Ron Paul fans in Nevada show support for long shot

Towering over a tire repair shop in downtown Las Vegas, a billboard displays Ron Paul's smiling face and a pitch to vote for him in the Feb. 4 GOP presidential caucus in Nevada.

"The only candidate who predicted the economic crisis is the only one who can fix it," the billboard proclaims, referring to Paul's repeated warnings of a Wall Street and housing market meltdown.

The man behind the billboard isn't Ron Paul. And the money didn't come from the Texas congressman's presidential campaign, which has nothing to do with the outdoor ad.

Instead, an online poker player raised nearly $3,000 over the Internet in three days to help pay for the billboard, which went up Tuesday and will stay up through the Feb. 4 caucuses. Robert Fellner of Las Vegas is among thousands of Paul supporters investing time and money in a grass-roots movement promoting the GOP candidate, but outside of his official campaign. The all-volunteer army runs multiple meet-up groups and an array of websites and fundraising appeals, including one to mail Paul brochures to thousands of households here and across the U.S.

That level of dedication and loyalty is what makes Paul a persistent foe for GOP front-runners Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, who remains the man to beat in Nevada and nationwide. Paul is expected to finish in the top tier in Nevada, Iowa and New Hampshire. And he could emerge as an upset winner if he gets enough supporters to vote, especially in low-turnout caucus states.

"I'm a professional gambler and so I appreciate it's not a sure thing," Fellner said of potential Paul victories. "To me that doesn't matter. I'm supporting him because it's the right thing to do. His message is so important. Even if God appeared in front me and said he's not winning, I'd support him."

For true believers, Paul's appeal resides in his record over decades of seeking to get the U.S. government out of Americans' lives. He wants to shrink bureaucracy, cut the federal budget, bring U.S. troops home, restore stronger states' rights and return to the gold standard for U.S. currency.

Paul, a 76-year-old physician, has long railed against the Federal Reserve, which controls U.S. monetary policy and has become a favorite GOP target. He also had warned for years that a financial collapse was coming, partly because Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were backing so many bad loans.

The nation indeed took an economic nosedive at the end of 2007 and has yet to fully recover. Nevada is suffering more than most with the highest jobless and home foreclosure rates.

TEA PARTY SUPPORT

Paul was the Libertarian candidate for president in 1988, when he emerged on the national scene following the first of his two stints in Congress. In 2008, Paul was a top GOP presidential contender. He finished a distant second in the Nevada caucus behind Romney, who won 51 percent of the vote.

U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., eventually won the GOP nomination in 2008, but Paul's supporters claim the Republican Party machine robbed him of victory in Nevada at the state convention.

Paul's ideas align with the tea party movement, which has in the past couple of years heavily influenced the GOP push toward smaller government and a stricter constitutional focus.

Still, many of Paul's ideas remain outside the Republican mainstream, including cutting all U.S. foreign aid and bringing all U.S. military troops home. That strain of isolationism limits Paul's support in the GOP while also attracting Americans disgusted with the two main political parties.

"I think Ron Paul brings new people to the political process," said Robert Uithoven, a Republican operative in Nevada not aligned with any presidential campaign. "I think people might join the Republican Party just so they can cast a ballot for him or caucus for him. But the people who don't support Ron Paul today are never going to support Ron Paul. He has a lot of ground to make up."

Uithoven and other GOP observers believe Paul's support has grown since his 2008 presidential bid, but mostly because staunch conservatives looking for somebody who could beat President Barack Obama haven't warmed to Romney and haven't found another alternative to support.

Almost no one outside the Paul camp believes he could win the GOP nomination. But he could gain enough delegates to influence the party platform and the convention next summer.

'RON PAUL GUYS'

Fellner, 27, is typical of young Paulites, or those who support Paul. They're sick of congressional gridlock and wars -- both the real ones in Iraq and Afghanistan and political battles in Washington. Fellner voted for Obama in 2008 and was a Democrat until he switched to the GOP so he could back Paul.

"We don't really like the political process," Fellner said. "We wonder why there are such fewer choices than there are in so many aspects of life. Like toothpaste. There are aisles and aisles of choices, but when I want to vote for the most powerful person in the world, I only have two choices."

"People who are drawn to Ron Paul recognize he is fundamentally different than the status quo," Fellner added. "He's what we've been waiting to hear, what we thought was impossible to hear. You can disagree with everything he says, but he speaks to you honestly and openly."

Fellner said he got a few puzzled responses when he first posted his blog asking for contributions to pay for the Paul billboard. Some longtime Paul supporters wondered who he was, since the community is so close. One man insisted Fellner pick up a proffered $500 donation in person.

"He's a total stranger, but within the first 10 seconds we knew we were both Ron Paul guys," Fellner said. "We're in this club. We know ether other. It kind of makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside."

BILLBOARD SUPPORT

Carl Bunce, the Nevada director of Paul's campaign, said he welcomes the freelance help, although he has to keep his distance and isn't allowed by law to coordinate with the groups.

"They are creative," said Bunce, who came to support Paul through a meet-up group in 2007 before working for him. "They're meeting, printing up things, doing a lot of stuff we don't know anything about. People who latch on to Paul and really get involved have one goal in mind -- to win."

As it turns out, Fellner's billboard that rises above Charleston Boulevard at Main Street in the Arts District isn't the only ad-hoc outdoor ad for Ron Paul in Southern Nevada.

Dr. Mark Carducci, a physician who lives in Blue Diamond, has been paying for a Paul billboard himself since October 2010, located along Interstate 215 near Durango in the southwest valley. A longtime supporter, Carducci has met Paul several times and traveled to Iowa this year to support him.

Carducci said Paul first caught his eye in the 1980s when he was attending medical school. He was reading the Wall Street Journal and began following Paul's complaints about the Fed. Carducci and his wife also are in the home school movement, where Paul finds support. Carducci said he has been home schooling his four children for eight years, although two just began public school.

Although he was initially a registered Libertarian, Carducci said he voted for Republican George. W. Bush for president in 2000, but became disenchanted after the United States went to war in Iraq. Carducci switched to the Republican Party and wrote in Paul's name on his presidential ballot in 2004 and 2008.

"He has the right message," Carducci said. "Ron Paul is the only one who knows the Fed and how it's treasonous to just keep printing money that's almost worthless" without gold or silver backing.

Carducci said he believes Paul could win the presidency, although he has two main obstacles in his way: the "mainstream media," which dismisses Paul's chances, and the GOP leadership, which fears his ideas, especially withdrawing U.S. military forces from around the world.

"The majority of the population are sheep," Carducci said.

Contact Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919. Follow @lmyerslvrj on Twitter.