WINDERMERE, Fla.–Next time, Eddie Dillard won’t wear flip-flops.
Dillard, a 29-year-old Ron Paul supporter from this suburb near Orlando, arrived to vote at his precinct at Winderemere Baptist Church early Tuesday morning. Pulling into the parking lot, Dillard noticed a man outside the polling place with a Gingrich sign. He decided to run home, slip into his “Ron Paul Rocks America” T-shirt, grab a “Ron Paul 2012″ sign from his garage, and return to give his candidate some representation outside the precinct after he cast his vote.
Dillard found a quiet spot along a sidewalk lined with tiny American flags and held up his sign. Little did he know, Newt Gingrich had chosen that very spot to make his first Primary Day campaign stop.
When Gingrich’s bus pulled up, Dillard stood silently holding his sign and watched the news-media horde swamp the candidate. Gingrich stepped down from the bus and made a beeline for Dillard. He stopped in front of Dillard and his sign and parked himself for a round of handshaking and pictures with voters. The placement couldn’t have been worse. There was Gingrich, standing with his wife Callista at their first event of the day, and a giant Ron Paul sign floated inches from their crowns.
Noticing the awkward optics, Gingrich aides and security personnel swarmed Dillard, trying to intimidate him into moving. One of Gingrich’s security agents stepped in front of him. When Dillard didn’t budge, the agent lifted his heeled shoe over Dillard’s bare foot and dug the back of it into his skin, twisting it side-to-side like he was stomping out a cigarette. Shocked, Dillard kept his ground and took a picture of the agent with his phone, which was quickly knocked out of his hand. Dillard slipped off his flip-flop to pick up the phone with his foot, and a Gingrich supporter kicked the sandal away.
“Don’t kick me!” Dillard said to the man who knocked away his sandal. More members of Gingrich’s security retinue approached, shoving their shoulders and chests in front of him.
“Just block him!” a Gingrich campaign aide said. “Everyone step on his toes!”
…
As Gingrich pulled away, Dillard looked down at his foot. With the adrenaline pumping, he hadn’t noticed the pain, but now it was starting to sink in. A bruise was forming, and there was a cut mark where the security agent had dug in his heel.
…
So, a Ron Paul supporter is assaulted by the Gingrich campaign for exercising his 1st Ammendment rights in a public place.
The Paul supporter wasn’t hurting anyone. He wasn’t making a scene. He wasn’t yelling or trying to disrupt things. He was just standing there quietly holding up his sign. That sounds to me like a great opportunity for Newt to demonstrate his tolerance of differences of opinion and his sense of humor. Ronald Reagan did that all the time. I know because I witnessed him doing it during a 1980 campaign rally I was privileged to attend. But that is not how Newt handled the situation. He instead turns his thugs onto the little guy who gets in his way.
(I can’t help but think of what happened to “Joe the Plumber”, another little guy who got in the way of another presidential candidate less than four years ago.)
How does that saying go? “To take the true measure of a man, mark how he treats those lower in status”
Here’s something else to think about. Do you remember that Newt is the guy who campaigned in Iowa on arresting judges who made rulings he didn’t agree with?
Scarey stuff.
January 31st, 2012 at 3:28 pm
Here is the true flip-flopper.
Give em hell Mitt!
January 31st, 2012 at 3:31 pm
a pro bono lawyer needs to take this matter up and hold these goons accountable
January 31st, 2012 at 3:34 pm
I was watching a Nooot event on cspan and the audience was acting like you would expect an audience at a world wrestling federation match. Halfwits.
January 31st, 2012 at 3:35 pm
as a Ron Paul fan myself, this is disturbing. glad it made the news.
January 31st, 2012 at 3:38 pm
And these are the kind of thugs that would end up in the White House.
January 31st, 2012 at 3:39 pm
I tend to think thy freedom of expedition might suffer more under Gingrich than even Obama. Newt is clearly obsessed with power, and I don’t think he would hesitate to use power to silence his foes. His refusal to stop his security from hurting that man (if the story is true) shows just what kind of force he would use to silence his critics.
