Posted on 02/22/2010 6:28:24 PM PST by presidio9
Over the weekend, Ron Paul won the CPAC straw poll for president. Many pundits immediately dismissed the win, for a lot of reasons. (The Atlantic did a roundup of all the "he's irrelevant" comments.) My take on Ron Paul is this: He says a lot of off-the-wall stuff, but his bottom line is that he's a limited-government libertarian. And he's not Mitt Romney, the establishment GOP choice. I think that's why he won.
Joe Scarborough likes to say that if you look at where Ross Perot did well in 1992, those are the same places that tea party candidates are doing well. That may be, but I think there's some overlap between Ron Paul supporters and the tea partiers, at least some of the younger ones. Ross Perot has a website, PerotCharts, that illustrates the government's fiscal responsibility; but Ron Paul supporters have an interactive site for those who want to meet up at campaign rallies (with over 100,000 people either already members or interested), and according to the timeline posted, it looks like many of them have joined in the last two years.
I came across a bit of a tea party manifesto, if you want to call it that, in Politics Daily on Sunday: "A Grassroots View of the Tea Party," written by Roy Nix, a golf pro in Florida. Here's how he describes the average tea partier:
"They don't dream of power, and they don't dream of telling their neighbors how to worship, how to spend their money, what kind of car to buy, what kind of food to eat and how to save the environment. They expect their neighbors to decide all of those things for their own families.
"They don't want big government, they don't want socialistic policies and they don't want to spend more money for things they don't need. They don't see Washington as Robin Hood, robbing the rich to help the poor, but as the Sheriff of Nottingham--taking their tax money and giving it to big business while we starve.
"They don't want to have to march in the streets, and they don't want to be 'activists' in politics because they have lives to live.
"They don't hate immigrants, but they don't like lawbreakers who come here illegally. They don't mind helping people, but they are out of money and want to help those closest to home first until their bills are paid off ...
"These lawmakers have forgotten what 'representative' means, and they end up in Washington doing what their party tells them to do, rather than what their constituents tell them to do ... And that's what's motivating so many who've joined the Tea Party movement."
Nix hits the nail on the head, in terms of the anti-Nanny State, limited government message of the tea partiers, and how all incumbents, not just Democrats, are at risk: "The Tea Party is sending a genuine grass-roots message to both Democrats and Republicans. And they'd better listen up and learn fast," he concludes. A New York Times/CBS poll from earlier this month supports this: Only 8 percent of respondents think that most incumbent members of Congress deserve to be re-elected; a whopping 81 percent said it's time to "give new people a chance." That's putting it nicely--I think if the election were held today, it would be a tidal wave against incumbents.
He is too old
They shudder in their boots when Sarah Palin is mentioned!
Drug legalization, yes. Check out the Libertarians for Life website at http://www.l4l.org/. I don't think your characterization on military spending is accurate. Libertarians do not oppose wars in self-defense. They just oppose initiating wars.
nutmeg was there and she posted the facts on the voting. Multiple votes are allowed and the students manned the voting table(s). Ron Paul's brats stuffed the ballot boxes. The straw poll is meaningless, except to the media and that's the rub. The vast majority of adults don't bother to vote.
Ron Paul has been pulling this stuff for years, bussing in supporters to vote for him in straw polls. But when the real elections come around, he’s never gotten more than 2 or 3% outside of his home district.
He did not win over the Tea Party movement, BTW. The CPAC oligarchs preferred him. There’s a big difference.
He didn’t win diddly squat. Only about a quarter of the attendees voted in the poll and it was loaded with Paul supporters. The poll means nothing!
I'm not sure I get your point, since John McCain has always been a big tent Republican, rather than a Conservative.
Ron Paul is nuttier than a squirrels breath.
Nuff said.
Every person I know in the TEA Party Movement is interested in a strong national defense, fight them there not here. Paul does not seem to support this foreign policy.
The point is that John McCain did not win any CPAC straw poll in the last few years like Romney did, but he made it to the general in 2008, nonetheless.
Part of the ongoing FAILING effort to portray the Tea party Patriots as loons and extremists. Except that the people they are trying to convince...is US. Har! Too many of us know better and they just can’t figure us out period.
Every time they come out swinging, they hit foul balls while we wait for the good pitch and get home runs. As long as that continues, let them just keep swinging away.
Aye am a Tee Party Leader!!!
“Ron Paul is a shitbag assclown that will never get elected president. Anyone who thinks otherwise is a fool.”
I would have used the same exact words to describe obama... And he won.
BTW, I know little about paul, I haven’t followed him at all. However, I don’t dislike him like I do obama or mitt or mccain.
Ron paul is a loon. BUt even loons can be dead on 100% right once in awhile. Deficit spending is loony ron’s one hit wonder.
Or to put it another way...I like what ronpaul says about spending.
I though I heard that 2400 people voted, out of 10,000 attendees. 930 some people do not speak authoritatively for Republicans, Conservatives or Tea Partiers.
I’m a tea party of one.
Come git me libtards.
Following a fool with a fool is not going to make things better.
THIS IS THE KEY POINT.
The Liberal media is VERY consistent. They don't tell a story because it is true (it is usually false). They tell it because the narrative helps them.
Trying to peg the broad Tea Party movement as just one corner of the GOP held by Ron Paul libertarian-types is a way to marginalize both and to deny the broad swath of fiscal conservative voters who have a lot of concern with Obamunism.
” Libertarians do not oppose wars in self-defense. They just oppose initiating wars. “
fact: We didnt initiate 9/11, but Ron Paul and Libertarians still opposed going to Afghanistan.
This may be why 9/11 trutherism is popular with Paul-ites, a way to deflect from the reality that we were attacked.
Check out the Libertarians for Life website at http://www.l4l.org/. “
Fact: There are prolife Democrats too, but that doesnt represent the party ... only the GOP has pro-life planks in the platform.
Starry eyed Ron Paulie worshippers may have corrupted portions of the Tea Party movement, but Paul has won nothing.
In many ways, Paulies running for their own lower offices as they are, remind me a lot of a dog chasing a car. The dog wouldn’t know what to so with it either, should it catch the car.
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