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Adroit online, Ron Paul backers hit the streets of N.H.

'Paulites' see the first primary state as fertile ground for their candidate's iconoclastic political views.

from the December 4, 2007 edition

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Paul's campaign and grass-roots supporters say they can reach beyond that.

"New Hampshire is uniquely suited to be a springboard for Ron Paul, since it's a small-government-minded state," says Kate Rick, media coordinator for the Paul campaign in the state.

Boyapati, the former Google engineer, wants to be that springboard. He plans to meet with a real estate agent this week to rent out 50 to 100 vacation homes in the state to Paul backers, he says, and has been flooded with e-mails from prospective volunteers, including a single mother with no savings and a retired couple from Montana.

When volunteers arrive, the plan is for them to go straight to Paul campaign headquarters, where they'll get information packets about the obstetrician-turned-congressman and his issues.

"They're going to train canvassers to be respectful, not leaving materials in the mailbox when people aren't home. Etiquette is important. We're all guests in New Hampshire," says Boyapati.

It probably won't be too long before volunteers find Paulites' watering holes, as Boyapati did. Murphy's Taproom, an Irish pub in downtown Manchester, is one venue where supporters meet to talk strategy, particularly on Tuesday nights. Boyapati was there the day he arrived and got a surprise: Paul himself showed up, stood on a chair, and gave an impromptu speech. "It was kind of explosive," says Boyapati. "The whole place was cheering and screaming."

Many Paul supporters cite their man's opposition to the Iraq war as the key reason he has their support. Paul is the only Republican candidate to call for pulling US troops out of Iraq, and he voted against going to war in 2002.

"The wake-up point was the 2006 election. The Democrats ran on a campaign of let's get out of the war. It was a betrayal," says Lyman. "What they did was a 'surge.' There was more war after a campaign that was against the war."

Not all Paul's issues are in the mainstream. Some supporters seize upon his call to legalize competing currencies, including gold and silver, and eventually abolish the Federal Reserve, eliminate the Internal Revenue Service, and renounce America's membership to the United Nations. But they share a common trait: wanting to restore the Constitution, says a Paul campaign spokeswoman.

"I'm a big constitutionalist. Everyone falls under the constitutionalism umbrella, whether it's the war or other issues," says the campaign's Ms. Rick.

Paul does have huge hurdles to overcome. In focus groups, some women see him as "inconsistent" in that he holds libertarian views but is opposed to a woman's right to choose abortion, says Dick Bennett of the American Research Group in Manchester. Sixty-one percent of likely GOP voters in New Hampshire say they will not vote for him under any circumstances, according to a University of New Hampshire poll.

But some say that if Paul is smart he'll stay focused on the Granite State. "New Hampshire is where the Republicans are going to be duking it out," says Arnie Arnesen, a TV and radio talk-show host here.

"He has a passionate base, and this is a numbers game." With so many candidates in the race, she adds, "he just needs to get a majority of the minority."

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