James Joyner | Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Posted on 10/17/2007 11:41:36 AM PDT by SJackson
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James Joyner | Tuesday, October 16, 2007 |
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http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/2007/10/ron_paul_supported_by_racist_western_men_/
Who supports Ron Paul’s bid for the presidency? White supremacists and men from the West Coast, apparently.
Thomas Edsall reports,
Through no fault of his own, Rep. Ron Paul’s anti-globalist, anti-government campaign for the Republican presidential nomination has become a magnet in neo-Nazi networks, pulling in activists and supporters from the fringe white nationalist community where anti-Semitism, anti-black and anti-immigrant views are commonplace.
In some cases, these internet-based activists acknowledge that even though the Paul campaign does not have a racist or anti-Semitic agenda, it can serve as a vehicle to find sympathizers and to recruit new loyalists drawn to the Republican congressman’s opposition to international trade agreements, federal police authority and to the income tax.
Such web-based organizations as Stormfront (motto: “White Pride, World Wide”), Vanguard News Network (”No Jews. Just Right.”) and the Nationalist Coalition (”working to create the relationships that will lay the foundation for the White community that is necessary to our survival”) have become sources of support for Paul’s bid for the Republican nomination, and in some cases have set up separate Ron Paul discussion groups.
As Edsall’s wording constantly emphasizes, this is essentially happenstance. It’s natural, to be sure, that white supremacists, which see the federal government as their chief nemesis, would support the most anti-federal government candidate. The only odd thing here is that anti-immigrant groups would support Paul, since stopping immigration, illegal or otherwise, could only be accomplished through the exercise of federal power.
Still, as Jeff Commaroto points out, this is the down side of a decentralized Web strategy. “That might seem like a great idea at first but when messages are not vetted by an official source, it is only a matter of time before some people rise up and exploit them.” Josh Levy agrees, seeing this as “an inevitable outgrowth of giving control of your message to your supporters.”
Meanwhile, Patrick Ruffini has done some analysis of Ron Paul’s donors — using information provided by Paul’s online effort — and finds that they are overwhelmingly (83 percent) male and come predominantly from the West and Northeast.
This really is a Western movement, with some of the Northeast thrown in. Basically, these are the places where you would expect libertarians to be strong. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen a data set this good about the state-by-state strength of libertarianism. And the data gets more reliable every day .
The Paul movement is weakest in the Deep South and the Ohio River Valley. Ohio (and surprisingly New York) are Paul’s weakest big states.
The differences are also fairly dramatic. One is 4 times more likely to be a Ron Paul donor in Nevada than in Mississippi. And more than twice as likely in blue Washington state than in blue New York. Alaska and Hawaii, which are not on the map, would also be colored the darkest shade of red.
I’m not sure what to make of that but it’s interesting. Essentially, Paul’s support is strongest in states that tend not to vote Republican. Does that mean that a theoretical nominee Paul would win in a landslide (after all, one doesn’t expect the South to vote for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama if Paul is the alternative)? Or are the numbers just too small to matter?
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http://www.electiongeek.com/blog/2007/10/16/ron-paul-the-white-supremacist-recruiters/
October 16th, 2007
An interesting story from Thomas B. Edsall at the Huffington Post which claims neo-nazi groups are flocking to the Paul campaign as a recruitment tool.
Through no fault of his own, Rep. Ron Paul’s anti-globalist, anti-government campaign for the Republican presidential nomination has become a magnet in neo-Nazi networks, pulling in activists and supporters from the fringe white nationalist community where anti-Semitism, anti-black and anti-immigrant views are commonplace.
In some cases, these internet-based activists acknowledge that even though the Paul campaign does not have a racist or anti-Semitic agenda, it can serve as a vehicle to find sympathizers and to recruit new loyalists drawn to the Republican congressman’s opposition to international trade agreements, federal police authority and to the income tax.
Such web-based organizations as Stormfront (motto: “White Pride, World Wide”), Vanguard News Network (”No Jews. Just Right.”) and the Nationalist Coalition (”working to create the relationships that will lay the foundation for the White community that is necessary to our survival”) have become sources of support for Paul’s bid for the Republican nomination, and in some cases have set up separate Ron Paul discussion groups.
It makes sense with Paul’s anti-government, anti-IRS, anti-trade messages. Though the campaign doesn’t seem happy with the support.
