A Couple Ron Paul Profiles
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Ron Paul
First from the Pittsburg Post-Gazette…a couple familiar memes
“He’s the only person who’s running who is talking about privacy and how much freedom we’re willing to give up for security,” said Brad Porter, 28, a creative writing and cognitive psychology student at Carnegie Mellon University.Mr. Porter is also a co-author of thecrossedpond.com, a blog that features a page dedicated to Ron Paul. A recent post pictures “Obi” Ron wielding a Star Wars lightsaber.
“Every time we post a story on Ron Paul our hits just spike,” said Mr. Porter, who is one of 188 “Ron Paul Patriots” in a Pittsburgh Meetup.com chapter.
Heh, indeed it does…
Then from the AP, some Ron Paul realities…
Paul spokesman Jesse Benton acknowledged that Paul has formidable challenges to overcome before the first votes for the nomination are cast in about five months. The campaign just bought its first radio ads in Iowa and New Hampshire and has nearly tripled its staff to 25 in the past month.“We realize the odds are still pretty long for Dr. Paul, but we think that Ron is a real legitimate player now that people are starting to pay attention,” Benton said.
As comedian Stephen Colbert put it when Paul appeared in June on his mock right-wing talk show, “You are an enigma wrapped in a riddle nestled in a sesame seed bun of mystery.”
And yes commentors, I know you’re probably going to tell me how he’s going to win and America needs him to win…but give me some realistic scenarios please, not comment spam.
Here’s a bigger question: Is Ron Paul a good VP choice?
This entry was posted on Friday, August 3rd, 2007 and is filed under 2008 Election, Ron Paul. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
August 3rd, 2007 at 1:58 pm
vp? hah even though it is now a 4th branch of government giving him absolute power to fix America, Ron’s a strict constitutionalist and he’s going to win and America needs him to win.
August 3rd, 2007 at 2:12 pm
Realistic scenerio #1: Paul gets .2% of the primary vote and loses.
Realistic scenerio #2: Aliens decend on earth and exterminate all Republican hopefuls except for Ron Paul. Paul get .3% of vote. Tom Selleck enters the race and wins nomination.
August 3rd, 2007 at 2:15 pm
Great VP candidate, tho I doubt he’d take it. Once before a great Republican stood up and spoke against the party politics of the time and the party seeked to silence him much like they do Dr. Paul. Therefore, they decided to put him in the least powerful position they could think of - Vice President. Unfortunately for them and fortunately for us the President was assassinated and Theodore Roosevelt became the greatest President in the history of our nation. Let’s hope history repeats itself.
August 3rd, 2007 at 2:29 pm
I suppose we’ll ahve to wait for Iowa and NH to really know. What I know for a certainty is that among people who have even heard of the guy he has very strong support. If his name recognition were on par with McCain or Romney he would be the clear leader.
August 3rd, 2007 at 2:59 pm
Realistic scenario #1 DosPeros actually learns about Ron Paul, then looks at polls other than the main stream media cite (The land line telephone polls) and realizes Ron has WAAAAAY more support than he is guessing he has now.
August 3rd, 2007 at 3:09 pm
A good number of traditional conservatives are fed up with the spending necessary to fund Bush foreign policy. The Iraq war has clearly not been a good value, that is, we are not $500 billion safer (not to mention the tragic loss of life, which is priceless). Those conservatives will have one choice in the primary: Ron Paul.
All the other Republicans (those that still favor the war) will a half dozen or more to choose from, and their vote will be divided as such:
Thompson(?) - numerous votes for name-recognition (abortion lobbying job will hurt)
Giuliani - numerous votes for name-recognition (abortion position will hurt)
Romney - numerous votes for campaign spending (abortion ‘flip-flop will hurt)
Paul - all anti-Iraq votes, all staunchly conservative votes, all fringe-groups-that-don’t-trust-government votes, many pro-life votes (he’s an OBGYN), and all ‘I joined the Republican party to vote for Dr. Paul in the primary’ votes
Will it be enough? Only time will tell - NOBODY knows the future.
August 3rd, 2007 at 3:13 pm
Realistic - Paul finishes 3rd or 4th in Iowa straw poll where Romeny wins big. If Iraq goes well, Paul disappears. If there are any acts that cause large troop losses in Iraq or the 5 plus months leading up to the primaries, Paul finishes 2nd in Iowa and 2nd in N.H. primaries behind Romney and all his money and it is a horse race between Paul, Romney, Thompson and Giuliani.
– Ron Paul supporter
August 3rd, 2007 at 3:22 pm
He would be a bad VP choice, he is a candidate of principle, not compromise.
