Q&A: Presidential Candidate Ron Paul

What is your appeal?
I think people are tired of what they're getting from their government. They don't believe it's working. They're angry. They believe they're being lied to when it comes to the economy. They believe they've been lied into going to war. And they're tired of it all, and they want change. Even though people poke fun at me—say that I don't look like the one to bring about change—I think I offer a different program than they've heard about for a long time.

What do you mean you don't look like someone who would bring change?
They talk about age, and say, why would you appeal to young people? I think it's because the idea of freedom and self-reliance is a very new and young idea. We've experimented with it in this country. I'd like to continue that process rather than reversing back to tyrannical-type government where government tells us how to live, runs the economy, polices the world, runs an empire around the world.

You believe you are tapping into anger and frustration?
Not only are there a lot of young people out there; there are a lot of other people who had given up a long time ago and had dropped out and sense this as an opportunity to get back in. Some are Republicans who left two, four, six, or eight years ago, never being satisfied. There are some who come up and say, "I'm 60, 65, and I've never been involved—this is the first time." The Democrats are, I think, rightfully not very happy with their choices because they're not offering a foreign policy much different than George Bush, and people can see through this.

Liz Halloran