January 31st, 2012 at 3:39 pm
The article this text comes from has 6,200+ comments.
That tells the story, right there.
January 31st, 2012 at 3:39 pm
Overreach by the Gingrich people, obviously.
But considering the way Ron Paul supporters as a whole have harrassed the rest of the party, the way in which they’ve conducted themselves, and the general disruption that they have caused, my sympathy for them is long gone.
January 31st, 2012 at 3:40 pm
That is scarey!
January 31st, 2012 at 3:41 pm
While I usually would not say that candidate supporters are a reflection of the candidate himself, in this case I imagine that it’s not far from the truth. If Newt were in the white house, I could easily picture him giving orders to his goons and minions to intimidate everyone with whom he did not agree. This man is dangerous for America.
January 31st, 2012 at 3:42 pm
Here is Grinch in action. Poor planning and organization by an unstable candidate leads to nonsensical interactions and abuse.
Please, people of the republican party, unite for anyone but the Grinch. Is rather have anyone else. Of course,
FINISH HIM, MITT!!!
January 31st, 2012 at 3:43 pm
Kilburn, please elaborate on how you think Paul supporters have harrassed the rest of the party.
January 31st, 2012 at 3:43 pm
As a human being, this incident is disturbing. Any candidate with a disciplined campaign is going to make certain that any member of their campaign is on notice not to cause a scene or an “incident.” It makes it even worse that Newt was actually on the scene at the time.
Hope this story goes viral.
January 31st, 2012 at 3:45 pm
8
Yeah… this isn’t about “Ron Paul supporters”. This is about one specific Ron Paul supporter. If he was interrupting Newt and being belligerent, that’s one thing… but if the story really happened just like it was outlined, we should all be apolled(sp?) at this security guard. I don’t know if Newt is fully to blame, but he certainly doesn’t escape all blame, as this guy works directly for him and represents him. And the point that this would fall into Newt’s style is not without merit also.
January 31st, 2012 at 3:47 pm
#6
Just look at the despicable lies he’s spewing right now. It’s driving me crazy that pro-Newt conservative talk are acting like Mitt’s ads and Newt’s ads are equally dishonest and horrible. They are not.
Only Medved has the sense to discern the truth on this.
Newt has no filter, no conscience, no honor, no sense. He’s unstable and unable. Why can’t EVERYBODY see this?
January 31st, 2012 at 3:48 pm
Matthew.8,
I don’t care how Ron Paul supporters or supporters of any other candidate have behaved in the past. THIS guy was behaving himself. There is no excuse for what Gingrich’s people did to him only a foot or two from Newt himself.
January 31st, 2012 at 3:48 pm
Lucky for Dillard it was just an aide that stepped on his foot. If it had been the candidate himself things could’ve been much worse.
The last thing Romney or Gingrich want to do is make enemies out of the Paul supporters and if this gets out, Gingrich may well have done that very thing.
January 31st, 2012 at 3:49 pm
8,
Ron Paul is the only individual in this race that doesn’t have to pay for people to show up to his rallys. Over 1200 people at Colorado State University. Ron Paul supporters do not assault people as these Gingrich thugs have. Ron Paul in his stump speeches fills it with so much food for thought and material for people to look and decide for themselves. He encourages the people not by fighting them but arming them with new ideas. It is for each individual to fight for his cause by reading and understanding the issues to teach and educate the vastly ignorant American populace. Nothing criminal about that, just the most intellectually honest man in the race.
January 31st, 2012 at 3:49 pm
He’s lucky Newt didn’t sit on him.
January 31st, 2012 at 3:50 pm
Normally I don’t get along with Ron Paul fans. I find them to be social bullies with little tact.
But this is way, way over the line. Gingrich’s aides need to be arrested, and Dillard should press charges.
