tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35576588073660185342023-11-15T06:57:13.567-08:00The Hunt for Red NovemberTracking the strategies, talking points, poll numbers, electorate trends, media coverage, rhetoric and everything else about the 2012 Presidential election in the hunt for 270 "red" electoral college votes.Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17386064346695620190noreply@blogger.comBlogger60125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3557658807366018534.post-23737411891169254392012-01-12T18:53:00.000-08:002012-01-12T18:53:44.633-08:00Falling Behind<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I'm discovering that there are simply more Ron Paul videos on Youtube than it makes sense to copy and paste. Following this blog would simply be like typing in Ron Paul on youtube and seeing what you find. I had hoped to conglomerate articles and videos from many different sites, but I'm beginning to realize I lack the time to do all that and when I do have time to blog I prefer to do it on my other blog, Underage Thinking. It probably helps that I only have 1 follower on here, so I'm pretty much talking to myself. Long story short, I'm considering just deleting this blog and sticking with one. So I apologize for the lulls in the posts as I try to sort out my blogging future haha.</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17386064346695620190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3557658807366018534.post-21379919534161614592012-01-08T20:51:00.001-08:002012-01-08T20:51:12.444-08:0013th Floor in a Hotel Again<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://www.examiner.com/independent-in-salt-lake-city/cbs-doesn-t-know-ron-paul-is-running-for-president">http://www.examiner.com/independent-in-salt-lake-city/cbs-doesn-t-know-ron-paul-is-running-for-president</a>
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Um, hello?</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17386064346695620190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3557658807366018534.post-39609248109782643242012-01-07T23:20:00.000-08:002012-01-07T23:20:12.470-08:00WHY IS THIS NEWS!!!???!!!???<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/07/politics/huntsman-youtube-ad/index.html?hpt=hp_t2">http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/07/politics/huntsman-youtube-ad/index.html?hpt=hp_t2</a>
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It is infuriating that this story has been on the front page of the papers for THREE DAYS now. It's OBVIOUS that Ron Paul has nothing to do with the ad. It was obvious even before Paul issued the statement saying he thought it was a disgusting video (statement found here: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57353940-503544/paul-campaign-anti-huntsman-manchurian-candidate-video-disgusting/ ). The video, which you can see here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZeVqj-t1U0, is so obviously low budget, and so shoddily put together, and so clearly lacking the "I'm Ron Paul and I support this message" tag, that only a moron could think Paul had anything to do with it. In fact, considering it is the only video that the person who created it has ever posted, and that he posted it the same day he created his profile on January 4th, it seems very possible that the video was posted by a fake Paul supporter with the express intention of garnering negative publicity for his campaign.<br />
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What's truly ridiculous is that Huntsman is publicly complaining about a video somebody posted on YOUTUBE,. Does he have any idea how much stupid, racist shit is plastered all over youtube about every politician ever? It's not exactly high brow political commentary. I typed in "barack obama sucks" and this was the first video that came up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb2hhKS-mBQ&skipcontrinter=1. If Barack Obama publicly complained about the contents of this video, and the media felt that was worthy of a story, would that be reasonable? No. That this is now an issue being reported on every major news site is ridiculous. Yet another unwarranted smear that wasn't even brought up by any of the candidates, but which the media drums up as relevant just so they can put "Ron Paul" and "racist" together in the same headline.</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17386064346695620190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3557658807366018534.post-66201928876758722162012-01-04T19:25:00.000-08:002012-01-04T19:25:45.665-08:00And then there were six<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
With Michelle Bachmann "suspending" her campaign (which of course means ending), we are now left with six white males as the Republican nominee. Unlike other candidates who've dropped out over the past few months, Bachmann hasn't been above 10% in the polls in a long time, so her decision has less impact on the remaining candidates. But nevertheless, Bachmann got over 6,000 votes in Iowa, which is larger than the gap between first and third place. At about 5% in the polls, if all of her supporters were to line up behind one candidate that candidate would obviously benefit significantly. So which candidate are her backers now likely to endorse? The following is from Noah Rothman of politicology:<br />
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"So where do Bachmann’s voters go? While they are a small group, they are deeply conservative and are more social than fiscally conservative – many self-identified as Tea Party voters. Perhaps their most natural ally in the presidential field would have been Perry, but it appears that he too will suspend his campaign shortly. Given the surprising performance of former Pennsylvania Sen. <span class="" id="apture_prvw3" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: none; cursor: url(http://cdn.apture.com/media/imgs/crsr/socialLink.png), default; display: inline; float: none; height: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: none; width: auto;"><a class=" snap_noshots" href="http://www.ology.com/politics/michele-bachmann-out-%E2%80%93-where-do-her-voters-go/01042012#" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-bottom-left-radius: 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 2px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-left-radius: 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px; border-top-width: 0px; clear: none; cursor: url(http://cdn.apture.com/media/imgs/crsr/socialLink.png), default; display: inline; float: none; height: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; position: relative; text-decoration: none; top: -1px; width: auto;"><span style="background-color: #e0e6ec; border-bottom-left-radius: 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 2px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-left-radius: 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px; border-top-width: 0px; clear: none; cursor: url(http://cdn.apture.com/media/imgs/crsr/socialLink.png), default; display: inline-block; height: 16px; left: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; top: 0px; width: 0px;"></span></a></span><span class="" id="apture_prvw3" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: none; cursor: url(http://cdn.apture.com/media/imgs/crsr/socialLink.png), default; display: inline; float: none; height: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: none; width: auto;"><a class=" snap_noshots" href="http://www.ology.com/politics/michele-bachmann-out-%E2%80%93-where-do-her-voters-go/01042012#" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-bottom-left-radius: 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 2px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-left-radius: 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px; border-top-width: 0px; clear: none; cursor: url(http://cdn.apture.com/media/imgs/crsr/socialLink.png), default; display: inline; float: none; height: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; position: relative; text-decoration: none; top: -1px; width: auto;"><span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: none; cursor: url(http://cdn.apture.com/media/imgs/crsr/socialLink.png), default; height: auto; left: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: none; top: 1px; width: auto;">Rick Santorum</span></a></span><span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: none; height: auto; line-height: 1px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static; text-decoration: none; width: auto;"></span>, they may gravitate towards his campaign.<br />
More likely, there will be a schism among Bachmann’s supporters with votes being divided evenly among the remaining candidates. She still commands 6.7 percent support in the RCP average of<a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/sc/south_carolina_republican_presidential_primary-1590.html" style="color: #7b949b; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">South Carolina</a> voters and 3.5 percent in <a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/fl/florida_republican_presidential_primary-1597.html" style="color: #7b949b; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">Florida</a>. Given that the Iowa race turned on 8 votes, those are not insignificant margins"</blockquote>
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<br /></div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17386064346695620190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3557658807366018534.post-48740858633961489542012-01-04T14:36:00.000-08:002012-01-04T14:36:41.906-08:00Celebrities Endorse Ron Paul...including Chuck Norris<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Among other celebrities. Those not shown who endorse him include Kelly Clarkson, Michelle Branch, and the rapper Prodigy.</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17386064346695620190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3557658807366018534.post-8006162985145301892012-01-04T13:45:00.000-08:002012-01-04T13:45:17.353-08:00Meanwhile, in Obamaworld...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Obama's campaign emailed this message to his supporters last night:<br />
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"The extremist Tea Party agenda won a clear victory. No matter who the Republicans nominate, we'll be running against someone who has embraced that agenda in order to win -- vowing to let Wall Street write its own rules, end Medicare as we know it, roll back gay rights, leave the troops in Iraq indefinetly, restrict a woman's right to choose, and gut Social Security to pay for more tax cuts for millionaires and corporations."<br />
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Let's dissect this quote for a minute, shall we? Firstly, he referred to "the extremest Tea Party". 34% of Americans support the Tea Party, and another 30% have no opinion of it or are undecided. Calling the Tea Party extreme is to call over a third of the American people, at minimum, extreme. 1/3 of the electorate is not the "radical fringe", even if you don't plan to target your message to those voters. The Democrats continued insistence that anyone who doesn't agree with them must be nutty or have something wrong with them, instead of just having a reasonable ideological difference, is apalling. The ideology that drives the Tea Party is a return to constitutional government. If believing in limited government has become an extreme position, American is in deep shit. Same goes for Republicans who call Ron Paul "dangerous" for opposing Newt's proposal to fire Supreme Court Justices he doesn't like, or for saying we need congressional approval before declaring war. If following the constitution has become "dangerous", I shudder to think how much danger we're already in.<br /><br />But back to Obama. Now lets address what he claims the Tea Party is vowing to do:<br />
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"let Wall Street write it's own rules" - no Barack, that's what you want to do. Not technically, of course; a bureaucrat who's in bed with those corporations will actually write them. But he will write them under the influence of those who have the money, power, lobbying might and connections to sway government proceedings. Namely, mega-rich corporations. Or, in your analogy, Wall Street. No matter how many regulations Obama tries to impose, the writing, formulating, and enforcing of those regulations will be heavily influenced by those who have a stake in the game. Consequently, they will always result in protecting both sides from competition: corporations from business competition, and incumbents from political competition. Only when the government stops trying to regulate what risks people can take or decisions people can make with their own money will these interests cease to have a stake in politics, and only then will those ties be severed.<br />
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"end Medicare as we know it" - technically this isn't true, but I really wish it was. Most Tea Party members are still too enamored with entitlements to end them outright, and are still hesitant to make any drastic changes to "Medicare as they know it". Which is unfortunate, because Medicare as we know it is going to bankrupt the country. Medicare as we know it is unconstitutional, which means Medicare as we know it restricts peoples' rights to liberty and property.<br />
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"roll back gay rights" - not true at all. This is not a tenet of Tea Party ideology, and the Tea Party does not have a cohesive position on social issues. At worst, they simply disagree about what those rights entail. But groups don't have rights anyway, individuals do. And for sure, almost all Tea Party members support the rights to life, liberty, and property of gay individuals, just as they support them for everybody else. Those are the only rights anybody is guaranteed.<br />
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"leave the troops in Iraq indefinetly" - um, Barack? They're already out of Iraq. How can we leave them there when they're not there? In fact, if Ron Paul wins the nomination, he wants to pull the troops out of the rest of the world too, including Afghanistan. If he were to win, you can bet he'd attack you for wanting to "leave the troops in Afghanistan idefinetly", and you'd have jack-shit to say because that's exactly what you've done and plan to continue doing. Who's the hawkish, senseless warmonger now?<br /><br />"gut social security to pay for more tax cuts to millionaire's and billionaire's" - If by "gut" social security you mean "privatize" social security, then yes. Privatizing it doesn't end it or even much change it, it just clarifies what it actually is. People are contributing savings to their own nest egg, not to the government, and they are awarded benefits upon retirement from their own life savings, not from the government. The idea that everything good must come from the hands of the government is the oldest trick in the book of tyrants to foster dependency on the leaders, which increases the people's allegiance to those leaders and enhances the leader's power. But I digress. The more important silliness here is that Republicans are doing this to "pay for more tax cuts". It is infuriating to me when people use this term. Tax cuts are not an expenditure. You do not need to pay for them, you just need to stop paying for other things. Lowering revenue is not an expense, it just means you have to decrease your actual expenses. The only way this can be construed as an expense which must be paid for is if one views the present level of government revenue as something which the government is entitled to, and all federal spending programs as immovable. Now, for sure, when we lower taxes, we should lower them across the board so as to be consistent with the principle of equality under the law. Republicans are often guilty of breaching this principle when they advocate targeted tax cuts to families or small businesses. But taxes themselves are only justified when that money is being spent on the defense of our constitutional rights. Sometimes that requires more money, other times less. When it requires less, the government should spend less money, and since it needs less money, it should lower taxes. The trouble is, politicians realize that money is power and money can help them get reelected, so they'd much rather invent new ways for the government to spend it. Then they blame any who want to return that money to it's rightful owners - the people - for imposing expenses on the government!</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17386064346695620190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3557658807366018534.post-81618372802463306042012-01-04T12:46:00.000-08:002012-01-04T12:46:41.395-08:00My Big Question<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Obviously, we seem to have a new top three. Romney, the favorite. Santorum, the feel-good come from behind guy. And Paul, the guy you either roll your eyes at or love. I've made my views on Paul apparent. But here's my big question about Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney:<br />
