May 08, 2011 Ron Paul: GOP Candidate to Beat? | Glenn Beck With: Judge Andrew

May 08, 2011 Ron Paul: GOP Candidate to Beat? | Glenn Beck With: Judge Andrew Napolitano Special Guests | Kirsten Powers This is a rush transcript from "Glenn Beck," May 9, 2011. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.   JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO, GUEST HOST: New developments in 2012 presidential race. A spokesperson for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich says the Republican is going to formally announce his bid this Wednesday. Does he stand a chance against Ron Paul? One of my colleagues, Juan Williams, wrote a column today saying he thinks Congressman Paul, who's already run for president twice, is the man to beat in the current Republican race. My next guest has her own opinion. Fox News political analyst and New York Post columnist and my friend, Kirsten Powers, joins me now. Kirsten, welcome here. But were you as surprised as I when you saw Juan Williams' column this morning in which he says Ron Paul is the most intellectual and honest, most consistent in his views and shockingly is now leading in the polls and money raising? KIRSTEN POWERS, FOX NEWS POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, no, I wasn't surprised. There is a CNN poll where Ron Paul is actually -- looks like the man to beat because he's the one who comes the closest to beating Barack Obama, within about by seven points, which is pretty incredible. I wasn't surprised about what Juan wrote because I felt the same way - - I feel the same way about Ron Paul. And, you know, when I was watching the debate, I also felt like why don't Republicans want to vote for this guy? You know, he's great. But that's kind of the problem for Ron Paul, I think. NAPOLITANO: Does he -- does he represent a vision of the Republican Party closer to Barry Goldwater than either of the George Bushes? Would that be fair to say? POWERS: Yes. I think that's definitely fair. And I -- NAPOLITANO: Go ahead. POWERS: Well, I just think the fact that he can appeal to people like me or to people like Juan and I don't think either of us we're saying we would vote for him, but that we find him appealing, sort of explains why he would have a problem with the conservative base in the Republican Party. NAPOLITANO: All right. You are a Democrat. You are a moderate Democrat. You worked in the Clinton administration. How does Ron Paul appeal to you? You know how he appeals to me and many of us watching, but how does he appeal to you, Kirsten? POWERS: Well, I think his foreign policy views are obviously very in line with a lot of liberals are, where a lot of Democrats are. But what's appealing about him overall is that he is intellectually honest and that he obviously has a lot of integrity. He says things that are unpopular quite often. He has been called crazy. It doesn't matter -- he never backs down, you know? And he has -- he stayed the course on what he believes. And, now, suddenly, people are coming around, even Republicans, in saying, you know what, you're right, we shouldn't have invaded Iraq. NAPOLITANO: Yes. A lot of Republicans are saying we shouldn't have invaded Iraq. A lot of Republicans are saying we should come home. Are Republicans saying now that bin Laden is dead, at the cost of who knows what -- I'm not talking about the 40-person attack team last week. That was as surgical as could be. I'm talking about the billions and maybe trillion that was spent in 10 years preceding it. But are the Republicans in D.C. saying, now that bin Laden is dead, we don't belong in Afghanistan, because that's unwinnable and we achieved our goal? POWERS: I think the Republican Party is split on that issue. You've seen different people come out and say, what are we doing there? A lot of conservative thinkers have said, what are we doing there? It's time to get out. Now, I don't know if some of that -- some if it is a little bit because it's now Obama's war and they don't care about it. Or, if they -- you know, I think some people legitimately think that we're losing and we're not going to win and it's not worth the money. But I don't think that's going to be what this election is about. This election is going to be about the economy. NAPOLITANO: I agree with you on that. POWERS: And I think when we start getting into some of Ron Paul's position, I