- Aug 27, 2008
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Laura Burkett, a conservative Republican from Coralville, Iowa, didn't give Ron Paul a second thought in the 2008 presidential contest, turned off by his calls for an end to military action around the globe and unswayed by his warnings that the nation was teetering on economic implosion.
"I really thought he was a nut," Burkett said. "Everything he said, I thought, 'This is ridiculous.'"
Four years later, reeling from the nation's fiscal decline and what she says is an unprecedented federal expansion into Americans' lives, Burkett is an ardent supporter who plans to do anything she can to make the Texas congressman the GOP nominee.
People like Burkett show how far Paul's candidacy has come from four years ago, and signal the potential he has to shake up the GOP contest, most immediately at Saturday's Ames straw poll.
Ron Paul comes in from the fringe - latimes.com
This article focuses quite a bit on Ron Paul's expanding base of support, and how he'll potentially do very well at the Ames Straw Poll later today.