Posts Tagged ‘ Ron Paul ’

"Paul’s decision to take the fight for peace and liberty into the GOP was the correct one. By challenging the War Party on their 'home turf,' so to speak, Paul and his movement have dealt them a major blow -- and made them exceedingly nervous. The neocons hate and fear him because he’s challenging their claim to the Republican trademark, and he’s winning the intellectual debate inside the conservative movement. ... Ron Paul’s achievement is undeniable and unassailable. The question is: where does his movement go from here?" (02/13/12)

"Smearing him hasn’t worked, mockery has just added to his fame, and ignoring him has seriously backfired on the mainstream media, which has made itself more hated by the Republican rank-and-file than it already is -- no mean feat. Their last hope is to co-opt him -- or, at least, co-opt his movement." (02/03/12)

"After years of being the lone Libertarian voice in Congress, and often being the lone vote on issues, Congressman Paul is today a folk hero. After 25 long years of fighting for Libertarian and fiscally conservative values, this little old Texas baby doctor has become an 'overnight success.' The Ron Paul phenomenon is perhaps the most interesting story to come out of the 2012 election to date, simply because he breaks all the stereotypes of a successful candidate or movement." (02/04/12)

"Evil is by its nature destructive and those who practice it ultimately destroy themselves and everything they touch. With no Ron Paul to save the system only those going off-the-radar and networking alternative off-grid countereconomies will thrive and rebuild the future. Even knowing it -- and believing they can themselves go underground to save themselves -- the establishmentarians compulsively continue the destruction." (01/27/12)

"It does not seem that it should be the case, but the Ron Paul candidacy is actually causing more than a little dissent within libertarian circles. There are more than a few who are not only displeased, but actually oppose his candidacy." (01/27/12)

"In spite of all the 'small government' rhetoric, conservatives never meant a single word of it. Representative Paul does mean it. That presents a dilemma to conservatives, similar to the one presented to progressives -- he makes them confront what they really believe, and they do not like finding out what it is they really believe." (01/18/12)

"Many of Paul’s detractors belittle his vote totals by pointing out that much of his support has come from non-Republicans. It is true that Paul won in both Iowa and New Hampshire among independents and people who had never before voted in a Republican primary. In New Hampshire, for example, roughly 63.5 percent of his vote came from independents. But why is that a bad thing?" (01/18/12)

"As I sat and watched tonight’s GOP Presidential debate in South Carolina it became clear to me that despite much greater name recognition than four years prior, Congressman Ron Paul’s message of non-interventionism will continue to fall on deaf ears. As a minarchist this phenomena was both infuriating and incomprehensible. As an anarchist, however, it makes perfect sense." (01/16/12)

"The interventionists have been hammering Ron Paul pretty hard, but does their argument make sense?" (01/16/12)

"A lot of libertarians are getting awfully excited about Ron Paul these days, especially after his strong showing in the New Hampshire primaries. As a libertarian myself, I am sometimes tempted to share in this excitement. But it is a temptation, I believe, that I and others with libertarian sympathies ought to resist." (01/12/12)

"One of the most fascinating aspects of the Ron Paul campaign is the standard reaction of his opponents to Paul’s foreign-policy positions. They say that Paul's libertarian foreign-policy views are outside the Republican mainstream. What is the Republican mainstream view on foreign policy?" (01/12/12)

"Even if (as seems likely) he fails of presidential triumph in person, [Ron] Paul's campaign presages a massive realignment in American politics just over yon horizon, and the near certain doom of a Republican Party ill-equipped to survive that realignment. It's that old bogeyman, the 'generation gap,' in spades. America is separating along the age demographic." (01/11/12)

"If libertarian Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him. Paul, as expected, did well in Iowa. His strong third-place finish is substantially better than he did in 2008, and his national poll numbers are twice what they were back then. Paul's appeal is easy to understand. His antiwar message of limited government, low taxes and federalism have strong appeal, especially to young people who oppose the war on drugs, take a pro-choice position on abortion and support gay marriage." (01/09/12)

"With 21.4 percent of a volatile vote, Rep. Ron Paul came in a strong third in Tuesday’s Iowa Republican caucuses. Assuming second place, and trailing Mitt Romney by eight statistically insignificant votes, was former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, the dark horse in this race. Still, what separates Dr. Paul from his Republican rivals is this: Whereas their national appeal is likely to plateau -- coffined by militarism and social conservatism -- Paul’s appeal, by contrast, has the potential to transcend the confines of the Republican Party." (01/06/12)

"The electronic kapos who breathed a collective sigh of relief that Ron Paul didn’t 'win" in Iowa totally missed the point (as they are well-paid to do). The comments I heard emphasized what they considered the 'importance' of a third-place finish that captured 'only' 21% of the votes." (01/06/12)

"At every debate, and every campaign appearance, Paul is transforming the discourse. Forced to start noticing him due to his steadily climbing poll numbers, the mainstream media invariably dismissed his ability to expand beyond a narrow libertarian base, which was supposedly limited by his 'isolationist' foreign policy views." (01/06/12)

"In Iowa, Ron Paul came in third. Four years earlier, he had come in fifth, with 10% of the party vote. Now he has more than doubled his support, to 21.5%. His new total suggests he has established libertarians as a significant faction within the Republican Party. This is no certain thing. We will know when Paul retires, and the faction is led by someone else, perhaps his son. In either case, it is not a majority faction, and Paul is not going to be nominated." (01/05/12)

"Ron Paul didn’t do as well as the media thought he would in Iowa, but he is moving on toward New Hampshire, where the candidate has what the media call a good 'ground game.' But the 'Ron Paul Revolution' in New Hampshire looks a lot like what Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn tried to accomplish with the 1960s generation. Disillusioned young people, brainwashed with illegal mind-altering drugs and armed with weapons in the name of 'liberty,' are being taught to hate their government and the police." [hat tip -- Mike Gogulski] (01/04/12)