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How are they different?<br />
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Seriously, I've been searching for a policy difference, and I can't find one. Both are good-looking, tall, dark haired family men. Both have strong faith, and both are socially conservative. Both have flip-flops in their history (Santorum's include whether or not we should attack Iran, evolution and the teaching of intelligent design in schools). Both are trying to win the trust of the Tea Party by convincing voters that they are truly anti-spending and anti-big government, when there is little in either's record to suggest either. On foreign policy, neither will not tolerate a nuclear Iran, and both support continuing foreign aid to Israel. In their quests to cut spending, neither wants to cut defense spending, and neither wants to phase out medicare, medicaid or social security (although Santorum once voted to privatize it).<br /><br />In style, of course, they have many differences. Romney has a national base with a well funded and very organized campaign, which runs many ads through various PAC's. Santorum is a more down-to-earth, face-to-face campaigner with a much lower budget who hasn't been able to afford ads yet. One is a senator with experience duking it out in the federal legislature on a national scale (but no executive experience), the other is a businessman-turned governor with executive experience in both (but who's never held a federal office). But as far as what positions they take, what stances they support and what policies they propose, what they actually plan to DO once in office, I see little difference.</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17386064346695620190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3557658807366018534.post-71985540471505214582012-01-03T13:33:00.000-08:002012-01-03T13:33:45.809-08:00What the candidates are thinking about right now<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In the order of my projected finish:<br />
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Mitt Romney - "I hope I win, but even if I don't win I'm in pretty good shape. And if Paul wins, second place is just as good as first, because he can't beat me in a national campaign. Santorum is just peaking at the right time; as soon as people learn he's a big spender who likes to raise the debt ceiling, the Tea-Party people who are turning to him in desperation will desert him. It would be disappointing to fall all the way to third, but even if I do I'm still the favorite on a national scale. Winning Iowa would just make the inevitable happen sooner."<br />
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Rick Santorum - "I really hope I win. Everyone knows I'll finish top three, but if I don't beat Romney people will think I'm just the latest in a long line of failed Romney challengers. I'll have positive momentum either way, but if I win it will be an amazing come-from-behind victory that nobody expected a week ago. As someone who's spent 90% of the past year outside the top 5 contenders, winning Iowa would establish me as a top tier candidate, and would help me more than winning Iowa would help any of the other contenders. And I could probably keep that momentum as we head into the moral majority southern states of South Carolina and Florida. Crossing my fingers that this late surge is big enough!"<br />
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Ron Paul - "Regardless of whether I finish in first, second, or third, I've already outperformed my expectations. And my campaign's momentum is unlikely to be as affected by my finish as the others' will be. Winning would be great, and may serve to legitimize my stances as more mainstream than political talking heads let on. It would also be historic because so many people have said it could never happen for so long. But unlike the other candidates, I know my supporters won't desert me if I don't win. A second or third place finish would still keep me trudging along; I'm in this for the long run anyway. The passion of my supporters can't be matched, and won't be doused by losing out to Santorum or Romney or other free-spending establishment Republicans. I haven't put all my chips in one basket like Santorum has, and it's not like the media can ignore me any more than they already have! I can only gain momentum today, not lose it."<br /><br />Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry and Michelle Bachmann - "Just don't come in last. Please, God, don't let me come in last. A few months ago, I was squarely in first place. Now, I've come crashing down as people realized what a muslim-hating religious zealot/forgetful, bumbling homophobe/flip-flopping Washington insider blowhard I am. I would be very happy to finish 4th so that I can lick my wounds and continue the fight elsewhere. If I finish in dead last, though, I might just say the hell with it and drop out."<br />
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Jon Huntsman - "Wait, there's a caucus in Iowa???"</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17386064346695620190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3557658807366018534.post-83929666649570527102011-12-31T10:02:00.000-08:002011-12-31T10:02:38.508-08:00How Ron Paul's Policies Actually Affect Blacks<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br /></div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17386064346695620190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3557658807366018534.post-10752845397926977192011-12-30T23:59:00.001-08:002011-12-30T23:59:57.644-08:00Two Related Videos<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br /></div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17386064346695620190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3557658807366018534.post-75995968414498529982011-12-30T23:46:00.000-08:002011-12-30T23:46:14.464-08:00INFURIATING<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
What I just read is absolutely unbelievable. I've read a lot of media Ron Paul bashing, but this one might just take the cake. The following headline has been on the front page of CNN.com for 9 hours:<br />
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"In book, Paul criticized AIDS patients, harassment victims."<br />
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It was accompanied by two unflattering pictures of Paul scowling. This is the link to the article:<br />
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<a href="http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/30/in-early-book-rep-ron-paul-criticized-aids-patients-minority-rights-and-sexual-harassment-victims/?hpt=hp_t1">http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/30/in-early-book-rep-ron-paul-criticized-aids-patients-minority-rights-and-sexual-harassment-victims/?hpt=hp_t1</a><br /><br />The book they're referring to is his 1987 book "Freedom Under Seige: The U.S. Constitution after 200+ years. The author of the article, Peter Hamby, writes:<br /><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px;">"Paul wrote that AIDS patients were victims of their own lifestyle, questioned the rights of minorities and argued that people who are sexually harassed at work should quit their jobs." - Hamby</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">I am literally shaking right now I am so outraged by these intentional misrepresentations. If this were an editorial, a statement like that would be a borderline stretch of the truth done for rhetorical appeal. But it is not an editorial, it's portrayed as fact; it is on CNN's Political Ticker which gives updates on recent political news. Let's compare that statement to the facts of what Ron Paul actually wrote, shall we? As quoted in the article, he writes:</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px;">1. "The individual suffering from AIDS certainly is a victim - frequently a victim of his own lifestyle - but this same individual victimizes innocent citizens by forcing them to pay for his care" - Paul<br /><br />Saying that AIDS is "frequently" caused by ones own lifestyle is NOT the same as "criticizing" AIDS patients. And by omitting the word "some", Hamby makes it seem that Paul wrote that ALL AIDS patients were victims of their own lifestyle. He did not say that either! He didn't even say a majority, he said "frequently". Which is of course true. AIDS is transferred through sex, and people who have free unprotected sex increase their chances of getting AIDS. That is not a "criticism", it is an observation.<br /><br />Imagine if he had said "victims of lung cancer are frequently a victim of their own lifestyle" in reference to smoking. Would it then be appropriate to write an article with the heading "In book, Paul criticizes cancer patients"? Of course not! That would be absurd! He was not criticizing them, he was not saying all of them have only themselves to blame. He was saying, as a DOCTOR no less, that a lifestyle of unprotected sex "frequently" leads to AIDS, just as a lifestyle of smoking frequently leads to lung cancer. But since AIDS has a colored political history and many people view Republicans as homophobes, the front page statement "Ron Paul criticizes AIDS patients" will of course contribute to the unfounded notion that he is a bigot. This is obviously on purpose.</span><br />
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2. "Until all these terms [referring to group-rights terms like "Hispanic-rights", African-American-rights", "childrens-rights", "employees-rights" and "homeless-rights"] <span style="background-color: transparent;"></span><span style="line-height: 1.7em;">are dropped and we recognize that only an individual has rights the solution to the mess in which we find ourselves will not be found...</span><span style="line-height: 1.7em;">Every year new groups organize to demand their 'rights.' White people who organize and expect the same attention as other groups are quickly and viciously condemned as dangerous bigots. Hispanic, black, and Jewish caucuses can exist in the U.S. Congress, but not a white caucus, demonstrating the absurdity of this approach for achieving rights for everyone." - Paul</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.7em;">Once again, the CNN article is misleading, if not an outright lie. Paul was not "questioning the rights of minorities", he was questioning that minorities have MORE rights than others! He is 100% correct for doing so. He is very clear that everybody, regardless of race or age or job status, has equal rights AS AN INDIVIDUAL. It is the notion of clustering people into groups and assigning rights based on those groups which he criticized. If the heading had read "Ron Paul criticizes those who give out additional rights based on race", it would have been accurate - but much less controversial. Most of the other Republican candidates would probably agree with that statement. But CNN is clearly not interested in presenting Paul's ideas as they were written, it is interested in presenting his ideas in whatever way will make him seem like a racist. Headings that read "Ron Paul...questioned the rights of minorities" at best assumes the opinion that they do have more rights than others, and at worst make it appear that Ron Paul doesn't think minorities deserve the same rights as everyone else. Which is the polar opposite of what he was actually saying. Which is, of course, on purpose.</span></div>
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3. "[a business owner should have the power to] control property and run his or her business as he or she chooses...<span style="line-height: 1.7em;">Employee rights are said to be valid when employers pressure employees into sexual activity...Why don't they quit once the so-called harassment starts? Obviously the morals of the harasser cannot be defended, but how can the harassee escape some responsibility for the problem? Seeking protection under civil rights legislation is hardly acceptable." - Paul</span></div>
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Once again this is also not the same as "criticizing sexual harassment victims", and once again when taken in context Paul's quotes make sense. If somebody walks into your house, on your property, and says something you find offensive or that makes you uncomfortable or even requests a sexual favor, you have every right to demand that he shut up or leave and call the police. He is on your property. But if you are at work, on your employer's property, freedom of speech means that he ought to be able to say whatever he wants, even things which most people find disgusting or offensive. Just as you can say whatever you want in your house. Nobody has a right to not be offended. If anybody within earshot of what you say in your home doesn't like it, they are free to leave. And if any employer who chooses to work there is made uncomfortable by something their boss says, they are free to leave too. </div>
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Paul was CLEARLY NOT defending sexual harassment; he even says "obviously the morals of the harasser cannot be defended". What he WAS defending was your right to say whatever you like on your own property. What Paul was criticizing was CLEARLY NOT those who have the misfortune of being harassed. What he WAS criticizing was the notion that government is justified in telling people what they may or may not say on their own property, and those who try to get their boss arrested for saying offensive things instead of just quitting. Just because some sexual harassment victims do choose to take their bosses to court instead of quitting, and thus do invoke a power of government which Ron Paul opposes, does not mean Paul was criticizing those who are harassed. It means he was criticizing those who file "civil rights" lawsuis for that harassment. That is a big difference.</div>
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Imagine the case of the military families and the Westboro Baptist Church. Paul, like most sane people, despises the Westboro Baptist Church and is deeply offended by what they say. But Paul, like many people, also feels they should be free to say it if they like, regardless of whether or not it offends the families of military victims. He does not believe that government should be able to censor that speech, and does not believe that the families of military victims should be able to file suit demanding that they censor it. So would it be appropriate, then, to run an article with a heading claiming that "Ron Paul criticizes the Families of Military Victims"? No! That's terribly misleading! So is saying he criticizes sexual harassment victims, and like the other two examples, it is misleading on purpose.</div>
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I am deeply saddened by these unabashed and intentional misrepresentations, but I am not surprised by them. We all know that Paul would be viciously attacked whenever he climbed up in the polls and became a threat to the other candidates. And we all knew that the media has tried to black him out and attack him for a long time before this. Probably as a consequence of these attacks, Paul's support has fallen 2% points in recent days and he is now ranked in second place in most polls. But unfortunately, it will probably fall more. We've known that if Paul is to win, it will be despite the media, not because of it. Our only hope is for people to see through it.</div>
</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17386064346695620190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3557658807366018534.post-11280302264182765402011-12-30T13:27:00.001-08:002011-12-30T13:27:31.852-08:00The Case for Ron Paul - An Open Letter to the American Patriot<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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When I initially sat down to write this letter, I tried to focus
on the issues. I took each issue one by one, and passionately described how Ron
Paul has it right. I talked about how as an Army ROTC Cadet, I feel his foreign
policy is the strongest and safest path for America, how’s he’s anything but
anti-military and anything but isolationist. Then I talked about the
constitution, about free minds and free markets, and the dangers of activist monetary
policy and the Federal Reserve. I tried to defend him against the absurd
slander about racism, and did my best to shield him from all the other mud
being flung his way. I promoted civil liberties, equality under the law, and
individual rights.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But when I was finished, I realized what I had written was merely an eloquent
endorsement of Ron Paul’s platform. It was well written and informative, and if
you already liked Ron Paul it would probably have fired you up. But if you care
enough about politics to still be reading this, chances are you’ve already
developed your opinions on all those issues, and those opinions probably won’t
change because some college kid convinced you otherwise. So I scrapped it.
