Ladies' Man: Ron Paul's 'View'

Dec. 4, 2007 — -- In the sea of confusion backstage at today's taping of "The View," Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul's dressing room was an eddy of calm.

While producers and production assistants for the morning gabfest scurried to and fro managing the bustle of activity in rooms designated for today's co-host, "Private Practice" star Kate Walsh, and "Little Miss Sunshine's" Abigail Breslin, Paul was quiet and speculative.

The Texas representative arrived for the show straight from New Hampshire, where he's been campaigning in recent days, mounting his spirited, insurgent, libertarian quest to fundamentally change Washington in the month leading up to the Granite State's first-in-the-nation primary.

But at "The View" studio in Manhattan, Paul was quietly considering his answers. Three staffers waited in the room; Paul's communications director could be heard outside on his cell phone.

Untouched went Paul's gift bag. While this reporter did not get the chance to peruse all the contents, on the top were several bottles of iced cappuccino, which Paul gave to a staffer.

"The problem with this stuff," he said before the show, ruminating on life as a presidential contender, "is you can't really put it anywhere. When you're traveling around, you don't have space for a lot of stuff. And that," he said, pointing at the iced cappuccino concoction, "you can't take on an airplane."

Told that a "View" co-host would ask him about China, Paul said, "China? Did something happen overnight in China? I would have guessed they would ask about Iran and the intelligence report," he said.

Paul has long been a critic of the Bush administration's foreign policy. At that moment the president was giving a news conference at which, despite evidence that Iran has abandoned its nuclear weapons program, he would not rule out a military strike against the Islamic country.

Paul considered China and what "The View" women could be preparing to ask him. Something about the dollar and how its weakening? His support for trade relationships? His aversion to economic sanctions? Lead in toys?