January 31st, 2012 at 3:50 pm
PA-Mark.14,
Apparently you missed the part where a Gingrich aide said, “Step on his toes!”
January 31st, 2012 at 3:50 pm
Getting really tired of sanctimonious phrases that start with “Ron Paul is the ONLY…”
January 31st, 2012 at 3:51 pm
Is it a coincidence that his name is “Dillard,” which almost sounds like “Willard?”
January 31st, 2012 at 3:51 pm
It tells you Ron Paul has an obsessive, cultist following that is well tuned to the internet. Nothing More.
Fire the staffer, arrest him even. But don’t turn the whole Ron Paul movement into victims.
January 31st, 2012 at 3:52 pm
#17
Pretty funny.
Mr. K.G. says he heard on Fox this a.m. that both Mitt and Paul called Rick Santorum to express concern for little Bella. Newt called, saying nothing about Bella, but wanted Rick to drop out in favor of Newt. Has anybody heard this story?
January 31st, 2012 at 3:53 pm
“just the most intellectually honest man in the race.”
He’s also a dangerous radical who would leave this country in ruin if he were President.
January 31st, 2012 at 3:54 pm
24
Exactly. That tells the story. Kid gets his foot stepped on, and it gets 6,200 comments in just a few hours.
The story is bad, but it’s being over-blown.
Remember Rand Paul’s supporters who stepped on that liberal’s head? He STILL won the election.
January 31st, 2012 at 3:55 pm
Got a link? Do we know this story is real?
January 31st, 2012 at 3:55 pm
#24: I don’t believe this has anything to do with Paul. If it had been a Mitt sign, no telling what would have happened. This has to do with an out-of-control campaign that only has money to hire brain-dead thugs determined to get things to go their way no matter who they have to hurt. The fish stinks from the head down.
January 31st, 2012 at 3:56 pm
Hopefully voters just entering the polling place saw this and if they were for Gingrich this incident changed their minds on who to vote for, what a bully! No one likes bullies.
January 31st, 2012 at 3:56 pm
Is there any proof of this? Where are the photos or video of the incident? Not that I wouldn’t believe Newt and his staff capable of this, but it sounds like a typical Ronpaulite stunt to me to get attention.
January 31st, 2012 at 3:56 pm
28
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/everyone-step-toes-gingrich-security-harasses-ron-paul-165042767.html
January 31st, 2012 at 3:57 pm
Why is there not a FPP about this? This is obscene stuff, and Newt needs to be exposed for it:
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/289740/newt-s-unorthodox-attacks-patrick-brennan
January 31st, 2012 at 3:57 pm
The story just made it onto Cavuto.
January 31st, 2012 at 3:59 pm
#25 KG,
Haven’t heard that but I wouldn’t be surprised. Reportedly Newt said Santorum needs to get out so he (Newt) can stop Mitt because if we don’t nominate a “conservative”, we lose in the fall.
Granted, Romney isn’t as conservative as some but Newt has strayed from idealogical purity far too many times to be making statements such as that.
January 31st, 2012 at 4:00 pm
Matt Kilburn, would you please elaborate on how you believe Ron Paul supporters have “harrassed the rest of the party”? I understand that you violently disagree with Ron Paul on many issues and want to kick him and the entirety of the libertarian wing out of the Republican party, but what leads you to believe they are harrassing the rest of the party? I fear you have caught Newt’s exaggerated grandiosity virus.
January 31st, 2012 at 4:02 pm
Scott Rasmussen on Medved’s show right now saying that the VAST majority of those who are not supporting Romney now will be supporting him in the general against Obama. All the talk that Romney won’t fire up the base to vote in the fall is pure bunk.
January 31st, 2012 at 4:02 pm
Another disaster.
Remind me why Gingrich outlasted Pawlenty again?
Life isn’t fair.
January 31st, 2012 at 4:05 pm
Greg Gutfeld just said Mitt and Noot remind him of an “old gay married couple.”
Did I hear that correctly?
