Saturday, June 28, 2008

last updated: December 10, 2007 04:14:14 AM

Regular letters to the editor readers probably are noticing frequent mentions of a presidential candidate with an unfamiliar name.

But to hear the Stanislaus County supporters of Texas Rep. Ron Paul, he's the only candidate worth supporting by a long shot.

"I started hearing his name pop up, and I looked online," said small-business owner Mike Monaghan, 67, of Turlock. "When I saw what he stood for, I thought, here's someone I can support."

Paul, a doctor by training and a Republican, has rallied support from those disaffected from the GOP, skeptical independents and even some war-weary Democrats. His standard speech comes right from the libertarian playbook: Anything that's not in the U.S. Constitution or Bill of Rights isn't the federal government's business.

That less-government-is-good- government view has attracted strong support from the Northern San Joaquin Valley. On meetup.com, a Web site that helps organize groups around shared interests, the Modesto Ron Paul Support Group has 81 members, twice as many as the one for Stockton.

Fourteen more people support Paul in Turlock on meetup.com.

Before you scoff at support online -- a community that some pundits point out is better at starting a fire than using it to cook something -- Paul raised $4.3 million through Internet donations in a single day last month.

That's a record for any GOP candidate, and some say it's a sign that Paul is a force to be reckoned with.

"My take is that a lot of people are waking up to make a difference," said Bill Noceti, a junior high school teacher at Our Lady of Fatima School in Modesto and a small-business owner in Hughson. He added that Paul's opposition to the Iraq war resonates with younger voters, particularly college students.

Supporters are trying to boost the energy through a series of campaigns to get Paul's name out there. Meetup.com lists letter-writing campaigns among the coming events.

Included was a list of do's and don'ts for such letters, one of which was this charming admonition: "1. Don't say anything that could be considered 'crazy' or 'radical.' "

For most presidential candidates, you might not need that kind of warning, but even followers say they're not enamored of every idea Paul has.

Pedro Tavares of Modesto said he's not in favor of Paul's environmental policies, which include oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Paul also has called for doing away with much of the Internal Revenue Service, overturning the Patriot Act and eliminating most government agencies.

Lorenzo LaMantia, a voice-over artist who lives in the Del Rio neighborhood of Modesto, said he counters any objections to such ideas by pointing out that if Paul is elected president, he'll have to work with a Congress likely to rein in any ideas considered too far gone.

"I just think people need to notice what he's saying," LaMantia said, adding he'll continue to support Paul if he runs as a third-party candidate in November.

At this point, you may have noticed a sense of déjà vu. Plain-talking populist from Texas, big support from folks tired of politics as usual, sounds sensible most of the time and a little nutty now and then? Does the news cycle really move so fast that we've all forgotten the shooting-star- like quality of H. Ross Perot's presidential aspirations?

Paul's supporters don't usually think that's a fair comparison, because:

1) Paul has been elected to public office.

2) The media came up with that comparison because they don't want Paul to win.

But a political science professor at the University of California at Merced said if Paul and his supporters want to at least influence the debate, they could have worse role models than Perot.

"Keep in mind that Perot did win a substantial chunk of the vote in 1992," Professor Tom Hansford said.

Of Paul, he added, "He would not be competitive in the general election as an independent. I'm not sure he'd even be able to play much of a spoiler role."

Whether Paul has an effect -- or even a significant leading role -- in next year's presidential election is in question. He's not leading any independent polls, and has only single-digit support in all polls, though rising in recent months.

Until then, surely, his supporters will keep beating the drum wherever they can -- online, to associates and in letters to the editor.

Bee staff writer Ben van der Meer can be reached atbvandermeer@modbee.com or 578-2331.

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