“The period which lies behind us has indeed been put to good use. All measures have been taken in the correct sequence and in harmony with our aims. After six years, the situation is today as follows: The national-political unity of the Germans has been achieved apart from minor exceptions. ”

Clearly (at least to me), unity, in and of itself, is not a laudable goal. I think, rather, we should focus on whether he (Ron Paul) is right instead of how the ideas would be received.

Assume, for a second, that Ron Paul is elected president and that he continues his policy of voting against every bill presented to him that does not conform with his view of the Constitution. What would happen?

The only way for Congress to pass a bill would be with a supermajority, and unless one party gets a supermajority of both houses (that’s not going to happen), the government would be completely stalled if the GOP and Democrats were not working together to compromise on bills that would pass by a two thirds margin.

He then asks, “How’s that for unity?”

The question should be, “How is that a bad deal?”

Unity is seriously over-rated.

Some recent evidence from author and economist Stephen Slivinski in support of divided government as a desireable state.

In the new Declaration of Independence, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 should top the enumerated offenses of the tyranny.

And, yes, inter-racial hatred is increases every day that the government forces integration, especially exacerbated by open borders, on the people.

The rape is going to stop. The only question is whether it will be stopped by the resulting decay of the civilization enabling it, or whether civilization will be stopped from further enabling it. Certainly the rapists like Donklephant, would prefer the former.

Now in August 2007, the world financial systems and investment markets, real estate and the availability of credit are all under direct assault due to past actions of the Federal Reserve in the United States.

Read and sign the Ron Paul Is Right – Abolish the Federal Reserve Petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/fed/petition.html

Please link to the petition and forward this message to your friends and help the general public wake up during the current financial panic conditions to the problems we face from the Federal Reserve and Ron Paul’s solution.

Also read comments from hundreds of signers who aren’t shy in saying what they think of the FED.

- Ron Paul

The only way for Congress to pass a bill would be with a supermajority, and unless one party gets a supermajority of both houses (that’s not going to happen), the government would be completely stalled if the GOP and Democrats were not working together to compromise on bills that would pass by a two thirds margin. How’s that for unity?

It is like the statement republicans are pro-war - this is only believed by people with no grasp of history.

If that’s what we’re trying to accomplish, it’s a fool’s crusade. But if our goals are a little more modest, it’s a much different story. An alternative to the two tired old major parties doesn’t have to get the whole country united behind it - just enough to light a fire underneath the major parties’ butts. Then, whether that fire wakes up the major parties or consumes them will be all up to them.

Even if it weren´t sufficient for a win there will undoubtedly be some good results (a win in New Hampshire isn´t unrealistic at all) that will provide a basis for a third party run AFTER!! the GOP primaries.
And I absolutely agree that he should run a third party “ideology campaign” in this case. Indeed he won´t have any choice regardless what he says now, because his supporters won´t let him off the hook that easily ;-).
But until the primary results are in he has to fully concentrate on the GOP race and getting every opportunity for publicity out of it (debates etc.). And fortunately I think he can, because he doesn´t have to worry about the preparation for a subsequent independent run; the nomination of the Libertarian or the Constitution Party with coresponding ballot access is his for the taking. (Hey, we might even see a double nomination *g*.)

If you want to see proof that he is a unifier, supported by all types of people, just look here:

rally (dot) ronpaulplanet (dot) org/stats.php

and read the people’s comments here:

rally (dot) ronpaulplanet (dot) org

Does that necessarily mean he will get the delegates necessary for the GOP ticket?

I believe delegates are not legally obligated to vote based on the majority vote of the party, although 99% of the time they do.

The established republican base, those in power, do not support his positions.

It would be very disturbing, if Ron Paul did get the populous support necessary to be nominated as the republican Presidential Candidate, and the GOP delegates cast there votes to the contrary.

They may also be sick of the cost of having a strong central government.