Instead of trying to tell you what to believe, I’d like to try to place what
you know already in context. I’d like to provide perspective, rather than just
opinion. To do that we need to begin with a miniature history lesson.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Extremism in the defense of
liberty is no vice...moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” –
Barry Goldwater<o:p></o:p></div>
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Barry Goldwater was another freedom-loving Republican with a
propensity for speaking his mind. His beliefs were certainly not analogous to
Paul’s, especially on foreign policy, but his platform was socially and economically
very similar. More importantly, he saw the direction that big government was
taking the country, and dedicated his life to trying to change that direction.
In 1964 he ran for president against incumbent Lyndon Baines Johnson, the year
after John F. Kennedy was assassinated. After winning a bitterly contested
primary (in which a young Newt Gingrich endorsed his competitor) he was
attacked by Johnson for being radical and dangerous. In one famous television
ad (found here: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDTBnsqxZ3k">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDTBnsqxZ3k</a>
), the Johnson campaign suggested that Goldwater’s policies would lead to a
nuclear bomb detonating in the United States. It was devastatingly effective, and
sympathy for JFK’s recent assassination also helped Johnson’s campaign. Despite
an impassioned endorsement of Goldwater by a young Ronald Reagan (found here: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXBswFfh6AY">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXBswFfh6AY</a>),
Johnson won in a landslide.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The short term result was the disastrous Great Society, more
burdensome and unsustainable entitlements, the creation of new and unnecessary executive
departments, a drastic expansion of the bureaucracy, the Vietnam War,
finalizing the break from the Gold Standard and allowing for perpetual
manipulation of the money supply.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But more importantly, the 1964 election sent both parties
the message that extremism in the defense of liberty was a politically unwise
experiment, and that moderation in the pursuit of justice was much safer.
Telling the “mainstream” what it wanted to hear could help them get elected
much more easily than ideals or principles could, because most Americans didn’t
think about those principles in practice very much. Sticking to principle
required explaining how your principles applied to the issues; that could get
confusing and wasn’t a very catchy campaign slogan. Plus, standing your ground
meant that some people might disagree, and without the flexibility to move your
position, you’d have no chance to get their vote. So for decades, political
parties have focused more on assembling a winning “coalition” than on defending
cohesive ideologies. The idea is that if they can give targeted groups of
people whatever they want, and can add up enough of those groups to create a
majority, they will win the election, which is all that matters to them. The
larger, wealthier and more powerful the interest group, the better, because the
more that group will help them get reelected.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It’s not that Democrats and Republicans don’t have
ideological differences, because they usually do. It’s just that when those
beliefs are pitted against what is politically convenient for the furthering of
their career, both sides generally choose the latter. When you put so many congressmen
with such different beliefs in a room together and ask them to work things out,
oftentimes the only things they can agree on are the things which are in their
mutual best interests: namely, getting reelected. And they’ve both discovered
that the best way to get reelected is to increase their own power, so that they
may sell favors to powerful interests in exchange for support. They’ve
discovered that the best way to get reelected is to change their positions to
whatever’s popular at the time, rather than saying what they believe is best
for the country. They’ve discovered that the best way to get reelected is to
pander to that mainstream by refusing say anything controversial that might
alienate some people, by refusing to stand by what they believe in and instead
standing where they believe the electorate will view them most favorably.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The result is that we voters are rarely given a choice
between two competing ideologies and asked to pass judgment on which we prefer.
Rather, we are given a choice between two ever-evolving parties that
continually aim to tell their traditional supporters what they want to hear,
and to give their powerful interests what they want. Both are obsessed with
poll numbers, perpetually jostling for the “mainstream” middle ground that will
grant them enough independents to assemble a majority. No politician dares to
say anything that might engender opposition, and none dare to go against what the
most powerful interests want.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Unfortunately for us, not everybody can have what they want.
We’ve tried that for decades, and look where it’s gotten us? We’ve tried
passing “compromises” that feed the most powerful interests on both sides; we’ve
AARP massive, ever-growing entitlement programs, the military-industrial
complex an ever-growing defense budget, the taxpayers tax cuts, the farm
industry subsidies, the auto industry’s a bailout, big companies a favorable
regulatory climate, and subprime applicants a cheap loan. Before we know it,
we’re 15 trillion dollars in debt. Nobody on either side asks whether these are
a good idea, unless it’s politically wise to do so in a grandiose campaign ad.
If nobody sees them do the good, they reckon it’s not worth doing; if nobody
sees them do the bad, they figure they will be able to get away with it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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If you’re still reading this, chances are I’m preaching to
the choir. It’s a pretty big choir! Most people are fed up with this crap, and
have been for several years. They see where this “mainstream” politics has
taken us, and they want a change from that status quo. They were promised that
change four years ago, and they didn’t get it. They are now even more
disillusioned now than they were in 2008, but it doesn’t seem to be making any
difference. Despite congressional approval ratings consistently below 15% and
one of the greatest changeovers in American electoral history, about 86% of
congressional incumbents retained their seat in 2010. The most depressing part
about this selfishness, greed and dishonesty is that it works. The “public
servants” who serve only themselves have a stranglehold on power that seems
unbreakable, eternally reminding us of the system’s inherent brokenness. Even
politicians who start out with good intentions seem corrupted by power and the
desire to keep it, and soon advocate whatever will help them at the polls,
whatever will give them popular talking points. All across the country,
politicians tell voters whatever they want to hear, and get rewarded for it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Except, that is, for one. One man has held out. Out of the
536 people who make up Congress and the Presidency, and the thousands who have
held those offices for the past four decades, exactly one has consistently resisted
this temptation. The Congressman from Texas’ 14<sup>th</sup> district does not
change his stances for political convenience. He never has. He has preached the
same message of freedom and constitutionally limited government for his entire
35-year career. He has voted no for every single tax hike. He has voted no for
every single pork-barrel spending project. He has voted no for every single proposal
that is not within the Federal government’s enumerated constitutional powers,
no matter how good that proposal would make him look to mainstream voters. Many
times, he has been the only member of either house to do so.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Sometimes, he’s lost winnable elections because of it. But
mostly, he’s been ostracized for it. He’s been relegated to the fringe by
people who share his core beliefs, just because it was politically dangerous to
present those beliefs in such an uncompromising manner. Both parties have
distanced themselves from him because they’re afraid of what he’s going to say
next. This fear is magnified because they KNOW what he’s going to say next. They
know he will say the same thing tomorrow that he said yesterday, and the day before
that, and the year before that, and the election cycle before that, and the
decade before that. They’re afraid that each time he repeats the same set of
beliefs will provide yet another testament to his outright refusal to toe the
party line. They’re afraid that each time he opens his mouth, he might be able
to convey the conviction that drives him, to portray the principles that guide
his every vote and every speech. And mostly, they’re afraid that this will illuminate
a distinction between what drives him and what drives them. It is the
distinction between one who seeks the preservation of one’s own power, and one
who seeks the betterment of the country. It is the distinction between
self-service and public service. Politicians on both sides, and the powerful interest
groups who depend on their assistance, are afraid of what might happen to their
power if enough Americans get that message.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Consequentially, he’s been ignored every time he takes the
floor. He’s been given less time at the debates than his competitors. He’s
ridiculed as cooky, loony, out-of-touch, unrealistic and impractical, nicknamed
“Crazy Uncle Ron” and “Dr. No”. He’s been shunned from the mainstream media and
glossed over in reporting on the polls, unmentionable unless followed by the
phrase “but there’s no way he could win”. He’s been the butt of every political
talk show joke in the books, had his name defiled, been called a racist and a
sexist and an Anti-Semite and a homophobe and a lunatic and everything else. In
the dirty game of politics he’s had more mud flung at him than just about
anybody, yet he trudges on unfazed. Alone and ostracized and insulted and
ridiculed, he has fought against the tide for 35 years, guided only by what he
believes in his core to be right. <o:p></o:p></div>
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What he believes to be right is freedom, and he has
dedicated his entire life to advancing it. In December of 2007, he tried to
advance that message by using a historical reference to another group of people
who fought for freedom by creating the world’s first ever Tea Party Moneybomb.
