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Candidate Ron Paul: Quixotic, or the real deal?
Star Tribune ^ | May 19, 2007 | By Matt Stearns, McClatchy News Service

Posted on 05/19/2007 5:22:40 PM PDT by jdm

It's a fine line between quixotic and committed, and just where Ron Paul falls is an open question as the Texas congressman pursues the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.

The case for quixotic: It's a unique conceit to run as an anti-Iraq-war candidate in a generally pro-war party; to vow to eliminate myriad federal agencies, including the CIA, the IRS and the Federal Reserve; and to oppose every act of the federal government not specifically approved in the Constitution (including niceties such as congressional gold medals for such people as Mother Teresa, Rosa Parks and Pope John Paul II).

"I've advocated over the years the elimination of most big-government things I can't find in the Constitution," Paul said in an interview.

Trying to explain that during a recent presidential debate, Paul said, "I'm a strong believer in original intent" of the Constitution's framers. To which moderator Chris Matthews, the MSNBC television personality, responded with a disdainful, "Oh, God."

The case for committed: If somebody needs to drag the Republican Party back to its roots, Paul said, "I'm offering that alternative."

Paul was one of six House of Representatives Republicans who voted against the 2002 authorization to use force in Iraq, based on the same wariness of excessive international involvement that long guided Republican foreign-policy thinking. Traceable to George Washington's warning against entangling foreign alliances, its post-World War II followers -- including "Mr. Republican" Sen. Robert Taft of Ohio -- likely would share Paul's view of President Bush's adventures in democratic nation-building as muddleheaded folly.

"He touches a nerve out there," said Bruce Buchanan, a political scientist at the University of Texas. "There are Republicans who believe it was a mistake to get in there to begin with, and that's the Paul constituency."

(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: binladensmouthpiece; democratbutname; loser; lunatic; marines; nut; paul; quixotic; ron; ronisright; ronpaul; senial; taitor; wacko
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1 posted on 05/19/2007 5:22:42 PM PDT by jdm
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To: jdm

Quixotic or the real deal?

How about just “isolationist nutter.”


2 posted on 05/19/2007 5:24:11 PM PDT by Petronski (Ron Paul will never be President of the United States.)
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To: Petronski

LOL


3 posted on 05/19/2007 5:26:59 PM PDT by jdm
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To: jdm

He tore Rudy G a new one at the FOX debate. The goody-ole boys of the RNC sure can’t handle the truth.


4 posted on 05/19/2007 5:29:45 PM PDT by eternity (I like IKE)
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To: jdm
Despite what the Ron Pauli girls claim, definitely

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)

LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

5 posted on 05/19/2007 5:29:53 PM PDT by LonePalm (Commander and Chef)
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To: Petronski

He sounds reasonable to me.

Paul On Immigration Reform...
http://gunnyg.wordpress.com/2007/05/19/ron-paul-on-immigration-reform/


6 posted on 05/19/2007 5:31:16 PM PDT by gunnyg
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To: jdm
Ron Paul's objective isn't to win the Presidency - even he knows he doesn't have a chance.

He is in the race to make sure the other Republicans make a committment to our Constitution, and to talk about the real issues that are completely being ignored.

If only Republicans followed Ron Paul's path, they'd be in the majority and our nation wouldn't be having the problems we're have now.

So bring on the obligatory knee-jerk Ron Paul posts, Paul bashers, because when you trash Paul, you're trashing the Constitution, ironically on the very website that remains committed to restoring that document as well.

7 posted on 05/19/2007 5:36:32 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
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To: jdm

Ron Paul, a Michael Moore clone.
An evil person who blames the United States
for 9/11


8 posted on 05/19/2007 5:36:34 PM PDT by SoCalPol (Duncan Hunter '08 Tough on WOT & Illegals)
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To: jdm

Who’s his fat sidekick then?


9 posted on 05/19/2007 5:38:14 PM PDT by Rameumptom (Gen X= they killed 1 in 4 of us)
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To: jdm

Paul said, “I’m a strong believer in original intent” of the Constitution’s framers. To which moderator Chris Matthews, the MSNBC television personality, responded with a disdainful, “Oh, God.”


lol, well here is my favorite paul article:
‘Scandals are a Symptom, Not a Cause’
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1554737/posts


10 posted on 05/19/2007 5:39:07 PM PDT by traviskicks (http://www.neoperspectives.com/Ron_Paul_2008.htm)
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To: Rameumptom; jdm
Who’s his fat sidekick then?

Michael Moore?

11 posted on 05/19/2007 5:39:59 PM PDT by Petronski (Ron Paul will never be President of the United States.)
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To: Clintonfatigued

ping a ling :)


12 posted on 05/19/2007 5:40:59 PM PDT by traviskicks (http://www.neoperspectives.com/Ron_Paul_2008.htm)
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To: everyone

That’s an easy one: Quixotic. And confused.


13 posted on 05/19/2007 5:41:41 PM PDT by California Patriot ("That's not Charley the Tuna out there. It's Jaws." -- Richard Nixon)
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To: jdm
Inasmuch as I admire, sympathize, and support his stand on Original Intent, we've had too many craven, myopic careerists march through Washington over the years and practically bury The Constitution Itself in a labyrinth of self-serving reinterpretation. The Republic would have to somehow dissolve and be rebuilt from the ashes in order to honor what The Founding Fathers gave us. To talk about the literal meaning of the articles of the Constitution now, is akin to closing the barn door long after the horse escaped and died of old age.


14 posted on 05/19/2007 5:42:44 PM PDT by Viking2002 (Fred Thompson in '08, baby!)
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To: Petronski
How about just “isolationist nutter.”

Do you ever bother thinking for yourself, or do you just jump on the Ron Paul threads with the express intent of regurgitating trite, brainless platitudes?

15 posted on 05/19/2007 5:43:18 PM PDT by NCSteve (Trying to take something off the Internet is like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.)
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To: SoCalPol
An evil person who blames the United States for 9/11

Nice that you've been duped by what the MSM and GOP establishment reported about Paul rather than hearing it from Paul himself.

16 posted on 05/19/2007 5:45:41 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
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To: Viking2002
To talk about the literal meaning of the articles of the Constitution now, is akin to closing the barn door long after the horse escaped and died of old age.

I guess you'd prefer to throw you hands up in despair and burn the house down because it needs a major repairs. Talk about defeatist!

17 posted on 05/19/2007 5:46:23 PM PDT by NCSteve (Trying to take something off the Internet is like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.)
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To: NCSteve

Item one, obviously.


18 posted on 05/19/2007 5:49:18 PM PDT by Petronski (Ron Paul will never be President of the United States.)
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To: NCSteve; Petronski

Which part of Petronski’s post do you object to? “Isolationist” or “nutter”? I think both are true, so I’m just curious.


19 posted on 05/19/2007 5:54:09 PM PDT by MizSterious (Anonymous sources often means "the voices in my head told me.")
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

I have checked out the sites and people who support him.
I can understand why his supporters are in denial, it is dificult to believe this guy can suck in so many.


20 posted on 05/19/2007 5:55:24 PM PDT by SoCalPol (Duncan Hunter '08 Tough on WOT & Illegals)
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