Realistic best case scenario.
He could do as well, or even a bit better than Pat Buchanan.
He will get a prime time speech at the republican convention.
The Neocon republican candidate will get thumped by Hillary/Obama, who won’t do too well running the country.
because of this election, there will be a whole crop of new republican paulites getting elected to congress in the next 2 to 4 years. They will Kick out the Neocons, and take over the Republican party.
Then we can begin to fix things.
So Go Ron Go
August 3rd, 2007 at 3:31 pm
Given the history of elections, at this early date predictions are nothing but wishes pretending to be knowledge.
August 3rd, 2007 at 4:09 pm
Notice the sudden ‘we’re winning in Iraq’ just in time for the poll?
Fishy.
The media must keep a lid on the popularity of Paul because to know him is to love him.
August 3rd, 2007 at 4:10 pm
The GOP won’t even give Ron Paul a committee chair! There’s no way they’re going to give him a VP spot either.
Ron Paul is more dangerous to the Republican power base than the Democrats are.
August 3rd, 2007 at 4:29 pm
As a person that believes very strongly in civil liberties there are things
I like very much about Ron Paul and things which turn me way off.
Rated 76% by the Christian Coalition: a pro-family voting record.
Using my liberal decoder key: Votes in favor of evangelical Christians which tend to be one-issue voters, they vote for “God” every time, even if the message happens to be delivered by the Devil (i.e. Bush) himself. Big turn off!
Opposes the death penalty.
Using my liberal decoder key: This is brave and clearly puts him at odds with the entire Republican party sentiment on this issue. It’s worth noting that this is a consistent stance when it comes to “pro-life,” as Ron Paul opposes the death penalty, which I too oppose and yet, he supports a ban on abortion. That IS a “pro-life” stance, he doesn’t support taking life through capital punishment and he doesn’t support taking life through abortion. I will have to say though, that I support abortion 100 percent. Big turn on and big turn off!
Voted YES on funding for alternative sentencing instead of more prisons.
Using my liberal decoder key: Awesome! about damn time. Prisons should not be used as storage warehouses to put people that aren’t “productive.” Profiting off of the imprisonment of non-violent, drug addicted offenders isn’t acceptable. America has by far and away the largest percentage of its citizenry behind bars in the world, which are disproportionately black and they always have been. Stop the criminalization of the poorest and most disadvantaged Americans. Yes, violent criminals need to do hard time and pay for their actions but incarcerating 2.2 million Americans, half of which committed non-violent drug related offenses is draconian. HUGE turn on!
Voted NO on authorizing military force in Iraq. (Oct 2002)
Do I need to say anything about this? Pro-defense, anti-imperialism.
Huge turn on.
Intervention abroad incites hatred & attacks like 9/11. (May 2007)
Damn straight. Turn on.
Anyway, there are things I really like about Ron Paul and many things I absolutely disagree about. I think people have to understand that politicians are human beings just like the rest of us and we must also understand that they will have opinions on things which you will disagree but in the end it’s about the balance, does the good outweigh the bad. It’s too early to make any decisions set in the sand, but for me the pro-life issues and the privatization of Social Security make me think this isn’t the guy for me.
Just my opinion. If it is any consolation I believe Ron Paul absolutely blows away all other Republicans. I’d never vote for a Republican, but if I did it would have to be a Ron Paul type, minus the religious influenced politics.
August 3rd, 2007 at 5:02 pm
All you folks who keep saying he has no chance have no idea what is going on out here. His support is growing exponentially. The polling numbers stay low because they are paid to keep the numbers low. When Zogby gets too many votes for Paul, they just throw them out. Has anyone wondered why the polls are now based on fewer and fewer voters? A recent one had only polled less than 400 people.
So, stop being a tool. Think for yourself. Understand what is really happening. Ron Paul has a great chance. He is growing in name recognition and anyone who reads his writings, such as those at the ronpaullibrary.org instantly become fans. He has proven to be right about everything.
And those quirky ideas he has like getting rid of the Department of Education? Have you ever stopped to think what it would mean? It would mean an end to the dumbing down of our society. Right now, the federal government spoon feeds its recruits whatever it takes to keep the people in line. And you call it quirky to want to end that propaganda? When was the last time you looked at textbook to see what kids are allowed to learn?
If someone suggested having the feds take over the press you would be appalled, would you not? Why? Because people need unfettered access to the truth. So why are you so gung ho to have that same group of megalomaniacs indoctrinate your children for 12 forced years?
As soon as you get your head out of the box they have built around you, you can see for yourself that Ron Paul offers this country the hope and freedom and liberty upon which we were built. Not the controlling, stealing, manipulative machine that has become Washington.
