Ron Paul 'republiCAN' Rally Off to Boisterous and Controversial Start

Texas congressman and Republican primary presidential candidate Ron Paul's official pre-nominating convention rally kicked off to a raucous start, as thousands of conservative and libertarian enthusiasts crowded theUSF Sun Dome in Tampa.

The event, officially titled the "Ron Paul republiCAN We Are the Future Rally," began at noon, right on schedule. Historian and political adviser Doug Wead acted as master of ceremonies and delivered the opening remarks, describing Paul as "a clean boat in a sea of garbage."

He was followed by economist Lew Rockwell, founder of the Ludwig von Mises Institute and editor of the popular libertarian Web magazine LewRockwell.com. Theres no question, the Paulian movement is the future, Rockwell insisted. You wouldnt believe how many Paulians there are in Brazil, Spain, Italy, all over the world.

The next speaker, libertarian theoretician and economist Walter Block, injected quite a bit of controversy into the afternoon festivities, repeating a lecture he gave Friday at the Ron Paul Festival in the nearby Florida State Fairgrounds. He proposed a political and philosophical compromise between the pro-life and pro-choice positions in the abortion controversy, which he calls evictionism.

His lecture drew many more boos and hisses at the Sunday rally than it did the day before, so much so that Block interrupted his prepared remarks several times to ask the crowd to hear him out. Ours is [in part] an intellectual movement, he pleaded. If an intellectual libertarian cant come to a place like this without getting booed or hissed, thats a disgrace.

The crowd may not have warmed to this particular speech, but they gave the popular author a standing ovation at his talks conclusion.

Singer and songwriter Jordan Page later performed for the exuberant assembly. Before his act, in an apparent rebuke to Block, he assured the crowd: Lets be clear: evicting babies from their mothers wombs is not something we are advocating here today! The audience cheered.

The Sun Dome, which seats over 10,400 persons, was filled to overflow capacity.

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