ELECTIONS ’88 ORANGE COUNTY : Libertarian Runs Upbeat Race

It’s lucky that Ron Paul, the Libertarian Party candidate for President, doesn’t discourage easily.

Take Thursday, for example: His national campaign headquarters in Houston was closed as staffers left town in advance of Hurricane Gilbert. Then his connecting flight from Denver to Orange County was canceled, making him several hours late for a key Santa Ana appearance.

So was the 52-year-old obstetrician down in the dumps when he finally arrived late Thursday night for a reception at a Santa Ana hotel?

“Are you kidding?” he responded. “We’re on a roll, and we’ve still got seven weeks before Election Day.”

Make no mistake--Paul is a realist, acknowledging that he doesn’t even rate a blip on public opinion polls when matched against the two major party presidential hopefuls.

But often sounding more like an excited youth than a former four-term Texas congressman, he expressed confidence that his Libertarian Party’s message is winning converts.

“The Democrats and the Republicans have lost all credibility,” he said. “Take the budget: They talk about balancing it, but they never talk about cuts. How else are you going to do it, except cut spending? It takes courage.”

Paul, married with five children, believes he has shown courage. He bolted from the ranks of a lifelong Republican last year in favor of the Libertarian Party.

Almost immediately, he launched a campaign to secure the party’s nomination, and last September he captured it, edging out Indian activist Russell Means on the first ballot.

Paul is counting on his party’s laissez-faire attitude toward the economy and free-wheeling view of civil liberties to attract disenchanted voters. He wants to return to the gold standard, abolish the Internal Revenue Service and eliminate all zoning laws, among other things.