Posted on 01/14/2008 2:28:06 PM PST by mnehring
It was supposed to be a revolution. Ron Paul was set to take America and the world by storm by winning primary after primary on his way to the White House. The supporters of the ten-term US Congressman from Texas were convinced that the money he raised would equal support at the actual ballot box. Now in the cold hard days of January, the truth has broken though.
So what has happened to Ron Paul? The answer isn't difficult; his support was never very large to begin with. It was magnified by a presence on the Internet (or the "Internets" if you prefer) and it would never push through into the real world of voting. This was never really anything more than an online revolution that could never come close to cracking the mainstream of political thought.
***
For a dark horse candidate, he made all that he could out of his Libertarian philosophies. He brought forward a whole bunch of young folks that didn't really understand the political process and they are now excited and involved. Of course, Iowa and New Hampshire slapped many of them across the face and Michigan and New Hampshire will do the same. Come February 5 even the staunchest Paul political supporter will have to realize that it isn't going to happen.
The problem that many didn't really understand is that Paul wasn't preaching anything new. This was the same Libertarian Party line that had been regurgitated over and over in one form of another for election after election. I'm not certain why so many thought it might be "magical" this campaign season.
***
There is a reason that the Libertarian Party exists in relative obscurity. Though many of us hold several of the ideas of the party dear to our hearts and believe them fully, once the movement of the fringe takes hold it is too much to bear for most people.
Many scoffed at the "mainstream" and believed they didn't need them as their man Ron Paul would rise above and dominate. They didn't believe the polls that showed little support and the true believers don't even believe the votes that have been cast at the ballot box. I'm not certain if Paul and his supporters will go away quietly, but one thing is certain, they won't win this election or even come close enough to move the political debate.
Nothing as far as I can tell. He hasn't changed. People are just getting to listen to him. He doesn't know how bad he sounds when he is rambling about things he doesn't understand. People seem to expect a man with a career in congress to either know something about world affairs or keep his mouth shut.
My guess would be drugs
One of these days the Libertarian party will field a legitimate candidate. Someone with credentials (Ron Paul had those), charisma and a genuine presence.
At that point the party, while it may not win, will be taken seriously.
The sad part is that the bulk of the libertarian ideals are good and, as an aggregate, the Libertarian party is right more than the Republican party (the democrat party is never right.)
The problem is that some of those areas where libertarians aren’t right can have deadly consequences...
Who will Ron Paul endorse when he quits ?
He probably won’t endorse anyone. He’ll just pout.
Will it help or hurt whoever that is ?
It won’t matter one way or the other. His numbers are so low, it’s no real gain for anyone.
More than one. Mostly that the Sixties are hard to explain unless you were there and if you were you might not have clear memories.
I see. They block the secret radio transmissions do they?
Yeah ... when he is dead and gone, and there's no danger of Ron Paul ever being in a position to really screw the pooch for all of us.
Old style Republicans don’t want to legalize prostitution or drugs.
Ron Paul 08' was all about "anti-war" and pretty much nothing else.
Spamming internet polls and text message surveys can only take you so far.
H
I don't know, Ayn Rand's description of the Libertarian party- Anarchist Hippies, seems to fit well with Paul and his ilk.
Down the road, (20-30 years), I think the Libertarian party has a chance of taking hold as these Paul supporters grow up.. (assuming some of them want to have kids of course)
I hope you live to see how wrong you are.
Ron Paul will always be remembered for his echoing of Al Qaeda propaganda.
His small government stance will be drowned out by the insanity that was his foreign policy views.
Well, the racist claptrap is somewhat new...
Ron Paul happened to Ron Paul, and most did not care for what they saw. He has some good ideas, but his shortcomings and head-in-the-sand approach to foreign policy would be a recipe for disaster.
Actually, the problem with the Libertarian platform -- particularly in regard to international relations -- is that it pretty much requires everybody to agree to play by the same set of rules.
Once somebody leaves the reservation, however .... libertarian ideals prevent one from taking any sort of pre-emptive action. And thus you're left with stuff like Ron Paul's ultra-stupid comments to our own doug from upland, concerning what he would not do if Nort Korea was determined to be shipping a nuke to Iran.
It's not the only such stupid comment, but our Friend DFU did a fine job of putting it so nicely in the open for all to see.
They also don't try to play word games over issues of the constitutional limits of federal authority with arguments of "legalizing".
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.