vod_date: January 20, 2012 From Democracy Now, online at Democracy Now, The War and Peace Report. As the South Carolina primary heats up and the top tier of candidates solidifies, Ron Paul's consistent message and diverse array of support has kept this former outlier in the race. We speak to South Carolina civil rights activist Kevin Alexander Gray, asking him what his thoughts are on the libertarian candidate and what his likely effect will be in South Carolina. RUSH TRANSCRIPT: AMY GOODMAN: Last question to Kevin Alexander Gray about a man we haven't talked about yet, Ron Paul, what he is appealing to, generally and in South Carolina, and how you feel about him? KEVIN ALEXANDER GRAY: Well, the libertarian vote in South Carolina isn't very large. And, of course, Ron Paul's television advertisements in South Carolina feature a black man. Now—and I know he's made several buys in the—on black radio. Romney has done direct mail to black voters in South Carolina. But, you know, if the progressive community—from my perspective, if they want to make sure that the antiwar message, anti-imperial message remains on the table, all the way to the Republican convention, and being that there's no Democratic primary, you know, I've been telling people, unless you're going to be a delegate to the convention or you're a party officer, then why not go into the Republicans' house and influence at least that very narrow part of the dialogue, the antiwar, anti-imperial, anti-National Defense Authorization bill, anti-PATRIOT Act? Those issues are important, and Ron Paul keeps those issues on the table. I think he'll probably come in a third, probably get a lot of the old Nader vote. But, you know, obviously, black folks and Democrats are set to vote for Barack Obama as an expression of their dissatisfaction with the Republican Party. They're not that willing to get into the Republican primary and kick over some chairs, which I think they ought to. |
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