Yes, he is a long shot, but there is no one waiting in the wings. After Ron Paul, for anyone to have a chance to change the country it will have to be a trillionaire with his ideals. The chance of that happening are minuscule, at best.
I think back to the Asimov “Foundation Trilogy”, once in several hundred years a person comes along that can change the course of history. Ron Paul is that type of person, but whether or not this is the time, I don’t know. I hope it is.
He is getting enough money to run an effective national campaign, but not an extravagant one. E.g., this week he will raise close to a million dollars on line. However, this does not count all the “in kind” contributions that his supporters are making. He has 40,000 volunteers in meetup groups alone. These people are spending their own time and money passing out Ron Paul materials. What other candidate has supporters who will BUY campaign literature to pass out or put in their yards?
I deal with every day people in my business and they have been getting grinded down for the last 35 years, with a small respite during the Reagan years. They are fed up. So the chance is there.
I came to a realization last night. I still believe that Paul is dead wrong on his foreign policy stand and a few other issues- enough to make him unelectable in my eyes, however, he is doing something that is positive and may cause a change.
The anti-Paul side, including myself have long stated that Paul is mostly attracting anti-war/anti-establishment leftists and only a few good Conservatives. What is the result of this? You have many tens of thousands of leftists being exposed to a limited government, conservative message. They are tuning into our debates, they are showing up at the debates to cheer for Paul (as we heard last night.)
After Paul loses, they will all slink back to their respective comfort zones, but they all will have a seed of Conservatism planted. Any time an issue comes up, they just might recall something they heard or chanted in the defense of Paul. They may think more about the dangers of Healthcare being controlled by the government. They may see the benefits of lower taxes and greater individual freedom, who knows?
I still will vote against him and do everything I can to make sure that he is not successful and his followers don't split the vote up enough in the primaries to hand us Rudy, but I should also realize that a lot of leftists are reading what Paul says and the defenses and they are having seeds of Conservatism planted.
Just my thought for the day, I hope Jim doesn't zot me for that. ;->