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HETRY: It's 12 minutes past the hour right now. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Republicans are now looking ahead and eyeing a major political comeback. They rallied the troops at a leadership conference that took place this weekend in New Orleans where a straw poll gave an early indication of potential GOP candidates in 2012.
ROBERTS: Mitt Romney topped Ron Paul in the ballot by one vote. There you see all of results there. Sarah Palin was third and Newt Gingrich fourth, both well back from the frontrunners.
Congressman Ron Paul joins us now this morning now from Texas. Thanks for being with us.
REP. RON PAUL, (R) TEXAS: Thank you, John, nice to be with you.
ROBERTS: Over the weekend we heard a little bit of back and forth and difference of opinion between Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich about whether or not the Republican Party should be the party of no, Gingrich saying you can't be the party of no, you have to be the party of yes and tell people what you're for, Sarah Palin saying it's OK if you don't like something to say no. Where do you, congressman, come down on that?
PAUL: I agree with them both. If you don't like something you say no. There's an opposite to no, you're saying yes to something. I have to say no to most of the legislation in Washington, but I am saying yes to the Constitution and principles of liberty. So in a way they are both right. I don't think there's too much disagreement there.
CHETRY: Right, but I think what Newt Gingrich seemed to be saying is that you have to sort of stand for something you can point to. Maybe its legislatively or on principle, standing up and explaining, because I think right now obviously when you're the minority party in Congress it's harder to show, this is what we want to get done.
So what is your role as the minority party in Congress when it comes to trying to let people know what you stand for?
PAUL: I think that's the goal. That's been my goal all along.
Some people say when you're in the opposition all you do is knock down the other side because they are doing badly and you'll pick up the pieces and then tell them, because if you tell them specifically what you'll believe in, they'll start challenging you.
But if you believe something and believe it's correct, you should come across saying this is what I believe in -- I believe in sound money, noninterventionist foreign policy, I believe in civil liberties and free market. So that's all yes.
And I, of course, believe that sincerely. I don't run for office. I run to see if I can get support for certain ideas, so when I can get the support or the votes to win something, that to me is a sign they are accepting these ideas which I consider very positive.
ROBERTS: And you were there over the weekend, did very well, as we said, in the straw poll. Sarah Palin was there as well. Of course, she's become a very popular figure, draws huge crowds. To some degree, she's become the face of the Tea Party.
Your son Rand said that she would be a great candidate. Did you agree with that? Will she be a viable candidate in 2012?
PAUL: Well, I don't make predictions like that at all because -- you know, I've been watching this for a long time and I've been always waiting for a great president. And I -- quite frankly, there's been a few get into office who have very, very few qualifications. And those who have qualifications, I don't see a whole lot of difference.
To me, it's back to the ideology of the people. The president and the Congress reflect the people. If the people want welfare and warfare, that's what the Congress and that's what the president give.
To me, it's a change of attitude -- as long as the people want to be taken care of by the government, no matter what that individual say or does, or whether they are popular and they don't think a whole lot, they're going to -- they're going to do what the attitudes are.
But also, there's a conflict between what the prevailing attitude of people actually is versus the power of the lobbyists. You know, the people might not want, you know, government medical care, but the lobbyists might. So, then there's a fight, and that, of course, that fight is out in the open now, what the people want versus what the lobbyists want.
CHETRY: And one big player in that whole fight has been the Tea Party. We've sort of seen it evolve over the past year, especially through the health care debate. But it seems like it's hard to define.
What are the main issues that the Tea Party stands for?
PAUL: I think, clearly, there's a lot -- a fair amount of disagreement on exactly where they come down on, say, the war on drugs and foreign policy. But I think what unifies them is they are disgusted with hearing promises and not being fulfilled by the politicians. They don't trust the government.
But they also are very, very concerned about the size and scope and failure of government and, really, the bankruptcy of government -- because it doesn't go unnoticed that the national debt is rising so rapidly. Last week, the national debt went up $108 billion in one week.
CHETRY: Right. But what about all the other things that we see in this Tea Party?
PAUL: And the people are sensing this.
CHETRY: What about, that some have argued, the elements of perhaps racism, some of the other things talking about Obama as a socialist, Obama as, you know, a communist --
PAUL: I think --
CHETRY: -- they are present at some of these rallies?
PAUL: Yes. I think that's 1 percent or 2 percent and it's blown out of proportion when some media -- person in the media can pick this up and play that up, and forget about 99 percent of what they're saying. They want limited government and these are good people.
And yes, there are elements like that both on left and right. But I don't -- I don't think that's their theme at all. But, you know, there's always risk in politics, whether you're on the left or right, of people who join you for ulterior motives and they tend to want to discredit you.
And that's why the individual who is presenting the case has to present the issues. I have to defend my views. I can't defend the views of everybody who ever shows up at one of my events because that would be impossible. I mean, we don't screen people.
ROBERTS: Congressman, just before we go, see if we can get you on the record on this. Michael Steele, the RNC chairman, he was also down there. A growing number of people is calling for his resignation, saying that he's not the best person to be leading the party.
What are your thoughts on that? Should he step down?
PAUL: I don't think so. You know, I think he's doing a pretty good job compared -- I mean, there are some blunders, but once again, it might be a little lack of control of some of the people that work for him, and did something I don't think he was personally involved, but it's a big operation. He's been winning some elections and --
ROBERTS: So, you got faith?
PAUL: He's raised a lot of money. So, in any way, he's winning -- he's the first Republican chairman who has had, you know, at least reached out to me, at least would talk to me. You know, generally, the Republican leadership don't want to have anything to do with me and they don't want to have anything to do with the Ron Paul people. They should be looking to us and saying, you know, why don't we help these young people who are so anxious and interested in what I'm talking about? Maybe they can be and sure should be in the Republican Party instead of being excluded.
He's reached out. And he has imperfections. He's admitted that. We all have those.
But to kick him out of office right now, that's not going to happen and it wouldn't make any sense, as far as I'm concerned.
CHETRY: Great to talk to you this morning. As always, Congressman Ron Paul -- thanks.
PAUL: Thank you.
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