The Paul campaign dismissed the pro-Paul activities among these groups. “We don’t know who these people are,” said Jesse Benton, Paul’s communications director. Their support has “nothing to do with Ron Paul, and what he stands for….His message of freedom, peace and prosperity - that’s why people support him.”
The problem is, it seems like the campaign has been more than happy to welcome outsiders to spread its message online. That might seem like a great idea at first but when messages are not vetted by an official source, it is only a matter of time before some people rise up and exploit them.
I have been skeptical that there is any real support for Paul beside a small contingent of libertarians who are going around fixing online polls and sending in a couple of bucks to the campaign. Now I guess this is evidence that the campaign is growing.
Below is a white supremacist ad for Paul from the group Stormfront.
You guys are in full meltdown mode.
I will try and do that, but in the meantime, please consider removing your account from Freerepublic. There are other forums probably more suitable to people who support surrender monkeys like Ron Paul.
Did the Paulard Suicide 08' campaign send you in here as the latest Brave Sir Robin?
I would say "welcome" but Paultards are not welcome here. In fact, you better don your flame suit.
Yes, it's awful.
A Paul victory is in the cards, woe are the anit-Pauls.
The racist stuff has been posted here for months, way ahead of the media who are just picking it up.
I found the fact that his support, still in the margin of error, comes from non-Republican areas interesting.
Might be a waste of time to bring Republicans on board, work that 1% or so the LP and CP bring in, crossover leftists, that's how you get to 2% in the polls.
Personally I'd be happy if he'd just admit he's not a Republican. Like those ad disclaimers.
I'm Ron Paul, and I'm not a Republican, and someone paid for this ad, I don't know who, someone looking for the roots of grass, and vote for me if you like it, if not, I'm not responsible.
Now..Now... there is no need for name calling ...
and as far as your kind request for me to please "remove my account" that is a pretty rude request to make of a Freeper who has been an active member, in good standing, of this board for even longer than yourself [gotcha by 5 months ;-)].
If the time comes that JimRob finds a need to purge those of us that take a literal view of the Constitution, then I will go in peace with out a long winded whining rant or opus.
Till then, you can have my keyboard when you pry it out of my cold dead hands... Freegards
Hate to break this to you goodness, but this research is old news on FR.
For many months Freepers have known about hate site support for Paul, which he hasn't disclaimed.
They've known Paul's columns are carried in The Citizens Informer , the print, not web publication of the Council of Conservative Citizens, a racist group.
Forget the conspiracy nut Alex Jones, he appears on the Political Cesspool, loosely connected with the COC.
The worst, his column is printed in, on the cover, and he's advertised as a columnist to readers and advertisers in the American Free Press, published by Willis Carto, a prominent racist, Holocaust denier, Jew hater with a half century of experience.
And it's “guilt by association”, Paul isn't interested in hater support, that's why he allows himself to be promoted there.
Ronald Reagan knew how to handle this issue as you'll note above.
Condemn the support and the supporters. And their ideology.
Ron Paul can't bring that to the table, can he.
The FR investigations, as a newbie, am I right in assuming we're talking neocon infiltration, the Jews run the place, the Mossad, et al.
I suspect FR management has been there, done that too.
Also, you are correct I apologize I did use an outdated link those were the numbers for Q2 2007 ...
Here is the one for Q3 2007 - http://tinyurl.com/349olk (RP still in the lead double the $$ of Q2)
Please note this is how these numbers were determined -
“This list uses donators who listed their employer as some variation of Air Force, Army, National Guard, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Retired Vet, Veteran, Civilian Military employee, or Military (no branch indicated).”
To be fair, you are correct in your assertion, that this list may also include Civilian Military Contractors.
But even if it did, as long as the same criteria for determining donations was used amongst all canidates that it would still be a fair representation ...
also again even if it did include the Civilian Contractors ... would it make sense for them of all people to support the “anti-war” candidate? I means don’t their paychecks depend on military contracts ...
Thanks
It didn't start with the Iraq War. Neo-Nazis have been fans of Muslim anti-Semitic propaganda since at least the '80s. The Nazis shared their propaganda with the Muslims in the Middle East, and then the neo-nazis in the West re-imported it back from there. Full circle.
There's a clear pattern of Neo-Nazis, 9/11 "truthers," militia types, and other froot loops expressing support for Paul. I don't believe that Paul shares their views, but he could certainly be more forceful (as Reagan was) in repudiating them. Not going on "truther" radio shows and nodding along with the host.
