You wouldn't automatically expect a Tea Party darling to express sympathy for the Occupy Wall Street protestors, but that is what Ron Paul did Wednesday.
Airing his well-known grievances about U.S. economic policy Wednesday, the libertarian candidate for the GOP presidential nomination gave a shout-out to the anti-bank demonstrations.
"The results right now in demonstrations on the streets, not only around the world but here in the United States, demonstrate that there's a lot of people pretty upset, know there's something wrong, and they want something different," Paul, a Republican congressman from Texas, said in a speech at the National Press Club.
He added later, "We need our brains opened up. We need to pay a little attention to what's going on. That's what we really need. And it is going to happen. Economically, it's happening. That's what the demonstrations are all about on the streets.
"And one of these days the people are going to wake up and connect the excessive spending that we do in these wars overseas and our economic decline here in this country."
But even though Paul had railed against bailouts during his prepared remarks, afterward, when a questioner asked him which specific grievances he shares with the Wall Street protesters, he seemed to shy from any allegiance to them.
"Well, I can't speak for the people out there, because I don't know who they are and exactly what they're demonstrating against," Paul said. "I can argue the case for their right to express their outright frustration with what is going on. Some are liberals. And some are conservatives. And some are libertarians. And some are strict constitutionalists."