don't -- you know, I think that probably, a lot of them will line up with where a lot of people are and some of them I think people will say are sort of wacky. NAPOLITANO: All right. Ron Paul has been in Congress for nearly 25 years. And in those 25 years, he has steadfastly and consistently made these arguments about gold standard, about sound money, about the problems with the Fed. Question -- has he succeeded in moving those arguments which were once considered loony, now into the mainstream, to the point where they are openly discussed at a Republican presidential debate? POWERS: I think that they're discussed but I still think they fall in the loony category. I still think the mainstream media is going to -- look, if he really starts to take off and people really starts paying attention to him seriously, I think that he will be portrayed as the crazy uncle, which is what they do with him. It's despicable. But that's how he gets treated, you know? And I think that even though he knows more substantively about these issues than probably every one else on that stage combined, he still gets sort of treated like he's nutty. NAPOLITANO: How what about the other libertarian that was on the stage the other night? Governor Johnson, who's going to be here in a few minutes, as well one of the other fellow from the other night, Senator Santorum. Let's talk about Governor Johnson. What is his standing with the base of the Republican Party? Even with the Barry Goldwater/Ronald Reagan wing of the Republican Party? POWERS: Well, look, he's pro-choice. So, I think -- NAPOLITANO: Is that a killer in Republican primaries? POWERS: I think it is a killer in the Republican primary. Now, because the economy is such a big issue, maybe he can get around it. I think it's very unlikely. He's another one I'll tell you my Democratic friends who watched the debate were saying, "I like that Gary Johnson guy." Again, I really feel like the Democrats are saying that and it probably doesn't bode well for Republican primary. Ron Paul is staunchly pro-life. NAPOLITANO: Who does President Obama least want to run against from among all those names mentioned -- from Donald Trump to Ron Paul and everyone else in between? POWERS: I honestly don't think any of them keep him awake at night. Mitt Romney is probably, you know, since he was considered the frontrunner, he's the most reasonable person I think. He probably could appeal across the party lines. Although, I have to say it, you know, the problem with Mitt Romney, of course, is Romneycare. NAPOLITANO: Right. So, can he get the nomination? POWERS: I just don't really think of them really are much of a cause for concern. I mean, I -- you know, it's such a weak field. And I think that -- you know, and Ron Paul maybe could do better in this field than last time. NAPOLITANO: All right. Kirsten Powers, always a pleasure. Thank you very much for joining us, my dear. Content and Programming Copyright 2011 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2011 CQ-Roll Call, Inc. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of CQ-Roll Call. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.   Carl Ray Louk "FRIENDSHIP NEVER ENDS" SG-1996 "LET LOVE LEAD THE WAY" SG-2000 "THE PHOENIX SHALL RISE" SD "EVEN A MAN WHO IS PURE IN HEART AND SAYS HIS PRAYERS BY NIGHT, MAY BECOME A WOLF WHEN THE WOLFBANE BLOOMS AND THE AUTUMN MOON IS BRIGHT." LT-1941 "FLESH OF MY FLESH; BLOOD OF MY BLOOD; KIN OF MY KIN WHEN SAY COME TO YOU, YOU SHALL CROSS LAND OR SEA TO DO MY BIDDING!" CVTD-1895 "FROM HELL'S HEART I STAB AT THEE, FOR HATE SAKE I SPIT MY LAST BREATH AT THEE" CA-1895  "I HAVE BEEN, AND ALWAYS SHALL BE YOUR FRIEND" Spock  "TRICK OR TREAT, TRICK OR TREAT CANDY IS DANDY BUT MURDER, OH MURDER, IS SO SWEET" CRL-2003  "EYE OF NEWT, AND TOE OF FROG, WOOL OF BAT, AND TONGUE OF DOG ADDER'S FORK, BLIND-WORM'S STING, LIZARD'S LEG, AND OWLET'S WING. FOR A CHARM OF POWERFUL TROUBLE, LIKE A HELL-BROTH BOIL AND BABBLE. DOUBLE, DOUBLE, TOIL AND TROUBLE, FIRE BURN, AND CALDRON BUBBLE" WS MySpace.com: www.myspace.com/carlraylouk http://www.myspace.com/carlraylouk Yahoo Group: Yahoo! Groups : LouksHauntedGraveyardhttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/LouksHauntedGraveyard/ Yahoo Group: Yahoo! Groups : TheWorldAccordingtoCarlRayLouk http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheWorldAccordingtoCarlRayLouk/