Dinner for Dr. Paul

It was a casual dinner affair for the supporters of Ron Paul on election night, with roughly thirty people showing up for dinner under the big screen at Thai Stick, 925 O’Farrell St. As the results came in from around the country, party-goers casually looked up from their animated conversations to remark at the TV screen.
George Gaboury, self-described “media support”, struggled with a projector and screen, but was finally able to set up a slide show of the groups’ past exploits – including the staged Ron Paul “TeaParty” in December. The projected video showed attendees throwing boxes with words like “Patriot Act” and “WTO” written on them off of a pier near the Ferry Building.
“For people who have been abused by the government for so long, this is almost therapy,” Gaboury said, watching the screen.

For many Paul supporters, waging a campaign for a Republican candidate in San Francisco seemed like a daunting task. To overcome the expensive efforts of other leading Republican candidates, the Paul campaign depended heavily on grassroots strategies. Dan Pickell, who co-organized the event, attributed much of the turnout to networking through the internet.
“The internet is the Ron Paul campaign,” Pickell said. “All of our events are posted on meetup.com, that’s how we get people to come out.”
Stephanie Burns, who organized the event along with Pickell, felt that the night was a success. “Something big will come from the Ron Paul support,” she said, noting that Paul has gained a lot of traction as a Republican, while also “showing how wrong the whole dichotomy is that all the others play.”
Burns felt that Paul’s message speaks across party lines. Originally a democrat, she is now excited to be exploring the Republican party.
“All of us here have become more intelligent. Ron Paul actually makes us think,” she added.
(Bryan Cohen and Emma Lierley)