... would be a start, I meant to say at the end.
That kind of thinking has no place in America’s real history! Can you imagine what the world would look like today had we used Paul’s insane ideas? NO entry into WW1,WW2,Korea,Vietnam, Iraq.
We would be totally surrounded and choked into submission by either communism, nazism, or islamofacsism.
Time to get real. Seriously.
I have a great respect for Ron Paul. Always did. It’s not his fault that neo-Nazis are following him. But, I agree with you about his position on international affairs. If the U.S. had never been involved in foreign wars, that policy would be a reasonable one to consider. But we’ve been so heavily involved with foreign affairs throughout history, there’s no turning back. If not for his position on the Iraq War, he would have my vote.
Congressman Paul, if you’re out there, as a voter, I just wanted to clarify my position. I do admire you as the only politician fighting to decrease the size of government.
Hmmm... so, do you work here or something?
Yes, black ops, black helicopters, conspiracies, and all directed at Ron Paul.
Face it, Ron Paul appears as a columnist in publications of hate organizations, print, not internet. That a fact, not a conspiracy. Willis Carto's rag advertises him as a columnist, September issue he made the cover for an article about the American Union conspiracy.
These are print publications, not internet groups, he could stop that in an instant.
He hasn't.
His campaign manager could easily condemn the aims of these groups, Ronald Reagan did it in a heartbeat.
And I should be surprised racists and neonazis support him? This may come as a surprise to you, he's put himself out there.
No different than truthers. He shows up on Alex Jones and his supporters pretend not to know why truthers support him.
Because he goes to them.
Nice to have a new Paul poster here to give Freepers a reality check, but you should remember that you're going to have difficulty recruiting cult members from the informed, facts do matter.
“We don’t need to prove it... we just need to keep him denying it.”
I doubt if anyone but fellow utopians believe that premise.
Supporting and propagating an anti-iraq war kook fringe candidate here requires wearing 3 flame suits minimum. Personally I prefer using the Zot gun on that critical issue, but I hear the flame suits are not comfortable to wear.
The support is a fact, the publications are a fact, the campaign acknowledges it, but claims the "don't know who these people are", absurd, and that while their support has “nothing to do with Ron Paul, and what he stands for, suggests that His message of freedom, peace and prosperity - that’s why people support him
Racists support him for freedom, peace and prosperity , heck of a statement.
He needs to take two minutes, suck it up, insult some of his supporters, and perhaps update Ronald Reagan's direct, unequivocal statements in the same situation. I'll help.
I have been distressed to learn that I have been receiving support from various hate groups and that my columns have appeared in their print publications. The latter will end immediately. I do not want such support and that I repudiate it and everything the Klan stands forhave no tolerance for what these groups represent, and would have nothing to do with any groups of that type. The politics of racial hatred and religious bigotry have no place in this country, and are destructive of the values for which America has always stood. Those of us in public life can only resent the use of our names by those who seek political recognition for the repugnant doctrines of hate they espouse.
I firmly believe that there is no room for partisanship on this question. Democrats and Republicans alike must be resolute in disassociating ourselves from any group or individual whose political philosophy consists only of racial or religious intolerance, whose arguments are supported only by intimidation or threats of violence.
We must, and will, continue our unified rejection of such elements of hate in our political life, for while there are many issues which divide us, it is fundamental principles such as this which will always draw us together.
We'll see if a direct statement is ever forthcoming.
So, presumably, do some conservatives, some liberals, some insurance salesmen, some Hasidic Jews, some Filipino immigrants, some prostitutes, some Army NCOs, some.... oh, I think you get the point. No politician has any obligation to apologize for his wild variety of supporters. Do you doubt that Tom Tancredo has some hardcore anti-Mexican racists on his side? And do you also doubt that this same discrediting tactic will next be used by the MSM on whatever conservative presidential candidate breaks from the pack? Why should conservatives nurture a tactic that we know is disreputable when it's used by libs?
Well the media and the left (same thing) want to stop him in his tracks. The truth doesn’t matter to the left.
When Tancredo or any other Republican candidates allow these publications to publish their columns or appear on connected radio shows, ping me, I'll be saying the same thing.
Laughably his supporters make the absurd comparison of Paul and Ronald Reagan. This is one simple time he could actually step up to the plate and act like Ronald Reagan.
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