Politics & Government

Women for Ron Paul: Food, Fun, Phonebanking [VIDEO]

Supporters say candidate is the only one focused on freedom.

About 20 women came together on Aug. 31, for a potluck supper sponsored by Women for Ron Paul, a growing subset of supporters of the firebrand .

Tucked in a backroom of a rather large campaign office in one of the industrial spaces on Hall Street, the women broke bread, talked political shop, and spoke about their admiration for Paul.

Kate Baker of Manchester, the national coordinator of the Women for Ron Paul movement, which is about 2,500 strong at this point in the campaign, said women are drawn to the candidate for a host of reasons. She said some thought Paul brought the best monetary policies to the race. Others, like a contingent of Second Amendment Sisters who were at the potluck, respect his support of the Constitution, including the right to keep and bear arms. Baker said women needed to be able to own and be trained to use firearms to protect themselves.

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“The economy is just off the rack,” Baker said. “Gun ownership rights are really an important issue to so many women … particularly for conservative women.”

But largely, Baker said it was his consistency that brought most of the women to the campaign.

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“It seems like women are particularly interested in the fact that Dr. Paul is so consistent in his message,” she said. “He has voted consistently, in the Congress, every time, with his principles. I don’t want to sound hokey but we women can get behind an honest family man, know what I mean?”

Baker said she personally was motivated to work for Paul because he has been the only candidate to speak truthfully and honestly about the federal debt, voting against in the Congress. She said she didn’t want the national debt passed onto her three children. 

Baker said the fact that Paul was a doctor who delivered thousands of babies during his career also made him “endearing.”

“Because it puts him in a role, as women, that’s the kind of person you can count on,” she said. “Again, it goes back to that fact that he is honest, kind, and consistent. And he stands for his principles … it adds to his trustworthiness. It draws women to the campaign.”

Baker said most Granite Staters understand fiscal issues since the state kept the budget relatively small and within the means of available revenue. She added that she likes the fact that Paul stressed a monetary policy that was sound and that he predicted the collapse of the economy during his last presidential run.

“[Paul] predicted the economic downturn,” she said.

State Rep. Jenn Coffey, R-Andover, an emergency department technician and volunteer EMT, is the state coordinator for Women for Ron Paul. She was drawn to the campaign because she wants a Republican president who will restore lost civil liberties.

“It’s not going to happen unless Ron Paul is our president,” she said. “I’m a mom, most importantly, and I want that for my son.”

Coffey said she was also drawn to Paul’s service in the health care field, as an OB-GYN, and the military, saying that the candidate “knows what works and what doesn’t work in the system.”

“Obamacare is going to be more harmful than helpful to patients,” she said, noting that many foreign nurses she meets cannot believe the difference between the American health care system and systems in other countries. “I know Dr. Paul has his finger on that pulse, if you will.”

Coffey said since Paul took an oath to care for patients in the best manner possible, he would never implement a system that would not put patients first. Having worked in the field herself for 16 years, she has taken the same oath.

“It’s engrained in you, to take care of people,” she said. “It’s not a switch you turn on and off. I guarantee you that it’s a switch that’s on him, that will be on him forever, because of him being a physician, because he took it very seriously to care for people … He will do everything possible to ensure the health system in the United States gets better. But not by going in a direction of socialized medicine, but by going in a better direction, looking better ways to decrease costs.” 

The Women for Ron Paul were calling voters around the state during the evening to promote an appearance by the candidate at New England College, scheduled for 7 p.m. tonight. 


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