Many political scholars claim the Tea Party movement, designed to “take back
our country” from the self-serving tyrants who dominate it, developed from the
surprising success of that event. <o:p></o:p></div>
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And then, a curious thing happened. The theories that his
opponents had ridiculed for so long turned into actual events. The predictions
he made in 2002, 2006 and 2007 about the collapse of the housing and lending
industries came to pass. The economy crashed, and the government used it as
justification to increase spending and increase credit and bailout big business
and increase its own power: just as this one man had predicted. The war’s
overseas escalated and we lost thousands of lives and trillions of dollars in longer-than-expected
engagements: just as this one man had predicted. And as the Tea Party movement
grew, suddenly the message of a constitutionally limited government didn’t seem
so radical. Suddenly other politicians, in their eternal quest for electoral
support, began saying the same things that this man had been saying for
decades. Instead of changing his beliefs to fit the mainstream, this man waited
for the mainstream to come around to his beliefs. At 76, in his last ever
political go-round, it finally happened.<o:p></o:p></div>
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That man is Ron Paul, and he is not a perfect candidate. But
there is no perfect candidate in this race, and Ron Paul just so happens to be
right most of the time. His ideology provides a cohesive, conservative approach
to politics that I truly believe is what’s best for this country on nearly all
fronts, but the contents of that ideology are almost secondary. What’s more
important, what makes him different than nearly everyone else, is that he HAS
an ideology! He actually MEANS what he says, and he WILL follow through with
it. We know this because he’s been saying it and doing it for the past three
and a half decades. We know it because people have gone through hell and high
water trying to get him to say otherwise, or at least to just shut up, and each
time he simply refuses to do so.<o:p></o:p></div>
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There is no other candidate in recent memory, certainly not
in this election, who comes with that guarantee. In four years when 2012’s
victor is up for reelection, we don’t know what the economy will be like. We
don’t know what the mood of the country will be, or what rhetoric will be received
most favorably by the middle ground. We can’t know what will be convenient for other
politicians to do, and for that reason we can’t know what they will do. But we
can be absolutely certain of what Ron Paul will do, or at least of what he will
try to do. Ron Paul will cut a trillion dollars year one. He will decrease the
debt, decrease regulation, end crony capitalism, level the playing field and
drain the bureaucratic swamp. He will bring the troops home, preserve civil
liberties and protect our freedoms from both foreign governments and our own.
He will heed the constitution instead of trampling on it, and transform the
suddenly mainstream desire to shrink the power of government into actuality.<o:p></o:p></div>
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These are important issues, but there are important issues
in every election. Petty squabbles over trivial distractions like the payroll
tax or the debt ceiling do not make this year unique. What makes this year
unique is that this year, an honest patriot is in the running. The t-shirts his
supporters wear don’t say “join the campaign!” because it’s not a campaign;
they say “join the Revolution!” Campaigns are movements organized for the
primary purpose of winning the election. Ron Paul would like to win the
election and he certainly can, but that is not his primary purpose. His primary
purpose is to change the way we view politics, to orchestrate a fundamental
shift from the maintenance of the establishment to the preservation of liberty.
That is a truly revolutionary change, and it’s the same revolution that the
protestors at the Boston Tea Party were waging.<o:p></o:p></div>
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If you disagree with some the details of Paul’s policy
stances, that’s more than okay. So do I! However, as a former Republican who’s
now a libertarian, I do feel you’ll be surprised by how much sense he makes if
you give him a chance. There are 11 months left in this campaign, and it’s
gonna be a long haul; there’s plenty of time left for him to work you over like
he did me! And even if you reject certain elements of his platform outright,
recognize that his winning the election would not automatically make the whole
country his libertarian playground. The beauty of the constitution he holds so
dear is that it has a system of checks and balances, and no one man can get his
way on everything. Besides, there is no such thing as a libertarian tyrant,
because once in power libertarians only want to leave you alone!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
2012 is a chance to make a statement that lasts long beyond
the next four years. A Ron Paul nomination would produce a realigning election
that shocked the political status quo and significantly furthered the debate on
the proper size of government. The only thing preventing Ron Paul from winning that
election is the political talking heads who say he can’t win; the beauty of
democracy is that we can decide that for ourselves! Polls show that Paul
actually has the best chance against Obama in a head to head, because he is
much more likely to convince foreign policy doves, minorities, young people,
and disillusioned independents to vote Republican than any other candidate. And
while he might anger some traditional Republicans, he wouldn’t anger them
enough to vote for Obama!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But even if he doesn’t win, a Paul ticket would help others
follow in his footsteps. The more the country flounders over big government
policies, the more support is drawn to the ideas of limited government, which
is ultimately more important to the historical direction of our country than
the economy over the next 4 years. A Paul ticket would attract legions of young
people into the Republican party and perhaps even erase the Democratic party’s
advantage in that demographic, securing an idealistic core of Republican
supporters for decades to come. It would give the party an ideological
direction for the future, whereas defeat by any other Republican candidate would
simply throw the party back into the confusion and disarray of 2008. And it
would pave the way for similarly dedicated freedom fighters to take up the
fight, just as Reagan followed Goldwater. In short, voting for Ron Paul sends
the message that the principled defense of liberty is no vice, and moderation
in the pursuit of justice is no virtue. There is no more patriotic a vote than
that.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17386064346695620190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3557658807366018534.post-12553080438905235892011-12-29T23:25:00.000-08:002011-12-29T23:25:24.672-08:00If Ron Paul Wins Iowa...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
...this site will be getting a makeover. I will be abandoning my goal of giving an overview of the election, and adopting the goal of helping to get Ron Paul elected. I've half adopted that second goal already, but I'm still trying to pinch myself that for the past 2 weeks at least, Ron Paul is a legitimate frontrunner. When I created this blog I thought that would never happen. If he wins Iowa, objective strategic analysis and poll updates will seem trivial; all I'll want to do is write whatever I can to further his campaign and get his message out there (and, doubtlessly, shield him from all the mud that's going to be flung his way!) That means changing the blog's title, design, links, everything. Just a heads up.</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17386064346695620190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3557658807366018534.post-50094421296874757482011-12-29T22:58:00.001-08:002011-12-29T22:58:24.718-08:00Great Video on Paul's Character<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/8Rv0Z5SNrF4?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br /></div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17386064346695620190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3557658807366018534.post-17880270724612443592011-12-29T22:54:00.001-08:002011-12-29T22:54:41.062-08:00Meanwhile in New Hampshire<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://www.ronpaul.com/2011-12-29/ron-paul-gaining-momentum-in-new-hampshire-romney-36-paul-21-gingrich-13-huntsman-12/">http://www.ronpaul.com/2011-12-29/ron-paul-gaining-momentum-in-new-hampshire-romney-36-paul-21-gingrich-13-huntsman-12/</a>
</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17386064346695620190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3557658807366018534.post-36602922819411557972011-12-29T22:15:00.001-08:002011-12-29T22:15:22.678-08:00Cool Paul Fact<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Unlike many political candidates, Paul receives the overwhelming majority of his campaign contributions from individuals[69] (97 percent during the 2006 cycle), and receives much less from political action committees (PACs) than others, ranging from two percent (2002) to six percent (1998).[70] The group Clean Up Washington, analyzing from 2000 to mid-2006, listed Paul as seventh-lowest of PAC receipts of all House members; one of the lowest in lobbyist receipts; and fourth-highest in small-donor receipts.[71] He had the lowest PAC receipts percentage of all the 2008 Republican presidential candidates.[72][73]</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17386064346695620190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3557658807366018534.post-76930283729275706272011-12-29T11:51:00.000-08:002011-12-29T11:51:47.680-08:00Very Not Cool Links from the Front Lines<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/29/huntsman-piles-on-paul/">http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/29/huntsman-piles-on-paul/</a><br /><br /><a href="http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/29/occupy-vs-ron-paul/">http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/29/occupy-vs-ron-paul/</a><br /><br /><a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2011/12/28/world/americas/venezuela-chavez-accusations/index.html?hpt=hp_t2">http://edition.cnn.com/2011/12/28/world/americas/venezuela-chavez-accusations/index.html?hpt=hp_t2</a><br /><br /><a href="http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/29/santorum-paul-too-liberal-even-for-democrats/">http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/29/santorum-paul-too-liberal-even-for-democrats/</a>
</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17386064346695620190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3557658807366018534.post-84175897393106012912011-12-28T19:27:00.000-08:002011-12-28T19:27:01.278-08:00Cool and Cooler Links from the Front Lines<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://caucuses.desmoinesregister.com/2011/12/28/sen-sorenson-leaves-bachmann-campaign-endorses-ron-paul/">http://caucuses.desmoinesregister.com/2011/12/28/sen-sorenson-leaves-bachmann-campaign-endorses-ron-paul/</a><br /><br /><a href="http://caucuses.desmoinesregister.com/2011/12/22/some-dems-join-the-ron-paul-bandwagon/?odyssey=obinsite">http://caucuses.desmoinesregister.com/2011/12/22/some-dems-join-the-ron-paul-bandwagon/?odyssey=obinsite</a>
</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17386064346695620190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3557658807366018534.post-38331648666153953432011-12-25T10:02:00.000-08:002011-12-25T10:02:01.759-08:00Comprehensive, Fair Roundup of the Whole Newsletter Thing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<h2 style="background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: ff-meta-web-pro-1, ff-meta-web-pro-2, 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 24px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="http://reason.com/blog/2011/12/20/ron-pauls-foul-old-newsletters-back-in-t" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Ron Paul's Foul Old Newsletters Back in the News</a></h2>
<div class="byline" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: ff-meta-web-pro-1, ff-meta-web-pro-2, 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 18px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 18px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://reason.com/people/matt-welch" rel="author" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Matt Welch</a> | December 20, 2011</span></div>
<div class="entry" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
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<img alt="You could see how someone might get the impression...." class="pic right" height="361" src="http://reason.com/assets/mc/mwelch/2011_12/RonPaul1992newsletter.jpg" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; display: block; float: right; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="You could see how someone might get the impression...." width="375" />With the libertarian Republican's<a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2011/12/19/ron-paul-now-the-favorite-on-intrade-to-win-iowa/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">competitive showing</a> in early-state polls has come the inevitable rediscovery of the fact that Ron Paul published and earned money from "Ron Paul"-titled newsletters in the late '80s and early '90s that contained racist remarks, both vile and juvenile, such as calling black people "animals," and saying "we can safely assume that 95 percent of black males in [Washington, D.C.] are semi-criminal or entirely criminal." As <em>The New York Times</em> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/20/us/politics/bias-in-ron-pauls-newsletters-draws-new-attention.html" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">put it</a> today,</div>
<blockquote style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-color: rgb(229, 229, 229); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 5px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 7px; margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 20px; margin-top: 7px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 20px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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Emerging as a real Republican contender in Iowa, Representative Ron Paul of Texas is receiving new focus for decades-old unbylined columns in his political newsletters that included racist, anti-gay and anti-Israel passages that he has since disavowed.</div>
</blockquote>
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Here's a <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57345702-503544/ron-paul-disavows-racist-newsletters-under-his-name/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">fresh response</a> from the candidate:</div>
<blockquote style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-color: rgb(229, 229, 229); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 5px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 7px; margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 20px; margin-top: 7px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 20px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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Asked by CBS News and National Journal if the newsletters are fair game on Tuesday, Paul responded, "I don't know whether fair is the right word."</div>
