As his numbers continue to improve, Ron Paul presents challenge to Obama, other GOP candidates

Wednesday, August 24, 2011 by: J. D. Heyes
Tags: Ron Paul, Presidential candidates, health news

(NaturalNews) President Barack Obama's campaign has dismissed his candidacy as a Tea Party fringe, much the same way as his fellow Republican presidential contenders have, but that's par for the course. Ron Paul knows he has always been an underdog.

But new polling data is showing Paul in a close race with Obama and other leading GOP contenders. Is it an anomaly? No, it's not and it shows clearly how Paul's message is increasingly resonating with a larger percentage of the American people, making him much less the underdog now than during any of his previous presidential bids.

According to Gallup, Paul is statistically tied with Obama, with the president leading slightly 47-45 percent. Paul out polls Minnesota Rep. Michelle Bachmann (she's behind Obama 48-44 percent), and just under former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (he leads Obama 48-46 percent) and Texas Gov. Rick Perry (who splits with the president 47-47 percent).

Not bad for a "fringe" candidate who has been virtually ignored by Big Media. And while other Republican presidential contenders Romney and Perry generally poll better, Paul continues to do well.

That's what the pundits call "the right message," and it just could be that a perfect political storm is brewing that will sweep him into office in 2012.

For one, his message has never changed. An obstetrician by training who is pro-life, Paul has espoused a small government, personal liberties and freedom platform since practically his first days in office. So there's the consistency factor; what you see is what you get, and what you get from Paul you've been getting for decades.

Also, Paul is the only major candidate calling for an end to what he has labeled unwinnable wars. His call comes as Americans support for the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya are at all time lows.

As early as November 2010, support for the war in Afghanistan in particular began plummeting, with respondents to a Quinnipiac University survey saying they opposed it in general, 50-44 percent.

Almost three quarters of Americans, or 72 percent, support efforts to begin pulling U.S. troops out of Afghanistan, and only one in five Americans support continued U.S. involvement in Libya.

As the economy and unemployment remain stagnant, the current administration's solution is to raise taxes and increase government regulation. But recent surveys show most of us oppose such "solutions," and neither of those is favored by Paul.

In fact, his solution is to eliminate income taxes altogether, along with the so called "death tax" and capital gains taxes that stifle the free market. He wants to dump the Federal Reserve altogether, and he has pledged never to vote to raise the debt ceiling again.

Just a month ago, Obama held a 41-37 percent lead over Paul, but that's since been cut to 39-38 percent, a statistical tie. Paul's lack of coverage in the media is hurting him nationally, and his genuine small-government mindset is alienating most mainstream members of his own party.

But the fact remains that Obama's regime is collapsing, just like the economy and the free market. And despite what the other GOP candidates espouse, more Americans are learning that Paul is the real deal when it comes to offering a legitimate choice to change the direction the nation is headed. The polls show that Paul is gaining ground on everyone, so much so that he could be too hard to ignore for much longer.

Sources:

http://www.gallup.com/poll/149114/Obama-Clos...

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/08/13/ron...

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_conte...