Thomas MacMillan Photo
Diana and Tom Auchter and Leah Wolczko.
Nashua, NH—“You can’t live in fear!” Ron Paul supporter Leah Wolczko exclaimed. You can’t cede your life to government control because you’re scared of terrorism, she said.
“You’re much more afraid!” responded Republican voter Diana Auchter. You’re frightened the government is out to get you, she said. Besides, her husband Tom added, who’s going to protect us from terrorists?
In the lead-up to Tuesday’s first-in-the-nation GOP presidential primary here in New Hampshire, the most vibrant debate has often not to be found in prepackaged stump speeches or media-ready rallies. It has often occurred right outside campaign events, where supporters of opposing candidates dig into the issues face to face.
While members of other campaigns are content to attend just their own candidate’s events, Paul supporters in New Hampshire make it a point to come out in force at campaign stops by Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Jon Huntsman, and Mitt Romney.
That’s what happened as the sun was setting Monday on East Pearl Street, outside Crosby’s Bakery on Monday afternoon. The campaign of former Utah Gov. Huntsman had come and gone from the bakery, turning the quiet street temporarily into a swarm of activity.
Paul pals around with high school students at a Monday morning diner stop in Manchester.
Wolczko, the ringleader of a feisty band of Texas U.S. Rep. Ron Paul devotees who had been dogging other candidate events all day, fell into a discussion with the Auchters, two undecided Independents, who had stopped by to size up Huntsman.
The conversation grew heated as it turned to the question of terrorism. The resulting debate drew a bright line between two strands of right-wing thought: the libertarian-leaning stance that is wary of government intrusion and foreign intervention and the more hawkish view that the United States should police the world with military might.
Wolczko.
Wolczko made it clear that she does not trust the government to protect her, especially not after the October drone strike in Pakistan that killed the 16-year-old American son of an al-Qaeda member. The government could simply label anyone a terrorist and take them out, she said.
Sometimes the government has to do unpleasant things for the greater good, Tom said. “The alternative is leaving terrorists around the world.”
“That’s not the choice,” Wolczko said. It’s not “total tyranny” or “no protection.”
“What do you do about the terrorist threat?” Diana asked.
“Secure the borders,” Wolczko said.
What about air travel? Diana said.
Let the airlines make their own planes safe, the government doesn’t have to do it, Wolczko said.
“You’d leave it to private industry to protect us from terrorism?” Diana said incredulously.
Pilots used to be able to carry guns, Wolczko said. If they did now, fewer people might want to highjack planes, she said. Airlines have a clear incentive to not let people bomb planes; they will make sure it’s safe to fly, Wolczko said. Sea piracy could be dealt with the same way, she said: let ship crews arm themselves.
She said the government is already stopping cars and searching them randomly in Tennessee. If they can go in your car, next they can go in your home, and then “they can take you away.”
Doug Weidl (center) debates Iran policy with a New Jersey college student.
“Ron Paul fans are always the most educated,” commented Paul supporter Doug Weidl, standing off to the side. Debate opponents don’t stand a chance, he said. “It’s like bringing a knife to a gun fight.”
“You are much more scared than I am; I can see it in your eyes,” Diana said. “I can see it in your eyes.”
“If I were really afraid, I’d be a good sheep. I’d be hiding,” Wolzcko said.
When the conversation turned to 9/11, the fact that most of the hijackers were Saudi, and speculation as to why the U.S. invade Afghanistan and Iraq invade Saudi Arabia, the Auchters said they didn’t want to hear any oil-money conspiracies and walked away.
“I think Ron Paul is a good man,” said Tom Auchter, an out-of-work defense contractor.
“But his supporters don’t do him any favors,” said Diana. Paul’s ideas aren’t practical, she said. “He’s just not a man for this time.”
Paul’s foreign policy is too isolationist, said Tom. “We need to protect the country. We need to protect the world.”
All Day Long
The Ron Paul Revolution greets voters leaving a town hall meeting with Rick Santorum Monday morning.
Wolczko’s sunset chat with the Auchters was just one part of her full day of campaigning for Ron Paul.
Wolczko, an unemployed high school biology teacher, started her day at 7 a.m. at a Romney rally, where Paul supporters and members of Occupy New Hampshire both showed up to pester the Republican frontrunner. She ended up coordinating a half-dozen Paul campaigners who worked together all day long at various events, holding signs and handing out literature.
They hit a Gingrich appearance at a country club, where they had such a strong presence that one woman pulled her car over and asked if Paul himself were there. They followed Gingrich to a visit to a Nashua defense firm, then hit the Huntsman bakery visit.
Wolczko and her fellow Paul-ites said the day’s action was all spontaneous, not coordinated by the official campaign. “I don’t even know who the campaign manager is,” Wolczko said.
Wolczko said she’s a recent convert to Ron Paul. She was going to vote for Obama in 2008, but got stuck grading papers and didn’t make it to the polls. Then she read “Crash Proof: How To Profit From the Coming Economic Collapse,” by former Connecticut U.S. Senate candidate Peter Schiff. That got her looking into the basis of the financial system and she wound up a devoted Ron Paul follower who’s now investing in silver in case the dollar collapses.
“It’s like you take the red pill,” she said. You start realizing how everyone in power is invested in maintaining a financial and political house of cards, she said.
At 7 p.m., as people filtered out of a Romney rally in Bedford, Wolczko was planted by the exit, handing out Ron Paul pamphlets. “Check out the alternative,” she told people as they walked by. “Tomorrow’s a long time from now. You could change your mind.”
A family came out. The dad grabbed a flyer.
“Hope springs eternal,” Wozcko said, with a shrug.
Previous primary coverage:
• Romney Takes On The Occupiers
• Orthodoxy Broken; A Door Opens
• Occupiers Crash The Primary
I read the books Blowback by Chalmers Johnson and The Creature From Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin to get an in depth understanding of Ron Paul's economic and foreign policy views. Ever since I've been a believer that his views are spot on.