Citizens.com - "Stand with Rand" Town Hall Draws Crowd in Laconia

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By Michael Weiss

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul hosted a "Stand with Rand" town hall at the Belknap Mill on Monday night.

The town hall drew a full house, with some people needing to stand in the back for lack of seating.

Paul, who has served as a U.S. senator from Kentucky since 2011, pitched himself as a leader who could balance the federal budget and return liberty to the country.

He began by outlining his thoughts on the importance of small government, saying that Washington politicians didn't respect the work needed to earn money because they had too much of it.

"When you give up $1,000 to anything, you know you had to work for it," Paul said. "Politicians don't have to stay up at night thinking about $1,000. They'll never have to worry."

Paul said the federal government was out of control and that it was borrowing $1 million a minute to stay afloat.

"We have a trillion in debt," he said. "It's costing us a million jobs a year."

The solution, Paul said, is to lower the federal interest rate, saying the current rate "creates an illusion of wealth."

"If you fix the interest rate," said Paul, "it encourages people to build more and grow more."

Paul also outlined his thoughts on regime change, which he defined as the American desire "to recreate the world in our image."

He criticized current foreign policy in the Middle East, saying it has been naive, assuming that "Saddam Hussein would be replaced by Thomas Jefferson," as he put it, and that President Obama's efforts have only strengthened rival countries, like Iran.

Paul said he would be firm on border security. He would institute helicopter stations and motion sensors to prevent illegal immigrants from coming over the border.

He said Donald Trump's plan to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico had some perks, but he also supported leniency to the projected 11 million illegal immigrants currently in the U.S.

Paul said rounding up 11 million illegal immigrants and putting them in camps wasn't something he wanted to do.

If he were elected president, Paul said he was willing to work with the other side, but only in compromises that made the country stronger.

Paul also criticized rival candidates, such as Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

He cited a moment from the last Republican debate when Trump appeared ignorant as to what a nuclear triad was -- meaning the three elements of nuclear defense on land, sea and air -- and later said Americans "haven't been eager enough" to use nuclear power.

"Do you want someone who doesn't know what a nuclear triad is?" asked Paul.

He also attacked Hillary Clinton for her record as Secretary of State.

Paul said Clinton's handling of the 2012 Benghazi attack, in which four Americans were killed, was extremely incompetent and proved Clinton wasn't qualified for leadership.

This remark received a round of applause from the crowd.

One of the guests was Andrew Caulfield, a 19-year-old college student at University of New Hampshire. Caulfield said he is still undecided but that so far he likes Rand Paul as well as Donald Trump.

"I like his tax plan," said Caulfield in regards to Paul. "I like his proposed tax cuts."

Caulfield also said he liked Trump's style of leadership and that Trump's business savvy could help the economy.

"Going forward for the U.S, a strong leader is what we need," said Caulfield.

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