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"I mean, it's politics," he continued. "Nobody talked about it for 20 years until they found out that the message of liberty was making progress. And everybody knows I didn't write them, and it's not my sentiment, so it's sort of politics as usual."</div>
</blockquote>
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Strictly speaking "nobody talked about it for 20 years" <a href="http://reason.com/blog/2008/01/11/old-news-rehashed-for-over-a-d" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">isn't true</a>–it was an issue in his 1996 congressional campaign, an issue in 2001, and an issue in 2008. As is referenced later in the article by Paul campaign chairman Jesse Benton:</div>
<blockquote style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-color: rgb(229, 229, 229); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 5px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 7px; margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 20px; margin-top: 7px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 20px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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Asked if the issue was fair game, Benton responded, "He has answered questions about these newsletters for 20 years, but it is reasonable that he answer them again now."</div>
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"We are confident that Americans will look to his vast, consistent and principled record, his life [as] a doctor, faithful husband and family man, and accept his answer," he added.</div>
</blockquote>
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If I can get the embed code to work, you can watch this contentious <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/post/ron-paul-steamed-at-media/2011/12/20/gIQAKgzA7O_blog.html" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">interview from today</a> on CNN (or just follow <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/post/ron-paul-steamed-at-media/2011/12/20/gIQAKgzA7O_blog.html" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">this link</a>), in which Paul says (among other things) "they have to dig these things up that they really can't pin on me, because they've been disavowed," and then, when pressed on the fact that he could just straight up <em>ask</em> the "six or eight people" who worked on the newsletters at the time to reveal who wrote the damned things, he said, after a silence, "Well, possibly, I could, but uh...."</div>
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Aside from the new responses from Paul and his campaign, I've seen no reporting so far that advances the story from where it stood 47 months ago. Speaking of which, please scroll down toward the bottom of this post for a semi-complete list of <em>Reason</em> reporting and commentary on the issue from during the 2008 campaign.</div>
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Some more recent commentary from the commentariat, starting with the witnesses for the prosecution:</div>
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* "<a href="http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/angry-white-man?id=e2f15397-a3c7-4720-ac15-4532a7da84ca" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Angry White Man</a>" author <a href="http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/company-ron-paul-keeps_613474.html?nopager=1" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">James Kirchick</a>, in <em>The Weekly Standard</em>:</div>
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It is Paul's lucrative and decades-long promotion of bigotry and conspiracy theories, for which he has yet to account fully, and his continuing espousal of extremist views, that should make him unwelcome at any respectable forum, not only those hosted by Jewish organizations. [...]</div>
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In the four years since my article appeared, Paul has gone right on appearing regularly on the radio program of Alex Jones, the most popular conspiracy theorist in America (unless that distinction belongs to Paul himself).</div>
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* <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/12/ron-pauls-shaggy-defense/250256/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Ta-Nehisi Coates</a>, in <em>The Atlantic</em>:</div>
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Had I spent a decade stewarding an eponymous publication steeped in homophobia and anti-Semitism, I would not expect my friends and colleagues to accept an "I didn't write it" excuse. And I have no (present) designs on the launch codes. It is a peculiar thing when the basic standards of honesty and decency are lowered in direct proportion to the power one seeks to wield.</div>
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* <a href="http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/ron-paul-double-standard/265251" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Philip Klein</a>, in <em>The D.C. Examiner</em>:</div>
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[I]f you're a public figure, it's your responsibility to monitor what is being published under your name. And if your best defense is massive disorganization within a business you ran that had just a few employees, it's a pretty severe indictment of your management abilities as you seek the presidency. And this is where we get to the double standard part.</div>
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Rick Perry and Mitt Romney have both attacked each other for what was written in their respective books. If either of those books had included a number of overtly racist statements, their candidacies would be over before they started. If they used the Ron Paul defense – that they didn't write the words themselves, they didn't know what was in the books and don't even know who wrote them, it would only make matters worse. They could kiss their political careers goodbye.</div>
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More along those lines from <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-the-real-story-behind-ron-pauls-racist-newsletters-2011-12" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Michael Brendan Dougherty</a>, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/post/what-if-ron-paul-wins-iowa/2011/12/19/gIQAIYvP5O_blog.html" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jennifer Rubin</a>, <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/286314/re-fringe-frontrunner-michael-walsh" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Michael Walsh</a>, <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/12/really-ron-paul-cannot-win.html" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jonathan Chait</a>, and <a href="http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/12/19/ron-paul-newsletters-more/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Alana Goodman</a>.</div>
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For the defense?</div>
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<a href="http://ordinary-gentlemen.com/blog/2011/12/18/ron-paul-and-the-racist-newsletter/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">E.D. Kain</a>, <em>The League of Ordinary Gentlemen</em>:</div>
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This is silly. I care more about actions than whatever Ron Paul's newsletter once published ages ago. Has Paul espoused any of those views himself? Not that I can tell. Do his preferred policies lead as much killing as the preferred policies of Obama or Romney or any of the other candidates currently swarming about? No, they don't. Do you think the children we blow to shreds with our aerial drones care if Ron Paul's associates published a racist newsletter in the 90′s or do you think they care more about being blown to shreds?</div>
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Paul obviously should not have allowed things like that to be published under his name and I completely and utterly condemn that newsletter and those behind it. It's just not as big a deal to me as the aforementioned wars and assassinations under this president.</div>
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<a href="http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2011/12/how-responsible-is-paul-for-his-newsletters.html" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Andrew Sullivan</a>, <em>The Daily Beast</em>:</div>
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I think the papers (and comments almost two decades ago) should definitely be considered, in context, when judging his candidacy, and not because the neocons are determined to smear anyone challenging their catastrophic record. But compared with Rick Perry's open bigotry in his ads, or Bachmann's desire to "cure" gays, or the rhetoric around "illegals" in this campaign, these ugly newsletters are very, very old news. To infer from them that Paul is a big racist is a huge subjective leap I leave to others more clairvoyant than myself.</div>
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But ask yourself: you've now heard this guy countless times; he's been in three presidential campaigns; he's not exactly known for self-editing. And nothing like this has ever crossed his lips in public. You have to make a call on character. Compared with the rest on offer, compared with the money-grubbing lobbyist, Gingrich, or the say-anything Romney, or that hate-anyone Bachmann, I've made my call.</div>
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Other defenses from <a href="http://blog.nj.com/njv_paul_mulshine/2011/12/and_yet_and_yet_the_worst_writ.html" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Paul Mulshine</a> and <a href="http://www.nolanchart.com/article9175-ron-paul-attacked-over-newsletters.html" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jake Morphonios</a>. To scramble a delightful number of these narratives, here's Ron Paul on Jay Leno saying Michele Bachmann "hates Muslims" and Rick Santorum "hates gays":</div>
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And now a list of <em>Reason</em>'s essential newsletter coverage and commentary during the last election cycle:</div>
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* In May 2007, seven months before James Kirchick's report in <em>The New Republic</em>, <em>New York Sun</em>writer Ryan Sager accused Paul of "anti-Semitism" ("it's not even a close call"), for his newsletter assertion that "the most powerful lobby in Washington of the bad sort is the Israeli government." Then-Reasoner David Weigel <a href="http://reason.com/blog/2007/05/22/ron-paul-responds-to-ryan-sage" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">got Paul to respond</a>. Part of that response:</div>
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I'd have to have you show to me that I wrote it because that doesn't sound like my language, and in campaigns, some things get into newspapers that aren't actually correct. But I wouldn't back away from saying that AIPAC is very influential in our political process. That's a little bit different than saying the Israeli government, but I think that the Israeli position is very influential [....] There were some things in a newsletter that wasn't actually written by me, so sometimes that gets a bit of distortion.</div>
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* After the Kirchick story, Weigel got <a href="http://reason.com/blog/2008/01/08/exclusive-ron-paul-responds-to" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">another response from Paul</a>, in which the candidate repudiated the content of the newsletters, said he didn't write them (and didn't have them anymore), and referred to Martin Luther King (who had been criticized in one of his newsletters for commiting "crimes" against "underage girls and boys") as "one of my heroes because he believed in nonviolence and that's a libertarian principle."</div>
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* I wrote a blog post soon thereafter <a href="http://reason.com/blog/2008/01/11/old-news-rehashed-for-over-a-d" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">fact-checking</a> Paul's contention that "This story is old news and has been rehashed for over a decade" by looking at the paper trail, including his mixed responses to the charges back in 1996 and a more direct mea culpa in 2001.</div>
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* Weigel and Julian Sanchez then wrote a <a href="http://reason.com/archives/2008/01/16/who-wrote-ron-pauls-newsletter/singlepage" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">long piece for the website</a> interviewing current and former Paul associates about who they thought wrote the newsletters, and placing the episode in its historical context of a "Paleo-Libertarian" fusion project back at the dawn of the '90s.</div>
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* Other <em>Reason</em> commentary at the time from (in order) <a href="http://reason.com/blog/2008/01/08/thoughts-on-ron-paul" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Nick Gillespie</a>, <a href="http://reason.com/blog/2008/01/08/those-newsletters" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jesse Walker</a>, <a href="http://reason.com/blog/2008/01/08/ron-paul" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Radley Balko</a>,<a href="http://reason.com/blog/2008/01/08/why-the-old-ron-paul-newslette" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Brian Doherty</a>, <a href="http://reason.com/blog/2008/01/10/did-i-give-paul-a-pass" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">David Weigel</a>, <a href="http://reason.com/blog/2008/01/11/paul-on-cnn" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Balko again</a>, <a href="http://reason.com/blog/2008/01/15/when-all-you-have-are-symbols" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Kerry Howley</a>, <a href="http://reason.com/blog/2008/01/15/2468-with-whom-do-we-associate" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Weigel again</a>, <a href="http://reason.com/archives/2008/01/16/pauls-apology" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jacob Sullum</a>, and <a href="http://reason.com/blog/2008/01/17/some-notes-of-possible-relevan" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Doherty again</a>. Plus there were some other links-roundups back during those <a href="http://reason.com/blog/weekly/2008-01-06" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">two</a> <a href="http://reason.com/blog/weekly/2008-01-13" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">weeks</a>.</div>
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* Closing out that season's coverage was <a href="http://reason.com/archives/2008/03/28/in-search-of-the-perfect-human/2" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">this Peter Bagge strip</a>, plus a column of mine (my first Editor's Note), entitled "<a href="http://reason.com/archives/2008/03/31/from-the-top-ron-pauls-mistake" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Ron Paul's Mistake</a>." A section from that:</div>
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So why discuss the issue at all? Especially if, like me, you find Paul's candidacy a refreshing injection of limited-government principle into the flabby carcass of a national GOP that has grown careless with power at home and abroad?</div>
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There are, I think, a few good reasons. In a narrow campaign sense, if indeed Paul had no idea about the origins and content of "Ron Paul"-branded newsletters [...] that certainly speaks badly of the would-be commander in chief's managerial competence. The fact that he actually defended the newsletters in 1996 suggests either that he once believed in their content more than he currently lets on or that he was willing to look in the camera and pretend to endorse ideas he didn't actually believe. [...]</div>
