Ron Paul Was Right: Will GOP Voters Care?

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PELLA, IOWA -- Representative Ron Paul of Texas was back in a familiar place Monday, campaigning for president before a lunchtime crowd of likely caucus-goers at Pella Christian High School. He has not formally declared his candidacy, but there can be little doubt about his intentions. And who can blame him?

If the Republican presidential nomination was awarded based on prescience, Paul would be the clear frontrunner. Long before the financial crisis of 2008, he had been warning about a housing bubble, about the enormous potential cost of taxpayers backstopping Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and about the dangers that cheap credit was posing to the economy. Back when people were lionizing Alan Greenspan as the maestro, Paul was the chief critic of the Federal Reserve.

The economic collapse came too late to generate any momentum for him in the last Republican presidential primaries. Although he raised an impressive sum and amassed legions of online followers, he never seriously threatened John McCain in the race for the Republican nomination.

Today, Paul looks increasingly vindicated. Not only did he warn of the crisis, he has also set the pace for his fellow Republicans in responding to it, although few credit him for this. Paul was preaching fiscal austerity and draconian budget cuts when his colleagues were helping George W. Bush add an expensive new Medicare drug entitlement.

Now they all sing from Paul's hymnal, although none can touch his record of casting deeply unpopular votes against spending. Paul once voted to deny Mother Teresa the Congressional Gold Medal because he didn't think the government should have to pay for it.

Too bad for him that winning the nomination requires more than just prescience and fortitude. That's especially true in Iowa, where a majority of Republican caucus-goers in 2008 identified themselves as evangelical Christians. Paul, a Protestant, is a libertarian who loves nothing better than debating the fine points of fiscal and monetary policy. The clearest sign yet of his presidential ambitions is that his host in Pella was one of the state's leading social conservatives, Bob Vander Plaats, who last year led the successful campaign to remove three Iowa Supreme Court justices who had voted to legalize gay marriage.

Paul gamely attempted to marry his libertarian message with the social-issue red meat for which his audience was hungering, with mixed results.

''We are living in an age when the family has been greatly diminished,'' he said in one of his clearer moments. ''We've accepted the notion that government takes care of us.''

But he frequently detoured into abstruse economic issues, like the Federal Reserve's program of quantitative easing, which puzzled the crowd.

Perhaps wisely, Paul opted not to participate in a presidential forum in Des Moines later that evening sponsored by another social conservative group, the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, which attracted many of the other prospective candidates. Some looked nearly as uncomfortable before this audience as Paul had been in Pella.

A number of Republican candidates have trouble speaking convincingly about social issues in ways that resonate with the party's religious base - and most would prefer they didn't have to. Polls show that Americans are overwhelmingly concerned about the weak economy and high unemployment; issues like abortion, divorce, and gay marriage barely register.

Some party leaders in Iowa worry that too intense a focus on social issues will jeopardize the state's status as crucial to determining the nominee. Several top-tier Republicans who hope to carve mainstream profiles, including Mitch Daniels and Mitt Romney, avoided Monday's forum. At the national level, some Republicans fear that catering too intensely to social conservatives will alienate mainstream Republicans and independents primarily concerned with the economy.

But the organizers of the Pella and Des Moines gatherings betrayed no such concern. They have made clear that their support will hinge on which candidate best responds to their preoccupation with social issues. That puts Ron Paul - and the rest of the GOP's presidential field - in a tough spot.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/03/ron-paul-was-right-will-gop-voters-care/72287/

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

few credit him for this

An overstatement, for sure.

[luckytxn 2,265]

Now he goes to New Hampshire. He may not stand a chance in hell and again will be pushed aside at the debates and the media will do all it can to make sure he is left out but it is nice for me to be able to vote and not have to hold my nose.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Now he goes to New Hampshire. He may not stand a chance in hell and again will be pushed aside at the debates and the media will do all it can to make sure he is left out but it is nice for me to be able to vote and not have to hold my nose.

Why do you think the GOP doesn't give him the recognition he deserves?

[^_^ 5,021]

Why do you think the GOP doesn't give him the recognition he deserves?

I think it's a combination of two things.

One, his policy stands are actually genuinely his and not designed to cater to one of the many blocs within the GOP. In a scenario where everyone else is playing the game as it's always been played, he doesn't.

Two, this excerpt from the article sums it up well:

... he frequently detoured into abstruse economic issues, like the Federal Reserve's program of quantitative easing, which puzzled the crowd.

[luckytxn 2,265]

Why do you think the GOP doesn't give him the recognition he deserves?

The GOP does not think he deserves recognition. What he is proposing is at odds with the GOP. The GOP wants war, they want the Federal reserve to print the money so they can spend at will. They want to be Global and Paul does not except as trade. There are many ways that Paul is at odds with the real wants of the GOP. The GOP talks a good game for now but they want the status quo.

[luckytxn 2,265]

I think it's a combination of two things.

