Posted on 01/11/2012 5:28:57 PM PST by traviskicks
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) said Wednesday the Republican presidential candidates need to listen to Ron Paul and would benefit from integrating some of his libertarian ideas into their platform.
"One of the things that's hurt the so-called conservative alternative is saying negative things about Ron Paul," DeMint told conservative radio host Laura Ingraham. "I'd like to see a Republican Party that embraces a lot of the libertarian ideas."
Paul's views on foreign policy have taken plenty of heat from his rivals for the GOP nomination, who have slammed his views on the topic as outside of the mainstream of Republican thought. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) called his views "dangerous" before dropping out of the race.
DeMint said he does not agree with the Texas congressman on everything but that the rest of the GOP presidential field should capture some of what Paul's been talking about for years because the Republican Party "needs" the libertarian movement.
"You don't have to agree with everything he's saying, but if the other candidates miss some of the wisdom about what he's saying about monetary policy ... that will be to our detriment," DeMint said.
DeMint, who is an influential conservative lawmaker with a key role in the Tea Party movement, said the debate within the Republican Party he's most comfortable with is between conservatives and libertarians.
“But I don’t think Mitt is going to win. Gut feeling.”
UNLESS he makes a deal that gets him enough support outside the gop-e. Then I think he can win.
Mittens, snake that he is, has a nose for a deal. And the Paul faction seems to be doing everything they can to let it be known that they’re interested.
Both DeMint and Palin have a point. Ron Paul has proposed some good ideas for getting our fiscal house under control. I wouldn’t want him for president but we should be open to his ideas and also to courting his supporters. Not all of them are of the “kook” variety.
No, I read direct quotes with quotation marks. He said it. It is truth.
Well said. Jim Robinson has a minimum number of rules, and basically they are about common sense, good manners.
This format opens one up to instant flaming from people that you will never meet. If a flame lights your fuse then who owns the problem? Good manners rule, every time.
I am a relatively long term FReeper, and Jim has always gone the extra mile with my sorry mechanical habits, as well as my equally sorry grammatical ones. I enjoy the give and take on FR, and find that the excellent thread posters keep me ahead in the news on a variety of topics.
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The topic at hand is of great interest to me, because little is posted on FR about Candidate Paul, but he is the second best vote getter among the current Candidates. I am curious as to why this is so.
We need all the votes that we can get to defeat Bolshevik Chairman Obama, so it is encouraging the GOP bigwigs are asking for a dialog. I stand ready to be in that dialog, Jim’s Rules RULE, of course.
Yeah, that is one of the things we shouldn’t buy into. It was proven absolutely false.
Those votes have to go somewhere. DeMint is thinking ahead.
I can’t argue that lj!
Why is it those differences in opinion do not get aired? As I have said, there is PLENTY to disagree with him on, lets focus on them.
Well said
Local talk show host here does a good job of covering the Paul Campaign, Michel Berry. Paul strategy does not include attacking Romney just yet. Paul seems to think that he can’t pull any Romney votes since Romney is a known quantity. So he is exposing that he considers defects in the other lesser know (or forgotten) candidates like Newt and Santorum. Like Newt or Santorum he wants to be the one that goes one on one with Romney. So I think the chances of a deal with the Romney camp are slim and none. Paul is not known for making deals that violate his principles. Hard to imagine anything Romney could offer Paul in exchange for his support.
“are you doing your share of the 2 a.m.’s?”
Nope. He’s being breastfed and I am sorely lacking in that department.....so I get him during the day when the missus needs a nap.
“I like Ron Paul, but I’ve seen many zotted here promoting Paul so I try to just defend him and not promote him. I wish I could promote his ideas without getting zotted. But I will obey the rules, just saying”
Same here. I chime in only rarely. I like it here, but the place seems to be overrun with paid shills and neocons lately. Lots of people that “claim” to be conservative, yet have an obvious disdain for the protections affirmed in the constitution.
I would love to post some topics to generate good discussion, but feel that I would get flamed mercilessly, called a tard, liberal, stupid, code pink member, etc then zotted and banned.
Can you imagine if I posted either of these to the forum?
http://nationalinterest.org/print/commentary/why-not-attack-iran-6352
It’s pretty great being on a site with so many people that are so far right of Jim DeMint. From conservative stalwart to elitist ‘douchebag’ in 5 seconds.
Folks are certainly free to believe that their set of beliefs represent the cutting right edge of conservatism and to also believe that anyone who deviates from that belief set is a degenerate, douchebag, RINO, traitor, and long list of other slurs we see so frequently on FR. But it’s a loosing strategy and it must be awfully lonely in that pup tent.
Bump
Both are excellent articles, but the second is EXTREMELY thought-provoking. Thanks for the links.
The little Ron Paul is correct on doesn’t get ACCOMPLISHED, because he’s too much of a purist,
except for gun rights, that is, he’s not such a purist there:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2831873/posts
“The topic at hand is of great interest to me, because little is posted on FR about Candidate Paul, but he is the second best vote getter among the current Candidates. I am curious as to why this is so.”
I am a Paul supporter, so take this with that in mind:
- He has a very dedicated band of supporters who are actually doing politics the old-fashioned way with new technological twists; they actually walk precincts, join and become active in their local parties, and chat up people about their candidate. The volunteers are also very well trained comparatively speaking.
-RP can run his campaign on the relative cheap because of those dedicated supporters. They’re usually self-supporting, make their own signs, and pay their own way. Funding can be spent where it does the most good, such as on TV ads.
-There is some crossover voting. But contrary to the view held by many that this is some sort of felony, it isn’t. Viewed from a different perspective, you have people who have never before voted for a gop candidate doing exactly that. Some might well stay.
-One of the things that I personally find attractive is the consistency issue. Good luck in finding a flip-flop on an issue. Folks are tired in their bones of candidates who change their views at the tip of a hat.
-Some of the issues that RP has been talking about are very relevant right now. Who would have cared about the Fed 10 years ago? Part of that is just good luck.
Haley has so far been the epitome of business as usual, self interest politics. She has used appointment power and the state treasury to reward her backers and corporate interests (Amazon,BMW, and Boeing). I realize that court decisions against Sanford has stripped the governor's office of much power, but she has made little effort to cut spending, regulation, and move to a smaller role for state government.
The 2012 presidential election will permanently install socialism in the nation despite who wins. The only question to be decided is will the nation be governed by the Statists or Corporatists? The concept of a constitutional republic form of government with power resting in the hands of people was lost on the morning of September 11,2001.
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