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By now, the "free minds and free markets" strain in American politics and culture should be secure enough in its own place to withstand and even welcome uncomfortable discussions about its less-than-stellar moments.</div>
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And it's clear that, for a short while at least, some of libertarianism's leading lights let their focus on minority group behavior lead them down decidedly illiberal paths. [...]</div>
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Happily enough, these ancient-sounding race debates play no role in the Ron Paul rEVOLution of 2008. Paul was incorrect to say, as he did on CNN, that "libertarians are incapable of being a racist," but he was right to note that "racism is a collectivist idea." And like other forms of collectivism, it's an idea that has less and less resonance among a younger generation that's growing more and more culturally libertarian. It turns out that spreading a "freedom message" directly is more effective than trying to camouflage it in collective resentment.</div>
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<img alt="This was on the stands when the newsletter stories hit. Very confusing for a lot of conspiracy theorists." class="pic right" height="400" src="http://reason.com/assets/mc/mwelch/2011_12/cover_Paul_big.jpg" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; display: block; float: right; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="This was on the stands when the newsletter stories hit. Very confusing for a lot of conspiracy theorists." width="305" />All of which I stand by now, only with four more years of evidence that the movement Paul has helped inspire, to say nothing of the broader libertarian/limited government/classical liberal tendency in America, is <em>not</em> animated by this bizarro-world Archie Bunker crap, nor is Paul himself (in my observation). I'd also say that his campaign has had four years to come up with a better answer than "I don't know who wrote those things," and it hasn't. Front-runners get–and richly deserve–scrutiny, including by adversaries.</div>
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I don't begrudge anyone's reasons for voting against <em>anyone</em>, especially if you think he's the type of guy to consciously lunge for power by whipping up race hatred against the descendants of former American slaves. I don't think Ron Paul is that type of guy. I don't (and <em>Reason</em> doesn't) do endorsements, and I would have been happy to see a better GOP primary season from Gary Johnson, whose pragmatic, less hyperbolic, and less socially conservative case for libertarianism I have more natural affinity with.</div>
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But I'm rooting for Paul to do well in Iowa and New Hampshire and beyond, because his candidacy offers the only sharp course corrective to the pressing national issues of runaway government spending, bailout economics, entitlement time-bombs, foreign policy overreach, civil liberties intrusions, and the Drug War. These are not small issues, for me or for the country, and 99 percent of politicians are terrible on them. Yet that platform (along with fighting the Federal Reserve) is what Ron Paul is actually running on, in stark contrast to the <a href="http://reason.com/archives/2011/12/14/not-newt" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">frightening anti-libertarian</a> candidacy of Newt Gingrich, the <a href="http://reason.com/blog/2011/10/04/here-is-how-mitt-romney-will-n" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I-will-cut-everything-but-spending</a> campaign of Mitt Romney, and the incessant foreign policy chest-thumping and <em>quien-es-mas-deporty</em> promises that pass for discourse in the modern GOP.</div>
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There is a small but growing number of politicians out there who share Paul's values <em>without</em> this godawful racist baggage, and I sincerely look forward to more of them getting into the ring. But until then–God help me–for one of the first times in memory, I'm eagerly awaiting the next few weeks of American presidential politics. And that is <a href="http://reason.com/blog/2011/09/02/will-wilkinson-calls-ron-paul" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ff5600; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">because of</a>, not in spite of, Ron Paul.</div>
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</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17386064346695620190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3557658807366018534.post-12371798396094782322011-12-24T11:42:00.001-08:002011-12-24T11:42:43.346-08:00Also, there's this...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://www.infowars.com/cnn-poll-ron-paul-most-popular-republican-amongst-non-whites/">http://www.infowars.com/cnn-poll-ron-paul-most-popular-republican-amongst-non-whites/</a>
</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17386064346695620190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3557658807366018534.post-90229945503812113502011-12-24T11:24:00.000-08:002011-12-24T11:24:01.945-08:00Let's think for a second, shall we?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Okay, so let's get this straight...<br /><br />
...ONE MONTH ago, Rick Perry ran a homophobic television ad...<br />...THIS YEAR, Michele Bachmann aired racist comments against Muslims...
<br />
...THIS YEAR Mitt Romney flip-flopped on several of his positions AGAIN...<br />
...Newt Gingrich cheated on multiple wives while they were sick with cancer and multiple sclerosis, all while publicly condemning the President for his affair AND received over a million dollars for protecting Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac...<br />
...and the CURRENT PRESIDENT of the United States was elected despite ties to radical terrorist bomber Bill Ayers and the Weather Underground, AND ties to corrupt Chicago politicians, AND having been the congregation of a man who ranted "God Damn America", among other things, for several decades, with only a 2 year senate record of mostly "present" votes to show he wasn't that kind of person...<br /><br />...and we're being told that we shouldn't support Ron Paul because a five year run of radical racist newsletters that were ghostwritten in his name, which he has already repudiated and apologized for many times and which go against everything that he has ever advocated in his 35 year career, constitute TOO MUCH BAGGAGE?????????</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17386064346695620190noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3557658807366018534.post-70780243344416522172011-12-24T10:37:00.001-08:002011-12-24T10:37:55.308-08:00Spectacular Video Explaining Ron Paul's Foreign Policy Stance<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/I8NhRPo0WAo?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<br /></div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17386064346695620190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3557658807366018534.post-12731273503476419712011-12-24T09:03:00.001-08:002011-12-24T09:03:52.338-08:00Examining the Causes of Paul's Rise<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/12/ron-pauls-iowa-edge-a-rock-solid-caucus-campaign/250436/">http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/12/ron-pauls-iowa-edge-a-rock-solid-caucus-campaign/250436/</a>
</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17386064346695620190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3557658807366018534.post-18743960570609121132011-12-22T18:12:00.000-08:002011-12-24T10:51:44.166-08:00Washing Off the Mud Before it's Flung<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
If Ron Paul wins Iowa, there will be more mud flung his way than he has ever experienced in his political career. A lot of it will focus on the typical stuff: his isolationism and libertarian stances on drugs, etc. He will stand his ground on that, as always, and there are plenty of people who agree with him (whether those people will vote in the republican primary in South Carolina is another issue!). But one thing that hasn't really come up yet that undoubtedly will is Paul's "racist pamphlet", published under his name in the 1990's.<br />
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This pamphlet ran for several years and contained several extreme, right wing, conspiracy-sniffing, and generally unsightly ideas. Among them were several racist comments, including slights on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the LA Riots. These are the facts.<br />
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Ron Paul's response? He never wrote them. He had a team of 6-8 people working on his staff who handled, and published, the newsletter. He has not said which member(s) of the team wrote them, and has said he doesn't know. He has said that he "regrets" that they were written under his name, but that he certainly didn't write them himself and "doesn't believe that" so he "sleeps easy at night" knowing it wasn't him.<br />
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These are already being brought up again, and my fear is that if Ron Paul wins the Iowa Caucus, all his competitors will stoop so low as to call him a racist to incite negative publicity. And when they do, we Paul supporters need to know how to respond. The only thing Ron can say is that he didn't write them, and perhaps attack the media for doing more mudslinging. Will that be enough to stave off the attacks? Will that stop it from being a lingering question that doggs his campaign? Probably not. We need to put the issue to bed before then. The best way to do this is to counter with all the evidence from Paul's career, including excerpts taken long before these pamphlets were posted, about how ANTI-racist his platform is. In fact, we need to spread the message about how a Ron Paul presidency would be the best thing that has happened to minorities in this country for a long time.<br />
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This is for several reasons. Firstly, he would promote and establish full equality under the law. He would stop classifying people in groups, and emphasize individual rights instead of group rights. Minorities would stop being referred to in government documents and census papers as "blacks" or "Latinos" or "Jews" or anything else, but as individuals who happened to be black, Latino, or Jewish. They would have the same rights, and receive the same benefits, and the same treatment as anybody else, instead of being segmented into their own little group and taught to be dependent on the government instead of dependent on themselves. John Stossel wrote a great piece on this <a href="http://www.creators.com/opinion/john-stossel/government-creates-poverty.html" target="_blank">here</a>, describing how it relates to Native Americans in particular.<br />
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Secondly, he would end the war on drugs, which is widely known to disproportionately target minorities. For more on this, read <a href="http://drugwarfacts.org/cms/?q=node/64" target="_blank">these stats and quotes</a>. By legalizing marijuana and other harmless drugs, Paul would free hundreds of thousands of minorities an enable them to get a job, support their family, and move on. Minority tensions with police officers would also be greatly reduced, because cops wouldn't have to arrest them for these nonviolent offenses, and minorities wouldn't have cops looking over their shoulder and getting in their personal lives. Also, violent crime would greatly decrease, because if the drugs were legal, the black market would be forced out of business by an open, safe, legal market. Gone would be the days where armed cartels have to smuggle it in through Mexico, or where dealers compete for selling turf through gang wars, or street justice is carried out on people who sell fake stuff. Also, it would cost less, because legalizing it would not increase demand, but it would free up the supply; that means people who use it (especially poor minorities) would have more money left over to improve their standard of living.<br />
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As somebody on DailyPaul.com observed earlier today, Ron Paul has been saying all of this for years, long before those pamphlets were published. He posted the following quotes by Paul as "exhibits" demonstrating how non-racist, and actually pro-minority, Paul's libertarian platform really is. It is much more convincing evidence of Paul's real beliefs than a simple "hey, I didn't write it", which is why it's so imperative that we get it out there so that Paul's campaign isn't unjustly derailed by false accusations.</div>
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<b>Exhibit A: Vociferously Supports an Anti-Racist Agenda</b></div>
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"Libertarianism is the enemy of all racism, because racism is a collectivist idea that you put people in categories. You say, well blacks belong here, and whites here, and women here and we don't see people in forms..or gays. You don't have rights because your gays, or women or minorities, you have rights because you’re an individual. So we see people strictly as individuals. We get these individuals in a natural way. So it's exactly opposite of all collectivism and it's absolutely anti-racism because we don't see it in those terms. "</div>
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-Ron Paul on Bill Moyers Journal, January 4, 2008</div>
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<a href="http://youtu.be/R2r29HcH5nA" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="http://youtu.be/R2r29HcH5nA">http://youtu.be/R2r29HcH5nA</a></div>
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<b>Exhibit B: Ferociously Insists that Courts and The Death Penalty are Racist</b></div>
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“That’s a pretty good question. Because people, somebody asked me yesterday, "When was the last time you ever changed your opinion? And I said well, it's been a while since I've had a major change of opinion, but I try to understand and study and figure out how things work you know and become better at economics and all. But on that issue (the death penalty), I did have a change of opinion. And I stated this in the debates last go around, they asked…they asked a similar question, ‘when did you change your opinion last?’ And uh, and it, that was just not overnight, but I, my position now is, that since I'm a federal official and I would be a U.S. president, is I do not believe in the federal death penalty and in my book “Liberty Defined”, I explain in it more detail , but basically I make the argument for, uh, against the death penalty but I would not come and say the federal government and the federal courts should tell the states they can't have the death penalty anymore. I don’t go that far. But no, I just don't think the uh ..with the scientific evidence now- <b>I think I read an article yesterday on the death penalty, and 68 percent of the time they make mistakes. And it’s so racist, too. I think more than half the people getting the death penalty are poor blacks. This is the one place, the one remnant of racism in our country is in the court system, enforcing the drug laws and enforcing the death penalty. I don’t even know, but I wonder how many of those, how many have been executed? Over 200, I wonder how many were minorities? You know, if you're rich, you usually don't meet the death penalty.”</b></div>