Ron Paul offers everyone everything they ever wanted in a presidential candidate but were convinced could not happen. He is honest, true, consistent, and only wants to be President so he can restore our liberty, privacy and freedoms.
What fool thinks that doesn’t have a chance?
August 3rd, 2007 at 5:04 pm
Paul 1st to 3rd in Iowa Straw Poll
Just speculation but remember the name Jerry Clower when I’m right. It doesn’t really matter anyway. If you like the guy, vote your conscience & let the chips fall where they may.
August 3rd, 2007 at 7:38 pm
“Here’s a bigger question: Is Ron Paul a good VP choice?”
No.
Not with anyone in the current field anyway. We (most ron paul supporters) are not going to vote for any of the other republicans.
Realistic scenario of a Ron Paul Nomination: By January, a plurality of the republican Party Realizes that none of their pro war candidates have a snowballs chance in hell of winning in the General Election. Any of them will be EASILY painted as another George W Bush Term and loose by a 8-10 point margin.
That’s why a better question is “Describe for me a realistic scenario where Rudy, Fred or Mitt wins the general election.”
Because there aren’t any.
August 3rd, 2007 at 8:40 pm
Realistic: If something doesn’t happen in America to stem the tide of the loss of Liberty, we may as well all get in line for the gas chamber. You are darn right America needs Ron Paul! Realism says this may be our one shot at saving her!
August 3rd, 2007 at 10:47 pm
Hey Dee Ann, I like your name ;)
August 3rd, 2007 at 11:12 pm
Realistic scenario:
Ron Paul grassroots supporters get enough people thinking “Who is Ron Paul?” to get the 70+% of people who have no idea who he is or who only vaguely know him as that “kook” the Fox News types denigrate start to look him up and find out that he is the REAL DEAL, an *HONEST* politician with *INTEGRITY* and values, who is essentially CORRECT in what he is saying, and who is saying it with more fire in his voice each day.
It’s only lack of name recognition that holds Ron Paul back. His rabid supporters are those people who saw him in the debates, where even Fox News polls showed Ron getting the highest marks from the viewing public.
Listen to Ron Paul in Pittsburg today and tell me this man won’t be President if more people heard what his speeches: http://ronpaulaudio.com/rpaudio/RonPaulMarsPennsylvanniaRally080307.mp3
I have a good friend who was an Obama supporter a few months ago. He told me that for him, Obama was the “second coming” (his words) because he was a minority politician with a real shot. (My friend is Hispanic). Two months later, I saw him again and now he wants a Ron Paul sign for his yard. He now supports Ron because Ron has the substance.
RON PAUL is sweeping the nation, the country has not seen anything like this in our modern age of canned candidates and pundits.
August 4th, 2007 at 12:02 am
Let’s go back 250 years and restate the question of this article. Instead of “can Ron Paul win?”, let’s ask, “can the colonies win their independence?”
The answer, of course, is, emphatically “NO!”. The colonies don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of defeating the most powerful empire on Earth.
Now, 250 years later, a whole lot of us are waking up from our collective comas, and realizing that our present government has become far more taxing and meddling than King George (of England, not Crawford) ever was.
We are not going to accept defeat lying down.
The Revolution of 1776 succeeded in spite of impossible odds and only limited popular support by a minority of Americans. But the champions of Liberty now, as then, are energized. Our modern day tyrants, like King George and his “loyalists”, are ignorant, lazy, and unmotivated.
Welcome to the Revolution.
August 4th, 2007 at 12:12 am
Vote your conscience? Great Idea! Ron Paul gets my vote! We do still have the right to vote…don’t we?
August 4th, 2007 at 1:31 am
SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM.
Okay, now that that is out of the way :)
Time for some realities:
1) Ron Paul is a longshot. But with no clear favorite in the race, the odds are against any one candidate.
2) Five months out from IA and NH, public opinion polls are nothing more than name recognition gauges. Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton weren’t that much higher in the polls than Dr. Paul is at this point, this far out from the primaries.
3) Ron Paul has gotten this far while spending nearly nothing. There’s a lot of money to be raised between now and IA.
4) Intensity counts for something, and the support of RP’s people is unlike anything this party has seen since Reagan, and maybe since Goldwater. If Giuliani or McCain had supporters this gung ho, every talking head would be declaring this race over.
5) The Buchananites and Birchers, Free Staters and Gold Bugs, the purists and the Young Turks are all looking for a voice that no longer seems to be part of the GOP repertoire. Ron Paul can be that voice.