January 31st, 2012 at 4:05 pm
Many a tine I’ve wanted to grind my heel into a Ron Paul supporter.
Color me jealous.
if you know what I mean
January 31st, 2012 at 4:06 pm
How have they harrassed the party? You can’t go anywhere, or do anything, that involves a GOP gathering without large numbers of his supporters showing up just to vote in the straw poll, or wave signs. Look at how they swarm the TV hosts after the debate, look at what they did to CPAC, look at how you can’t even reason or discuss anything with them, they just pop up, yell “RON PAUL 2012!” and run away. Look at any CNN thread, any youtube thread, etc.
Its a cult. period.
January 31st, 2012 at 4:09 pm
41. Sounds like they really like their candidate. You only wish that more Romney supporters swarmed straw polls (They did in Ames in 08). Being organized and enthusiastic does not count as “harassing the party”.
January 31st, 2012 at 4:11 pm
41. If you would like to have a reasonable discussion about the issues, I am all for it. When do you want to do this?
January 31st, 2012 at 4:12 pm
This is assault. Call the police… we need these thugs to be held accountable!
Ron Paul’s folks shut down Mitt Romney Cenral yesterday… It probably cost Nate some money… so yes they can be awful.
But this is assault. This is wrong.
January 31st, 2012 at 4:16 pm
This is heart warming. You only have to watch the first 20 seconds or so
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ziDwbCSYPw&feature=youtu.be
January 31st, 2012 at 4:16 pm
Compare Newt’s Mafia-Style campaigning to Mitt’s:
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1678229/florida-primary-mitt-romney-andrew-jenks.jhtml
Celebrating a journalist’s birthday and singing on the trail. Sounds like a really nice, down to earth, guy.
January 31st, 2012 at 4:17 pm
Just saw the picture of the Ron Paul supporter (thanks Mass Con). Gingrich is right there, saw it, heard it, and did nothing about it. He has no integrity. A clear case of the person’s right to be there and to be overtaken by Gingriche’s mob, it’s just another example of the real Gingrich in action.
January 31st, 2012 at 4:17 pm
38,
Because Tim quit TOO EARLY. He was banking everything on aimes…when he should’ve looked at the field and realized how weak it was. Tim could’ve gone the distance. He had the staying power and organization too. Plus, he is an actual conservative.
January 31st, 2012 at 4:18 pm
CF, you always nail it.
January 31st, 2012 at 4:27 pm
Ames is one thing, I don’t care about that – in fact, thats the way its supposed to work.
But when they turn any gathering of Republicans into worshiping at the altar of Paulism, it becomes a problem.
The biggest blessing of this election, particularly if we win the White House, will be a dramatically reduced presence of Paulites in the future.
Because that movement will destroy the GOP and the USA if we’re ever stupid enough to give them a chance.
January 31st, 2012 at 4:27 pm
44,
What happened at mitt central? We have to learn that the law applies to us. It’s not okay to violate property rights…or to disrupt a peaceable assembly.
I’m for Ron Paul…but yes, some supporters get carried away.
January 31st, 2012 at 4:31 pm
watered.48,
Shoulda, coulda, oughta.
We do not KNOW that Pawlenty quit too early. We can always speculate. We can play the “what if…” game until the cows come home. That’s one of the things that make sites like this one so fun. But we will never know for sure one way or the other.
January 31st, 2012 at 4:32 pm
watered.51:“I’m for Ron Paul…but yes, some supporters get carried away.”
Don’t feel bad. I think the same thing about more than one or two of the Romney supporters I’ve seen on the web.
January 31st, 2012 at 4:37 pm
marK,
You are totally right about Tim. I was very sad to see him drop out. I knew he could’ve stuck around….but i think he thought that Mitt would win either way…and that if he lined up with Mitt early…he could either end up “next in line” or as VP.
