Election 2012 | GOP Presidential Candidates 2012 | Republicans | Ron Paul Comments (0) Add a comment

The New York Times reported that anti-Israel Republican presidential candidate Representative Ron Paul (R-TX) is looking to leverage his ever-increasing momentum within the Republican Party, regardless of whether he wins the nomination.

According to NYT:

[E]ven as his aides plot a strategy to pick up delegates, they are beginning to plan how to use the leverage they are gaining to try to force the party to take his and his supporters’ views into account, signaling what Mr. Paul would want to party officials and rival candidates who are eager for the backing of his fervent following but nervous that he might undertake a third-party bid.

One person close to the Paul campaign said this could include support for greater transparency at the Federal Reserve, a commitment to address what Mr. Paul views as the Patriot Act’s infringement on civil liberties and a curb on the powers of any president to wage war without Congressional approval. And the campaign wants Mr. Paul’s supporters to have a voice and a role in the national party machinery - just like they do in many state Republican parties - no matter who becomes the nominee.

‘The more delegates I have, the more leverage I have,’ Mr. Paul said in the interview here, during which he candidly discussed his hopes but remained circumspect about some issues. ‘We’ll go after delegates, and we have staying power.’

Asked whether he believed he would have the leverage to make Republicans more willing to accommodate his supporters and positions, he said: ‘I don’t know how they’re going to handle it. Because we’re very precise on what we would like, and I can’t imagine all of a sudden one of the other candidates changing their position on their desire to go to war constantly.’

He added: ‘How much leverage do I have? How many more votes am I going to get? You know, the more pressure they feel, the more they might be willing to look at some of those issues. We want to change things.’

But that is a fallback strategy, and Mr. Paul and his advisers say they are in it to win. They see a route to obtaining the 1,144 delegates needed…

They will also try to win delegates through the machinery of state parties, where Paul supporters are now embedded in the apparatus.

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