One, his policy stands are actually genuinely his and not designed to cater to one of the many blocs within the GOP. In a scenario where everyone else is playing the game as it's always been played, he doesn't.

Two, this excerpt from the article sums it up well:

... he frequently detoured into abstruse economic issues, like the Federal Reserve's program of quantitative easing, which puzzled the crowd.

You are right. He is an authority on the subject and is hard for him to not try to get his points across about the subject. Nobody cares about it though. I do of course and a few others but we are rare.

[^_^ 5,021]

The GOP does not think he deserves recognition. What he is proposing is at odds with the GOP. The GOP wants war, they want the Federal reserve to print the money so they can spend at will. They want to be Global and Paul does not except as trade. There are many ways that Paul is at odds with the real wants of the GOP. The GOP talks a good game for now but they want the status quo.

True. If we ever elected Ron Paul as president and a bunch of Ron (or Rand) Paul clones to both houses of congress, the military-industrial complex would be dead within a very short period of time. That's something even liberals want.

And that's exactly why it will never happen. The plutocrats who run this country wont stand for it.

[luckytxn 2,265]

True. If we ever elected Ron Paul as president and a bunch of Ron (or Rand) Paul clones to both houses of congress, the military-industrial complex would be dead within a very short period of time. That's something even liberals want.

And that's exactly why it will never happen. The plutocrats who run this country wont stand for it.

Yes and that is not the only reason. The two majors live on power and the control of the citizens is very powerful. Ron Paul would abolish the homeland security which is a massive control of the citizenry. The GOP will not allow him to win. They will pull out all stops to make sure he is marginalized and stopped. They have to or the game is up. Both parties need the status quo. They even run someone against him in the primary every time and fund that candidate very well. The national and state pull out all stops to try to get their candidate to win but we always vote him back by usually over 80% of the vote but they keep trying anyway. The last redistricting they tried to gerrymander his district but he still wins. We are expecting them this next time to take move his lines away from where I live and I am waiting to start a huge fight over it. They want him gone for good.

But then again I am confused as they gave him a chair overseeing the Federal reserve so he can have his hearing he wants. I seriously doubt the GOP is trying to go toward him so I have no idea why they did this. I think it is so they can try to get the son to move more to the GOP line but have no idea.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Why do you think the GOP doesn't give him the recognition he deserves?

He is a senile, rambling idiot, whose followers are mostly speed freaks. He appeals to the same folks that worry about prions in the food supply, and radiation from power meters. Lucky for the rest of us that most of these folks think the elections are rigged by a handful of rich families that collectively manipulate world governments, so they don't vote.

True. If we ever elected Ron Paul as president and a bunch of Ron (or Rand) Paul clones to both houses of congress, the military-industrial complex would be dead within a very short period of time. That's something even liberals want.

And that's exactly why it will never happen. The plutocrats who run this country wont stand for it.

[mawilson 2,133]

Why do you think the GOP doesn't give him the recognition he deserves?

Because the Republican-Democrat Regime is against everything he stands for.

[luckytxn 2,265]

He is a senile, rambling idiot, whose followers are mostly speed freaks. He appeals to the same folks that worry about prions in the food supply, and radiation from power meters. Lucky for the rest of us that most of these folks think the elections are rigged by a handful of rich families that collectively manipulate world governments, so they don't vote.

You never answered me before when I asked. Who do you like and would like to see run and win the Presidency?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

You never answered me before when I asked. Who do you like and would like to see run and win the Presidency?

I have yet to see anyone that I would feel confident in supporting. I still think somebody is sitting on the sidelines, waiting for the right movement to make his/her presence known. I am getting the same feeling this election cycle, that forced me to favor Obama over McCain, and despite in the incompetence of the current administration, I still think things would have been worse under a loon like McCain.

Edited March 11, 2011 by Some Old Guy

[luckytxn 2,265]

I have yet to see anyone that I would feel confident in supporting. I still think somebody is sitting on the sidelines, waiting for the right movement to make his/her presence known. I am getting the same feeling this election cycle, that forced me to favor Obama over McCain, and despite in the incompetence of the current administration, I still think things would have been worse under a loon like McCain.

Good luck with that. It is nice I guess to pooh pooh someone repeatedly. Just ask as I hear all the time about how much of a kook Ron Paul is but never get from them why except what they repeat the media says. I do hope that the someone on the sidelines comes out who you can favor.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Good luck with that. It is nice I guess to pooh pooh someone repeatedly. Just ask as I hear all the time about how much of a kook Ron Paul is but never get from them why except what they repeat the media says. I do hope that the someone on the sidelines comes out who you can favor.

I have watched him during floor debates and committee hearings, and also during the Presidential Primaries. He seems to have a hard time staying on subject. But, if you like the guy, power to ya. He just doesn't impress me, nor do the few followers of his that I have met IRL.

"Who is Ron Paul?" Good question.

Edited March 11, 2011 by Some Old Guy