January 31st, 2012 at 4:39 pm
50. Because one straw poll is somehow different than every other straw poll…. right…
Because denigrating one group of supporters because they don’t agree with your views is great…. right…
Because no one worships at the alter of Romney, Gingrich, or Santorum… right…
January 31st, 2012 at 4:40 pm
*altar
January 31st, 2012 at 4:47 pm
Yes, Pawlenty was the one, willardbots.
Unfortunately, Willard was firing up his blowtorch even then, and his invisible army of willardbots was crowning him the candidate, and he had the Goldman Sachs cash to make that stick. If the willardbots had stayed on the sidelines a bit, perhaps we wouldn’t have this schism right now. But lying, progressive crapweasels are sure to cause a schism, as you all should have known long ago.
And anybody who actually bought into that previous Willard 1.0 lie of him being the “conservative” alternative should have their head examined. McCain, who I affectionately reference as McLiar, remains one of the most despised and greedy politicians alive. These 2 were both crapweasels. Neither deserved to win.
Pawlenty would have satisfied most everybody, even me, and he’s from the Midwest, which is the prize geographic origin for an R presidential candidate in 2012. And for those fantasizing Willard has “Midwest” roots, dream on. He has cash to buy Michigan’s RINOs, which he’s been doing for many years now, and not much else. He’s just as weird to us as he is to everybody else.
We still have a shot at Pawlenty. Go to the convention deadlocked, and nominate Pawlenty. I’m for that.
January 31st, 2012 at 4:54 pm
“blowtorch”
“willardbots”
“crapweasel”
Can you mix it up, you bore?
January 31st, 2012 at 4:57 pm
Unfortunately finding a liar among Ron Paul supporters is like trying to find a needle in a needle stack. So I’ll only believe it when I see it.
January 31st, 2012 at 4:58 pm
Kilburn proves once again he has no sym
January 31st, 2012 at 5:01 pm
Kilburn proves once again he has no sympathy for individuals, only groups. He would make a marvelous socialist.
January 31st, 2012 at 5:04 pm
watered,
I was bummed when Pawlenty dropped out, as well. I supported Mitt Romney (1) and Tim Pawlenty (2). Both were reasonably conservative. Both had governed in liberal states. Both were competent administrators and executives. Both were honorable men who had been 100% faithful to their wives and had raised wonderful families. Both were smart. Both were fairly religious. They were also both nice guys who have their heads on straight.
The only reason I placed Mitt over Tim was Mitt’s reputation as a Fix-it man with the stamina and determination of the Energizer Bunny. Let’s face it. We really do need that in a President if we want even a ghost of a chance to turn this country around.
January 31st, 2012 at 5:04 pm
50.
Sorry Matt. A majority of the country describes themselves as fiscally conservative and socially liberal. Whether you like it or not, that is the direction our country is heading. It’s just a matter of time.
And it’s too bad that you want to throw all these folks out of the republican party rather than try to embrace some of their views (perhaps the ones you find least objectionable).
January 31st, 2012 at 5:23 pm
Tele and MattK.
It really disturbs me when people consider it open season on an unpopular minority.
January 31st, 2012 at 5:29 pm
Yeah, Willard was mr. fix it when he ripped off Medicare with Bain, eh?
Or when he mr. fix it-ed health care in Taxachusetts, and jacked state spending, and acted as the tax collector for the welfare state. Only it wasn’t an act, because he’s a progressive.
And now he wants to graduate to the federal and do wealth redistribution with the tax code, as we know.
No, Willard is no Pawlenty. Willard is Mario Cuomo, if Mario moved a little more Left.
January 31st, 2012 at 5:38 pm
Gingrich Brownshirts…
January 31st, 2012 at 5:42 pm
So Harold,
What do you think of Newt’s campaign assaulting the Ron Paul supporter peacefully exercising his First Amendment rights?
January 31st, 2012 at 6:09 pm
I think the Paulbot was just following the Willard campaign’s lead. Both are intruding on opposition campaign events, and seeking disruption and distraction.
Civil rights imply the need for civility, and the willardbots, the Paulbots and the Gingrichbots all need to learn something about them both.