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-Ron Paul, Interview with the Concord Monitor Editorial Board, August 18, 2011</div>
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<a href="http://youtu.be/o0mGDcybDL4" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="http://youtu.be/o0mGDcybDL4">http://youtu.be/o0mGDcybDL4</a></div>
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<b>Exhibit C: Stubbornly Refuses to Deny That Government Legalized Racism is Cruel and Unjust</b></div>
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“No form of political organization, therefore, is immune to cruel abuses like the Jim Crow laws, whereby government sets out to legislate on how groups of human beings are allowed to interact with one another.</div>
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Peaceful civil disobedience to unjust laws, which I support with every fiber of my being, can sometimes be necessary at any level of government. It falls upon the people, in the last resort, to stand against injustice no matter where it occurs.</div>
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In the long run, the only way racism can be overcome is through the philosophy of individualism, which I have promoted throughout my life. Our rights come to us not because we belong to some group, but our rights come to us as individuals. And it is as individuals that we should judge one another.</div>
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Racism is a particularly odious form of collectivism whereby individuals are treated not on their merits but on the basis of group identity. Nothing in my political philosophy, which is the exact opposite of the racial totalitarianism of the twentieth century, gives aid or comfort to such thinking. To the contrary, my philosophy of individualism is the most radical intellectual challenge to racism ever posed.</div>
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Government exacerbates racial thinking and undermines individualism because its very existence encourages people to organize along racial lines in order to lobby for benefits for their group. That lobbying, in turn, creates animosity and suspicion among all groups, each of which believes that it is getting less of its fair share than the others.</div>
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Instead, we should quit thinking in terms of race—yes, in 2008 it is still necessary to say that we should Stop thinking in terms of race—and recognize that freedom and prosperity benefit all Americans.”</div>
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-Ron Paul, ‘The Revolution: A Manifesto”, 2008<br />
<a href="http://books.google.com/books/about/The_revolution.html?id=MuATfqcjS5QC" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="http://books.google.com/books/about/The_revolution.html?id=MuATfqcjS5QC">http://books.google.com/b...</a></div>
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<b>Exhibit D: Refuses to Deny that Courts Discriminate Against Minorities</b></div>
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“But in order to attract Latino votes, I think, you know, too long this country has always put people in groups. They penalize people because they’re in groups, and then they reward people because they’re in groups.</div>
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But following up on what Newt was saying, we need a healthy economy, we wouldn’t be talking about this. We need to see everybody as an individual. And to me, seeing everybody as an individual means their liberties are protected as individuals and they’re treated that way and they’re never penalized that way.</div>
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So if you have a free and prosperous society, all of a sudden this group mentality melts away. As long as there’s no abuse — one place where there’s still a lot of discrimination in this country is in our court systems. And I think the minorities come up with a short hand in our court system."</div>
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-Ron Paul, CNN Western Republican Debate, October 18, 2011</div>
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<a href="http://youtu.be/kaSLxCwb0eY" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="http://youtu.be/kaSLxCwb0eY">http://youtu.be/kaSLxCwb0eY</a></div>
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<b>Exhibit E: Refuses to Back the Unfair Punishment of Minorities</b></div>
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"A system designed to protect individual liberty will have no punishments for any group and no privileges.</div>
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Today, I think inner-city folks and minorities are punished unfairly in the war on drugs.</div>
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For instance, Blacks make up 14% of those who use drugs, yet 36 percent of those arrested are Blacks and it ends up that 63% of those who finally end up in prison are Blacks. This has to change.</div>
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We don’t have to have more courts and more prisons. We need to repeal the whole war on drugs. It isn’t working. We have already spent over $400 billion since the early 1970s, and it is wasted money. Prohibition didn’t work. Prohibition on drugs doesn’t work. So we need to come to our senses. And, absolutely, it’s a disease. We don’t treat alcoholics like this. This is a disease, and we should orient ourselves to this. That is one way you could have equal justice under the law."</div>
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-Ron Paul, 2007 GOP Presidential Forum at Morgan State University, September 27, 2007</div>
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<a href="http://youtu.be/8fl0vy44GO0" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="http://youtu.be/8fl0vy44GO0">http://youtu.be/8fl0vy44GO0</a></div>
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<b>Exhibit F: Vehemently Insists that Drug Wars Harms Blacks and Other Minorities Disproportionately</b></div>
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“…the federal war on drugs has wrought disproportionate harm on minority communities.</div>
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Allowing for states’ rights here would surely be an improvement, for the states could certainly do a better and more sensible job than the federal government has been doing if they were free to decide the issue for themselves. And although people studying my record will discover how consistent I have been over the years, they will uncover one major shift: in recent years I have dropped my support for the federal death penalty.</div>
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It is a dangerous power for the federal government to have, and it is exercised in a discriminatory way: if you are poor and black, you are much more likely to receive this punishment.</div>
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We should not think in terms of whites, blacks, Hispanics, and other such groups. That kind of thinking only divides us. The only us-versus-them thinking in which we might indulge is the people—all the people— versus the government, which loots and lies to us all, threatens our liberties, and shreds our Constitution.</div>
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That’s not a white or black issue. That’s an American issue, and it’s one on which Americans of all races can unite in a spirit of goodwill. That may be why polls in 2007 found ours the most popular Republican campaign among black voters.”</div>
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-Ron Paul, “The Revolution: A Manifesto”, 2008<br />
<a href="http://books.google.com/books/about/The_revolution.html?id=MuATfqcjS5QC" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="http://books.google.com/books/about/The_revolution.html?id=MuATfqcjS5QC">http://books.google.com/b...</a></div>
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<b>Exhibit G: Openly Admits That Skin Color should be Irrelevant in Society. That Racism is a Sin.</b></div>
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“Racism is simply an ugly form of collectivism, the mindset that views humans only as members of groups and never as individuals. Racists believe that all individuals who share superficial physical characteristics are alike; as collectivists, racists think only in terms of groups. By encouraging Americans to adopt a group mentality, the advocates of so-called “diversity” actually perpetuate racism. Their intense focus on race is inherently racist, because it views individuals only as members of racial groups.</div>
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Conservatives and libertarians should fight back and challenge the myth that collectivist liberals care more about racism. Modern liberalism, however, well-intentioned, is a byproduct of the same collectivist thinking that characterizes racism. The continued insistence on group thinking only inflames racial tensions.</div>
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The true antidote to racism is liberty. Liberty means having a limited, constitutional government devoted to the protection of individual rights rather than group claims.</div>
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Liberty means free-market capitalism, which rewards individual achievement and competence, not skin color, gender, or ethnicity. In a free market, businesses that discriminate lose customers, goodwill, and valuable employees- while rational businesses flourish by choosing the most qualified employees and selling to all willing buyers. More importantly, in a free society every citizen gains a sense of himself as an individual, rather than developing a group or victim mentality.</div>
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This leads to a sense of individual responsibility and personal pride, making skin color irrelevant. Rather than looking to government to correct what is essentially a sin of the heart, we should understand that reducing racism requires a shift from group thinking to an emphasis on individualism.”</div>
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-Ron Paul, “What Really Divides Us”, December 23, 2002<br />
<a href="http://www.ronpaularchive.com/2002/12/what-really-divides-us/" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="http://www.ronpaularchive.com/2002/12/what-really-divides-us/">http://www.ronpaularchive...</a></div>
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<b>Exhibit G: Despises Political and Media Code Words for Racism.</b></div>
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“Worst of all, the left has gotten away with using “extreme” as a code word for “racist.” The exceedingly thin “evidence” given for the racism allegation is that Ashcroft once voted against the nomination of a federal judge who happened to be black. Never mind that more than 50 other Senators voted with Ashcroft; the left is all to eager to assure us that the only conceivable rationale is that Ashcroft is a racist. This type of smearing, aided and abetted by a complicit media, is at the heart of the left’s efforts to demonize conservatives who dare oppose their unconstitutional agenda.”<br />
– Ron Paul, “The Ashcroft Controversy Exposes Disdain for Conservative Principles”, January 22, 2001</div>
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<a href="http://www.ronpaularchive.com/2001/01/the-ashcroft-controversy-exposes-disdain-for/" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="http://www.ronpaularchive.com/2001/01/the-ashcroft-controversy-exposes-disdain-for/">http://www.ronpaularchive...</a></div>
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<b>Exhibit H: Hates Racist Government Stereotyping of Wants and Needs</b></div>
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“One of the worst aspects of the census is its focus on classifying people by race. When government tells us it wants information to help any given group, it assumes every individual who shares certain physical characteristics has the same interests, or wants the same things from government. This is an inherently racist and offensive assumption. The census, like so many federal policies and programs, inflames racism by encouraging Americans to see themselves as members of racial groups fighting each other for a share of the federal pie.”</div>
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-Ron Paul, “None of Your Business”, July 12, 2004<br />
<a href="http://www.ronpaularchive.com/2004/07/none-of-your-business/" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="http://www.ronpaularchive.com/2004/07/none-of-your-business/">http://www.ronpaularchive...</a></div>
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<b>Exhibit I: Hates Racist and Xenophobic Government Profiling</b></div>
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“We can think back no further than July of 1996, when a plane carrying several hundred people suddenly and mysteriously crashed off the coast of Long Island. Within days, Congress had passed emergency legislation calling for costly new security measures, including a controversial “screening” method which calls for airlines to arbitrarily detain passengers just because the person meets certain criteria which border on racist and xenophobic.”</div>
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-Ron Paul, “Emotion Should Never Dictate Policy”, January 12, 1998<br />
<a href="http://www.ronpaularchive.com/1998/01/emotion-should-never-dictate-policy/" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="http://www.ronpaularchive.com/1998/01/emotion-should-never-dictate-policy/">http://www.ronpaularchive...</a></div>
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<b>Exhibit K and L: Despises Racist Laws that Intend to Harm What others Called “Cheap Colored Labor”</b></div>
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“The racist effects of Davis-Bacon are no mere coincidence. In fact, many original supporters of Davis-Bacon, such as Representative Clayton Allgood, bragged about supporting Davis-Bacon as a means of keeping cheap colored labor out of the construction industry.”</div>
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-Ron Paul, “Repeal of the Davis-Bacon Law”, October 23, 1997, Before the House of Representatives<br />
<a href="http://www.ronpaularchive.com/1997/10/repeal-of-the-davis-bacon-law/" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="http://www.ronpaularchive.com/1997/10/repeal-of-the-davis-bacon-law/">http://www.ronpaularchive...</a></div>
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“The racist effects of Davis-Bacon are no mere coincidence. In fact, many original supporters of Davis-Bacon, such as Representative Clayton Allgood, bragged about supporting Davis-Bacon as a means of keeping `cheap colored labor’ out of the construction industry.”</div>
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-Ron Paul, “Introducing the Davis-Bacon Repeal Act”, February 11, 1999, Before the House of Representatives <a href="http://www.ronpaularchive.com/1999/02/introducing-the-davis-bacon-repeal-act/" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="http://www.ronpaularchive.com/1999/02/introducing-the-davis-bacon-repeal-act/">http://www.ronpaularchive...</a></div>
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<b>Exhibit M: Hates Foreign Aid to African Dictators Who Turn Aid into a “Power to Impoverish” their People</b></div>
