The thought of RP winning the Republican ticket is honestly inconceivable for me (call me a pessimist). That said, it must be admitted he is doing well in the polls inspite of the black out and lack of billionaire backings.
Speculative question:
Would the main line Republicans form a third party ticket to face Ron Paul if he won the GOP canidacy? I would not be surprised if they would. Going even further with empty speculation, I think it would be kind of funny, that everything they would say negative about RP running on a third party “magically” wouldn’t apply if they chose to do it - and no one would notice (like the double standards when the left got pissed at Nader and not at Perot) because that is the nature of the culture.
Speculative pondering #2:
There seems to be something that inherently will break up right wingers, conservatives, and libertarian political blocks in the current system. I don’t think the left wing movements are so willing to fragment and splinter in such a profound way (at least in the USA). I would bet a nickle the system / culture is in general more taylored for left wing types - and appeals to more left wing sensibilities and “social signaling”.
Now, point 2 may be stating the very obvious. But the fact that it is obvious, and it is an irrelevant point to the culture at large - is the main point to take home
The question is a good one. I think they probably wouldn’t because they should have the sense to know it will just make an embarrassment out of themselves and that they have more to gain if they throw their support to Obama.
I mean, I can’t imagine Sean Hannity/Limbaugh supporting Ron Paul, but Dr. Paul’s nomination will force them to recognize that they’re not that different from Obama (even if they never admit it) and that will really be one of the best things that will come of Ron Paul’s nomination IMO.
We need to keep in mind the Wilsonian roots of neoconservatism. Everyone running for the GOP nom (except Dr. Paul) is a Wilsonian as well as the incumbent Democrat.
Nah, no third party. The very thought would boggle their brains. Heck, if that happened that I suppose the libertarian party would become the mainstream rightist group and Reps would be quickly marginalized.
They’ve already war-gamed this. What do you think all this hubbub about Donald Trump is really about? Worst-case scenario, if RP get the Republican nomination, they’re going to run the Hairpiece - oops, I mean the Donald - as a spoiler.
As your friendly neighborhood conservative, I assert that republicans will indeed support a RP candidacy for several reasons:
there are no outstanding experienced conservative candidates to challenge him.
obama must be removed.
Our current account deficits and a Paul presidency represent the ‘right man at the right time’
In the wake of two engagements overseas, even conservative Americans are less inclined to oppose a Paul presidency then during a period like the Cold War or immediately after 9/11
In sum, Paul is extremely fortunate to be approaching this election within a perfect political storm of relative security from external threats, survival level entitlement threat, and partisan political paralysis and cronyism in Washington.
Two notes of caution — who Paul selects as his running mate will be critical and ‘granny’ Paul must demonstrate that he wont be overwhelmed by power politics in Washington.
First – he must choose at least a moderate on national defense and a Washington outsider to balance the ticket or obama will benefit from far greater participation at the polls.
Second-- he must begin to demonstrate the ability to engage in political brinkmanship. Being a principled ideologue is not going to force change in Washington. Paul must demonstrate that he can manipulate the political environment to force change.
If he can’t work the system, then he cant change the system – then what good is he. He has to demonstrate that he is a fighter like Robert E. Lee and not a wimp like Georgie McClellan.
He just becomes the libertarian ‘hope and change’ candidate who failed absymally because he didnt have the political cojones to defeat the status quo.
and lastly, if Paul is elected president — I for one am not worried in the least bit that he would be weak on national security. Reality will force its hand on Paul as it has on previous doves like Carter and Obama.
I’ll be laughing my ass off and posting on this forum when Paul sends his first drones and cruise missiles screechin into the next global hotspot.
I love the conservative line about how, “reality will force its hand” when it comes to foreign policy. If only those peace candidates had the information that the public service angel Barack Obama does, he would figure it all out that we really do need to do all of the nasty things we’ve done in the past. The funny thing about this hypothesis is that it is completely unfalsifiable. Because it’s “in the interest of our national security,” we could never have the access to the facts that they supposedly do. So technically they could do anything they wanted to if the people didn’t analyze the specific instance of behavior for criticism. I think it’s safer to ask questions about our “national security” than it is to assume they are angelic disinterested figures merely looking out for us.
If only Paul could get at least half of Huntsman’s supporters. – Wheylous
I’m not the least bit interested in politics, but see my previous post on Paul’s electability — if your interested in Huntsman’s supporters ---- a possible quid pro quo endorsement from Huntsman for a VP position ?
Does Paul have the political wherewithal to work backroom deals that are necessary in power politics whether you like it or not ?
btw, I dont support Paul.
Lee was derisively referred to as “granny Lee” before he took command of the army of northern virginia prior to seven days..
After that series of engagements, nobody ever referred to him by that name again.
Based on his absymal record in government at forcing even miniscule change or reduction in government, I suspect that Paul is more of a McClellan than a Lee.
Indeed, if Gingrich ‘got religion’ and adopted Paul’s platform on the economy and limited government – no rational and objective analyst can deny that a gingrich-like politician would be far more effective at forcing reductions in government than paul has demonstrated
Paul has been important, imho, to beginning to audit the Fed. Plus, remember that the House doesn’t have filibuster or he might be using it all the time.
You think Gingrich would limit the size of govt? Nah. Perhaps on the surface, but all the juices would remain there. Bush was supposedly conservative but allowed the bailouts through. Plus, Medicare, wars, etc. You know, you’ve gotta keep your old people happy. They do, after all, vote for you.
You can’t just say “oup…nevermind. I’m Libertarian Party now.” There’s kind of this matter of paperwork, and FEC filings. I’m not so sure how easy it is to just switch parties…although it could be much easier than I think.
If you do a search for “Johnson libertarian switch” you can find some articles, though it appears that he might be slightly reconsidering the decision to switch.
