Texas Congressman Ron Paul is in Iowa today. He’s at the statehouse right now, meeting with legislators. In the hallway outside the House of Representatives, Paul answered a few questions. Here is one passage of that interview:
Radio Iowa news director O. Kay Henderson (me): “With Newt Gingrich getting in the race this week and with an elder statesman such as yourself, do you think voters are willing to look at leaders of your generation as an alternative to Obama, who is a couple of decades younger?”
Paul: “I don’t think in those terms and I’m not sure that people do, but I think they look more for the ideas. You know, I think the age is insignificant as compared to how young and exuberant the ideas are and I think that’s why we have a large following amoung young people. So I don’t think it’s so much how old Gingrich is or Obama is. I don’t think it’s quite that simple.”
Henderson: “Or how old you are.”
Paul: “I’m young. Nobody knows how old I am because I fib about my age all the time.”
James Q. Lynch of The Cedar Rapids Gazette: “If you got the nomination you would be the oldest nominee of the two major parties and age was a factor in the last presidential election. Can it be ignored?”
Paul: “I don’t think age was as big a factor because in the last campaign I had a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of my supporters went and worked for Obama. And obviously, there was a little confusion there but he did talk about new ideas and change and all of that and, of course, that’s what I’m always talking about, so I think that’s more important than his age and my age.”
Paul is 75 years old.
About O.Kay Henderson
Kay is a founding member of the Radio Iowa network newsroom. In 1994, she became the network’s news director. She’s a featured reporter and commentator on Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press,” and the 2002 recipient of the Shelley Award.
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