Yes, RP is a longshot. So was Goldwater against the mighty East Coast Establishment and their chosen champion, Nelson Rockefeller. I challenge any Republican reading my words: Examine Dr. Paul’s record. See how he fares on taxes, abortion, guns, Social Security, growth of government, national sovereignty. And ask yourself: How many Republicans running for president are closer to my point of view on these issues than Ron Paul?
Vote for a man that represents the Republican wing of the Republican party.
Vote Ron Paul.
August 4th, 2007 at 4:20 am
Realistic scenario:
Ron Paul’s campaign changes the debate in America, whether he wins or loses. With enough money in hand to campaign for the entire Republican primary process, and with multiple minor third parties dying to endorse him as their candidate, Ron Paul will be around for a long long time. He will continue to be the only political figure speaking honest truth about our sham monetary system, and our misguided policy of global militaristic empire. His message will spread, just like it has spread over the internet, and even if he doesn’t reach the whitehouse he will, like Goldwater before him, be the progenitor of a future political movement that will dominate for a generation.
August 4th, 2007 at 6:46 am
Principled, honest, and engages the voter with straightforward facts. I’m starting to doubt his chances! But seriously, there is a very big groundswell happening here in New Hampshire. This is the first time I have ever gotten involved in or donated to a campaign and it will probably be the last. I truly believe a man like Paul is the last hope for saving America. I’m going to do what I can for his candidacy and recognition. Then when the machine takes him out of the running, I am regretfully jumping ship with much haste. Except where do you go these days? Canada is being swallowed whole by the U.S. . . .. .
August 4th, 2007 at 10:40 am
Mr. Gardner,
It is reasonable to comment on probabilities of winning at sites such as Gambling911.com, but serious discussion should be spent on the dynamics of Ron Paul’s campaign. I always find it interesting when writers for internet sites dismiss Ron Paul’s support on the internet. Why is there such a large disparity on the internet from Gallup and Zogby polling results? We know the answer is name recognition, with Romney, Giuliani, and McCain being christened the front runners before they were even running.
I hope that Ron Paul would except a VP nomination. He could use his voice as President of the Senate.
August 4th, 2007 at 10:59 am
Jennifer,
Brilliant, couldn’t have said it better myself.
August 4th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
The insane speak louder on the internet. Those who have a problem distinguishing between fantasy and reality apparently type a whole lot. Jennifer thinks that the federal government decides on text books. In fact that power still resides with the states. Why are they so mediocre? Because the corporations that publish them go to the lowest common denominator so that the huge state of Texas, where Ron Paul comes from, won’t be offended by them. I would suggest some reading up on the subject of how the state of Texas chooses which books are acceptable. She believes that every polling organization in the United States is being paid off to give Ron Paul short shrift. I believe the phrase is paranoia.
No, I will not vote for a man who thinks that while the Feds can’t outlaw abortion, not only is it allowable for states to do so but he’d really like it if they did. I will not vote for a man who believes that not only should the Department of Education be eliminated but every single avenue for consumer and citizen protection at the federal level should also be eliminated. What would this mean? That you could live in a state that has good environmental protection but you would still be at the mercy of your neighboring states if they decided that the government has no business telling businesses what they should dump in the air and water. The people who support these positions say that law suits based on property rights will be possible. Really? I think President Bush has shown us what can be done with the right appointments to the courts. Right now there is a significant section of the Republican party pushing to make radical changes to what the courts can and cannot do. They want it at the federal level and at the state level. It’s only a relatively minor step from there to making it impossible to sue companies or at a minimum making it possible to limit the relief available through a lawsuit to be so small as to be petty cash and absolutely no deterrent to continuing their bad behavior. This is the future if Ron Paul really got his way.
August 5th, 2007 at 4:40 am
Jim S:
What exactly does the Department of Education do? If it doesnt decide on curriculum, it merely funnels money from the federal government coffers to the state government coffers. Seems like a waste of tax dollars to have such a layer of bureaucrats essentially doing nothing. Their main purpose is to protect their budget and therefore their influence and use such influence for the benefit of the teaching lobbies.
Same with the protection agencies at a federal level. Nothing of consequence was ever protected at a federal level, except the budgets of a federal department. Consumer protection, if a valid purpose of government (which is contestable except in issues of fraud), is properly the role of the courts. I take on board your worries about the influence of Supreme Court appointees. Wouldnt the best way of ameliorating such problems be to make those issues more state based instead of concentrating power at a federal level? Its the concentration of power that makes the harmful misuse of such power possible.
October 30th, 2007 at 5:52 am
anton chekhovs the bet…
!…