CNN Wants to Know If Ron Paul is a “Flake”

by Greg Wasserstrom and Mike Aivaz - November 4, 2007

Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) spoke to CNN’s Soledad O’Brian about his presidential run and his libertarian beliefs, emphasizing his view that US foreign policy is drastically amiss. Paul has garnered more attention in the media than his poll numbers would reflect due to his Internet supremacy and surprising ability to raise campaign cash.

The candidate explained that in a Paul presidency, “[The military] would be more traditional, it would be following the advice of the founding fathers, it would following the advice of President Bush when he ran in the year 2000, that we shouldn’t be involved in nation building, we shouldn’t be policing the world, we should have a more humble foreign policy.”

“Most people can figure it out that we can’t even fight this war without borrowing money from China, Japan and Saudi Arabia,” Paul said of danger presented by continued American involvement in Iraq. “Anytime they want to bring us to our knees, they can.”

Paul’s detractors on both the right and left have charged that his libertarian views are out of step even with many of the people who are drawn to his candidacy because of his anti-war position. Much of Paul’s young, internet savvy following would be turned off by Paul’s positions on domestic issues, critics suggest.

“I’ve never voted once to spend one penny on Social Security, I want to make the system work while it’s there,” Paul said when O’Brien asked him to explain his support for eliminating popular programs and government departments.

“It’s not ideal, it’s not part of the constitution, but I say the only way we can tide our people over who are dependent, we’ve taught them to be dependent, we don’t want to throw them out in the street, and we can save hundreds of billions of dollars if we give up on our American empire.”

“If you pull up articles on you consistently, you’ll see, on occasion but consistently, a lot of people will describe you as a flake,” O’Brien said, teeing up her final question of the interview. “What do you make when you read something like that about yourself?”

“Well, that and radical and extremist,” Paul replied. “I think they’re in charge. I think anybody who thinks they can print money out of thin air and think the dollar is going to keep it’s value and not cause economic harm, I think that’s a pretty flaky idea. That’s pretty bizarre to me.”