Physician, Heal Thyself

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Submitted by FreedomDemocrats on Fri, 2008-01-18 13:31.

Some advice for the Ron Paul campaign on the eve of Nevada, South Carolina, and the weekend before MLK Day and the next money-bomb.

Dr. Ron Paul, heal thyself.

Tomorrow, you are probably going to place fifth in South Carolina, ahead of Rudy Giuliani (again), but well behind Fred Thompson, who's probably fourth place showing will knock him out of the race.

Nevada, well, the whole caucus system is funny. So the polls might be way off. Ron Paul is the only Republican to oppose Yucca Mountain, which might count for something. I wouldn't be surprised if he places ahead of both Thompson and Giuliani, who are ignoring Nevada.

In the days to come, Fred Thompson will drop out, freeing his supporters in Florida. Florida is now looking like a close four-way race between Giuliani, Romney, Huckabee, and McCain. Romney has two silvers, two golds, and will probably pick up another victory in Nevada. The pressure will be off of him in Florida, but he'll still be on the ground competing. There will be a lot of pressure on Giuliani, but don't expect him to drop out until after February 5th. The silver medalist of South Carolina (either McCain or Huckabee), will be trying to make a come back in Florida.

And Ron Paul, well, Ron Paul won't really matter. Sorry Dr. No.

But Ron Paul can do some things to salvage what remains of his campaign, raise another round of the big bucks on Monday, and at least resurrect his reputation going forward. Maybe he'll have enough cash to throw some money into the February 5th states, especially California's delegate by district primary.

Here's my suggestion to Dr. Paul. Today would be a great day to e-mail your supporters and come clean about the Ron Paul Newsletters. First, it's before Nevada and South Carolina. No one will be able to say that you felt "pressured" into doing it by less than stellar results. Second, it's the Friday before MLK Day. You should take the opportunity to come clean, throw Lew Rockwell under the bus, and praise Martin Luther King's approach of non-violent civil disobedience.

Otherwise, I have grave concerns about the Ron Paul money-bomb this Monday. I already think that a money-bomb on a holiday, when I expect some people will be enjoying the day off and away from their computers, is a problem. A money-bomb on a Monday, where people have had two days off and potentially away from their computers and occupied doing other things, is a problem. A money-bomb shortly after what I expect will be two disappointing showings in Nevada and South Carolina is a problem. Three strikes, you're out.

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Paul talking movement now...

#5779 On Sat, 2008 01 19 04:27 ka1igu1a said,

In this interview, he seems to de-emphasizing his own campaign and talking more in terms of a movement now.






There are those who say Ron Paul has "tainted" the cause of liberty. That's nonsense. In fact, Paul's campaign has provided some valuable insight for me as the best way to proceed in order to advance the cause of liberty against the encroachment of the corporatist, fascist state. One, is that my initial hope for Paul to spark a movement into the LP was a pipe dream. This whole "newsletter" nonsense, unfortunately, has reinforced what I already knew I suppose, that herding libertarians into a viable national political party is herding cats--it just isn't going to work. While the libertarian blogosphere wages war with itself over some objectionable content in newsletters 15-18 years ago, I see plenty to object to in the here and now. The Clinton campaign has engaged in racist tactics against Obama to try to derail his campaign. Obama himself has a wacknut for a "spiritual advisor." Huckabee apparently now has his own white supramecist/separatist problems, and the Giuliani campaign is littered with advisors who wouldn't blink twice in waging genocide against a billion muslims.

Even though I think the libertarian-conservative fusionism is no longer worth pursuing, I'm certainly not going to bemoan "Ron Paul Republicans" arising as candidates. And they are plenty of democrats who are participating in the Paul campaign. I don't think "Ron Paul Democrat" would be a term to use, rather "libertarian democrat" suffices. Sites like this can be a tool to identify the demographics to target and the candidates to support who advance the cause of liberty primarily through(but not strictly limited to) the Dem party.

The final effect that the Paul campaign has had on me is that it has converted me from a Chicago-School type libertarian into could best described,for a lack of a better term,the oxymoronic "voting anarchist." That is someone who still tries to work within the system, but in many accepts the Rothbard critique of State but also views Konkin's "counter-economics" as probably the most effective way to reverse the state. In many ways, the most important aspect of the Paul candidacy may very well be in opening my eyes to the potential subculture in America receptive to anti-Federal Reserve sentiment, a subcultural open to participating in "counter dollar" economics. Working within the system, "legalizing competing currencies" should become a common plank shared by libertarians, libertarian democrats, and "ron paul republicans."

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