October
27th 2011
Posted under Election 2012 & Polls & Republican Party & Ron Paul
Interestingly, you can vote on that question here. I voted both. I think Paul and his team believe there is a scenario whereby he can win, but I think they know it is a long shot.
Matt Weber on 27 Oct 2011 at 2:39 pm #
I hope it’s about the message, since he has no chance of becoming president. I’m not sure if there is much value to people using the presidential process to get their message out, but on the Republican side it appears to be the norm now.
Kirt Higdon on 27 Oct 2011 at 3:16 pm #
I agree with Matt Weber. There is no way that Ron Paul will be elected president, but the message has already been spread much further this year than in 2008.
Richard Channing on 27 Oct 2011 at 5:23 pm #
I hope it’s about winning because the message falls on deaf ears. The other GOP candidates have not adjusted and will not adjust their positions to bring in Paul supporters.
Brock Townsend on 27 Oct 2011 at 5:38 pm #
From The Daily Bell on Monday.
http://freenorthcarolina.blogspot.com/2011/10/ron-paul-could-be-pat-buchanan-of-2012.html
brandon adamson on 28 Oct 2011 at 5:01 pm #
I believe he’s in this to win, and that he believes he can. I pushed for him in 2008 but like many others have been less enthusiastic this time around, given his “updated” views on immigration. I think Paul’s biggest problem is that even though he’s brilliant and eloquent, he has failed to adequately distance himself from some of the fringe elements amongst his supporters(the 9/11 truth movement/ folks who believe the moon landing was faked etc.) This leaves many rank and file republicans(whom might otherwise be persuaded) with the impression that Paul himself is one of the crazies, when in fact his appeal to these types of obnoxious followers is usually based upon their own bizarre misinterpretations of his beliefs. Just because Paul believes that pointless military adventures in ragtag third world countries are an inappropriate and counterproductive response to minimal foreign threats (not to mention a waste of time and money) doesn’t mean that Ron Paul buys into Jesse Ventura’s kooky 9/11 conspiracy theories. We of course all know this, but the average movement conservative that is having some common sense doubts about the neoconservative worldview they’ve been indoctrinated with their whole life may be hesitant to hop on the Ron Paul train when they take a look at who many of the other passengers are.
Mark Krikorian recently wrote about how there is a deep yearning in the republican party for a candidate with Ron Paul’s foreign policy views but who doesn’t have all the baggage. The void is precisely what leads many paleos to seek out Huntsman, Daniels, Christie and others where they seem to see things that(in my view) aren’t really there. It would be nice to get someone who shares Paul and Johnson’s desire to reduce our military commitments yet doesn’t come with a lot of cocaine legalization talk, free trade with cuba advocacy, open borders libertarianism or Unzism. That void is growing and will hopefully be filled by someone.
Getting back to the original topic though… I would agree with Red and vote “both.” I think Paul is genuinely trying to win, yet also knows that in a losing effort he can still draw significant attention to the issues that matter to him and change some minds(and he has.)
Is Ron Paul’s Campaign about Getting Elected, Spreading His Message or Both? reblogican.com | reblogican.com on 28 Oct 2011 at 9:16 pm #
[...] See original article: Is Ron Paul’s Campaign about Getting Elected, Spreading His Message or Both? [...]
roho on 30 Oct 2011 at 1:47 am #
I love Ron Paul,as well as his message!……Love him! But, AMERICA is too IGNORANT for Ron Paul, and I hate that?