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African poverty is rooted in government corruption, corruption that actually is fostered by western aid. We should ask ourselves a simple question: Why is private capital so scarce in Africa? The obvious answer is that many African nations are ruled by terrible men who pursue disastrous economic policies. As a result, American aid simply enriches dictators, distorts economies, and props up bad governments. We could send Africa $1 trillion, and the continent still would remain mired in poverty simply because so many of its nations reject property rights, free markets, and the rule of law. As commentator Joseph Potts explains, western money enables dictators like Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe to gain and hold power without the support of his nation’s people. African rulers learn to manipulate foreign governments and obtain an independent source of income, which makes them far richer and more powerful than any of their political rivals. Once comfortably in power, and much to the horror of the western governments that funded them, African dictators find their subjects quite helpless and dependent. Potts describes this process as giving African politicians the “power to impoverish.”</div>
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-Ron Paul, “What Should Americans do for Africa?”, July 11, 2005, Before the House of Representatives<br />
<a href="http://www.ronpaularchive.com/2005/07/what-should-america-do-for-africa/" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="http://www.ronpaularchive.com/2005/07/what-should-america-do-for-africa/">http://www.ronpaularchive...</a></div>
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<b>Exhibit O: Insists on Congratulating our First African-American President. MLK “Would be Proud”</b></div>
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“With the election behind us, our country turns hopeful eyes to the future. I have a few hopes of my own. I congratulate our first African-American president-elect. Martin Luther King, Jr. certainly would be proud to see this day. We are stronger for embracing diversity, and I am hopeful that we can continue working through the tensions and wrongs of the past and become a more just and colorblind society. I hope this new administration will help bring us together, and not further divide us. I have always found that freedom is the best way to break down barriers. A free society emphasizes the importance of individuals, and not because they are part of a certain group. That’s the only way equal justice can be achieved.”</div>
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-Ron Paul, “Hope for the Future”, November 9, 2008<br />
<a href="http://www.ronpaularchive.com/2008/11/hopes-for-the-future/" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="http://www.ronpaularchive.com/2008/11/hopes-for-the-future/">http://www.ronpaularchive...</a></div>
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<b>Exhibit P:</b></div>
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“After 200 years, the constitutional protection of the right of the individual to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is virtually gone. Today’s current terminology describing rights reflects this sad change. It is commonplace for politicians and those desiring special privileges to refer to: black rights, Hispanic rights, handicap rights, employee rights, student rights, minority rights, women’s rights, gay rights, children’s rights, student rights, Asian-American rights, Jewish rights, AIDS victims’ rights, poverty rights, homeless rights, etc. Unless all the terms are dropped & we recognize that only an individual has rights, the solution to the mess in which we find ourselves will not be found. The longer we lack of definition of rights, the worse the economic and social problems will be.”</div>
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-Ron Paul, “Freedom Under Siege”, by Ron Paul, p. 14-15 Dec 31, 1987</div>
<br /></div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17386064346695620190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3557658807366018534.post-38108016164052244672011-12-22T16:45:00.001-08:002011-12-22T16:45:38.520-08:00Identifying who the next anti-Romney guy may be<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
From 2012 Talking Points Memo.com:<br />
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America’s Next Anti-Romney: Is There Another Last-Minute Surge Left?</h1>
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outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/benjy_sarlin.php" style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; color: black; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">BENJY SARLIN</a></strong> <time datetime="2011-12-12T10:54:54Z" pubdate="pubdate" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">DECEMBER 22, 2011, 5:54 AM</time></span> <span class="meta" style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; color: black; display: inline-block; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; 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outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 21px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: top;">7017</span> <a href="http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/americas-next-anti-romney-is-the-another-last-minute-surge-left.php?ref=fpnewsfeed#pagecomments" style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; color: black; display: inline-block; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 6px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; 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vertical-align: top;">95</span></a></span></section><div style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
As recently as a couple of weeks ago, the Republican contest looked like it was racing towards a final decisive battle between Mitt Romney and a resurgent Newt Gingrich.</div>
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But Gingrich’s poll numbers are plummeting at such terminal velocity now that there may be time yet for another candidate to make a last-minute move and take over the designated anti-Romney spot. Let’s review the case for some of the dark horses out there.</div>
<div style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<strong style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ron Paul</strong><br /><strong style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The case for Paulmentum</strong>: He’s currently <a href="http://polltracker.talkingpointsmemo.com/contest/ia-pres-12-r" style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; color: #990000; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">leading in Iowa</a> and, unlike some of the flash-in-the-pan candidates we’ve seen pop up so far, his core supporters would walk in front of a train for him. He’s had four years to build the necessary institutions to harness the raw grassroots buzz he generated in 2008 and local officials in Iowa have been raving about his <a href="http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/ron-paul-camp-marries-retail-politics-to-national-buzz.php?ref=fpnewsfeed" style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; color: #990000; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">disciplined and highly visible ground game</a> for months.</div>
<div style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<strong style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The case against:</strong> Even with the very real chance of a big Iowa victory, Ron Paul’s ceiling is relatively low for a several reasons. His isolationist bent and libertarian positions on drugs, civil liberties, and other hot button issues where the vast majority of the GOP is on the far opposite end of the spectrum. His longtime connections to the far-right fringe and its most <a href="http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/the-racist-newsletters-return-to-haunt-ron-paul.php" style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; color: #990000; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">racist, militia-friendly, conspiracy-mongering elements</a> are also poisonous and he’s actually avoided media scrutiny in these areas since few independent observers give him a real shot at winning the nomination.</div>
<div style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“If Paul wins Iowa he would be Mitt Romney’s new BFFL (best friend for life) as sane Republicans and Independents who want to beat Obama will sober up pretty fast and stop dancing with gadflies,” Pat Griffin, an unaligned GOP strategist in New Hampshire told TPM. “I think a Paul win in Iowa further coalesces Romney support in NH and SC.”</div>
<div style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<strong style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Rick Perry</strong><br /><strong style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The case for Perrymentum:</strong> Rick Perry looked like he might be in position to coast to the nomination in August, before his campaign ran off a cliff. He had been largely left for dead even before he started <a href="http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/11/oops-rick-perry-gets-confused-forgets-his-own-plan-mid-sentence.php" style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; color: #990000; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">forgetting his own campaign platform</a> mid-debate, but he may be poised to gain if Gingrich’s keeps racing towards bottom. For one thing his poll numbers in Iowa, while still stuck in the 10-12% range, have been <a href="http://polltracker.talkingpointsmemo.com/contest/ia-pres-12-r" style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; color: #990000; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">slowly ticking up </a>in recent weeks. And unlike some of the other longshots, he is <a href="http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/air-war-what-iowa-tv-looks-like-for-newt.php?ref=fpnewsfeed" style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; color: #990000; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">all over the airwaves</a> — both his campaign and a Super PAC are shelling out big bucks on ads. His last ditch plan seems to be a combination of a naked pandering appeal to evangelicals <a href="http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/rick-perrys-gay-baiting-ad-rivals-justin-bieber-in-youtube-hatred.php" style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; color: #990000; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(‘Hate gays and love Christmas? Me too!’)</a> and an anti-Wall Street, anti-Washington outsider attack that looks to <a href="http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/class-war-rick-perry-plays-the-bain-card-on-mitt-romney-in-iowa.php" style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; color: #990000; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">tar his rivals as corrupt insiders.</a></div>
<div style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And his low expectations at this point could also work in his favor. “[A] third place by Perry in IA is probably enough to get him into the poll position in battle Romney in SC and beyond,” GOP strategist Soren Dayton told TPM.</div>
<div style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<strong style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The case against:</strong> It seems hard to believe after his rock star entrance to the campaign, but voters haven’t just moved on to other candidates — they actively <em style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">loathe</em> Perry. He’s <a href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:VzzOD9Ec-LcJ:www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/2011/PPP_Release_National_1219.pdf+&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; color: #990000; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">underwater</a>with 37-47 favorability among national Republicans in the latest PPP poll, and he fares the worst of the entire field with the general voting populating, making the electability case against Romney pretty weak. Among all voters, his favorability rating is a <a href="http://polltracker.talkingpointsmemo.com/contest/us-favorability-perry" style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; color: #990000; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">rancid 24-65.</a> Newt managed to rebound after losing his grip on the GOP faithful, but now he’s back to being heckled by disillusioned locals, so Perry faces a steep climb.</div>
<div style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<strong style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Jon Huntsman</strong><br /><strong style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The case for Huntsmentum:</strong> The guy has been practically living in New Hampshire, making a campaign-leading 115 appearances in the state since June, and his <a href="http://polltracker.talkingpointsmemo.com/contest/2012-nh-pres-12-r" style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; color: #990000; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">poll numbers</a> are finally showing some modest movement. A number of popular Republican pundits, including Erick Erickson and George Will, have been urging voters to give him <a href="http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/conservatives-starting-to-catch-on-that-jon-huntsman-is-a-conservative.php" style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; color: #990000; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">another look </a>as their anti-Romney options dwindle. He’s actually much more conservative than his reputation suggests — his tax plan, for example, is much, much more ambitious <a href="http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/08/huntsmans-debuts-jobs-plan-tax-breaks-for-the-rich.php" style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; color: #990000; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(and regressive)</a> than Romney’s and the Wall Street Journal has <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904583204576544703176083600.html" style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; color: #990000; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">taken notice</a> of the wide gap. He’s also not afraid to <a href="http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/huntsman-camp-slams-bain-layoffs-in-new-hampshire.php?ref=fpnewsfeed" style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; color: #990000; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">throw the kitchen sink at Romney</a> over Bain Capital’s layoffs.</div>
<div style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<strong style="-webkit-box-shadow: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: none; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The case against:</strong> If he hasn’t surged in New Hampshire at this point after targeting it almost exclusively, it seems hard to imagine why it would suddenly happen now. Whatever the reality of his record, Huntsman has angered a lot of Republicans by taking shots at the right on climate change, evolution, and other issues that push their culture warrior buttons. As the technocratic, ultra-rich, governor with a successful dad and a bunch of fans among Republican elites, he occupies a lot of the same space as Romney. And if he does win New Hampshire by some miracle, where does he go next? He doesn’t seem to be a good fit for more socially conservative states, especially in the South, and it could be tough for him to build on his success.</div>
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</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17386064346695620190noreply@blogger.com0