The fantasy that one could have the perfect governmental authority solve all our problems may be nice, but most people admit they don’t trust voters and their elected representatives and government employees to execute it properly, even if they agree on what it should be, which they never will.

Once you admit that’s never going to work, you might as well unify on the idea of letting everyone do what they want within Constitutional (or Creator-endowed) limits, and that is what unifies us.

NONE of your top tier has that.

It’s unity that got us into a huge national debt.

It’s unity that got us a housing bubble.

It’s breaking from the unquestioning unity and standing up for what’s right that got us the USA in the first place.

We always need to be unified as much as cognitively possible about how we understand the rules of the society we live in. That’s what constitutions and transparent government are for.

We do not *ever need the “you’re with us or against us” type of unity that marginalizes and cuts off any criticism — especially, first and *foremost — in matters of war.

In both of these respects Ron Paul is a 9 out of 10 and no other candidate is over 5.

We are still 5 months out from the primaries. Polls for the first few months of the campaign don’t reflect much more than popularity. Paul’s message is receiving an increasing amount of exposure and positive reaction, so a primary win is possible, though difficult.

In the past, I’ve “thrown away” my vote on Libertarian party candidates. Traditionally, the Libertarian presidential candidates don’t run to win that particular election, but run to spread the message of freedom, intending to make a difference in future election cycles.

Ron Paul’s campaign will still be a success, even if he does not win the Republican nomination.

The freedom to pursue happiness means that each of us individuals will seek a different path, do you not have to capability or tolorence of others to accept that someone else might pursue a different individual path? we need teachers, doctors scientist, data analyst, journalists, farmers and a infinite numebr of other people…why do you feel it neccesary to compel people to be the same in some way? its sick

and what man would you trust to give the power to compel all of us to be something we are not naturally? Your type has given us George W…billary, Guiliani, Nixon, LBJ…..all sickos who have worked to destroy the fabric of this coutnry.

you state lies here:
“I know that many from both sides of the aisle would welcome a party based around those ideas(less government intrusion).”

If you have investigated the presidential debates commission http://www.debates.org/
and if you had ever worked on any third party campaign or investigated on on a national level you’d know that up and down the road to the presidency the dems and repubs have 100% blocked any feasible way, short of a billion dollar campaign, of a thrid party system getting into the televised debates and onto all of the state ballots…In fact I cannot believe that you as a professional political reporter do not know this…after all this has little to do with my profession and my limited experiences in the field and historical knowledge make this truth undeniable.

To pretend otherwise shows you suck as a journalist or you are a shill.

Ron Paul knows these facts and thus he is not about to pass up his present opportunity to appear in 5 or 6 more nationally televised appearances…to do so would be stupid…if you don’t understand this then you are either a crappy political analyst or a shill…I have no idea whether or not he will change his mind after all the debates and run as a third party, but to do anything but continue on his current course at this juncture would be political suicide and you surely know this. as it is 65% of the coutnry doesn’t vote..if his quickly growning campaign can convince half of this group to vote for him he’d win in a landslide…that may be unliekyl, but it isn’t impossible.

I view Ron Paul more as a ‘test’ for the Republican party. He is forcing them to adhere to their ‘ideals’. If they choose not to, then they lose (and a third party does become viable…sorta).

I think that his candidacy is great! Regardless of his chances. I am willing to donate time, money and resources to help this guy keep going. I want to back him as a way to tell the party I was raised on, the party I voted in, and the party I always backed: “Stop putting up untrustworthy slimeball’s!!”

I have been a republican since my father took me with him to vote in ‘84. Before I’d heard of Ron Paul, I had started looking at Dems…..thank God for Ron Paul!

Yes. The Republican Party is disintegrating, and Ron Paul’s support is growing exponentially. Voter turnout in the primaries is anemic. If all of Ron Paul’s supporters re-register as Republicans (not that hard to do), and turn out to vote at 3 or 4 or 5 times the rate of other candidates’ supporters, he can win.