I will be on the Charles Goyette radio show 8:35 AM Eastern time Thursday (1/31) discussing the Ron Paul campaign and other developments in the presdiential race.
Charles is one of the best libertarian hosts in the country; his political courage and humor have helped make him the most popular talk show host in Phoenix. He is on the dial on KFNX at 1100 AM in Arizona and surrounding turf. You can listen live on the Internet here.
Charles has endorsed Ron Paul. Ron Paul is scheduled to be on Charles’s show later on Thursday morning.
I was disappointed that Ron Paul only got 3% of the votes in yesterday’s Florida primary. The trendline for his vote percentages in most of elections since Iowa have been downward.
I think Ron Paul is doing great in the debates and in the interviews. But his campaign seems gun-shy about stressing Paul’s stalwart position on the Iraq war. Some of the ads the campaign is paying to run have the punching power of wet noodles.
Although i don’t think it’s in his nature, the best thing Mr. Paul could do now is turn the sanctimonious smug routine back on the “legitimate candidates”………forcing their hands and pulling pants down right and left. At this juncture, it is looking alarmingly like a Hellery-McCain choice and “the economy” has nudged aside the war….even though the war is a principle cause behind the tanking economy. The citizen has swallowed the “surge is a victory” story line hook, line and sinker and so now they look for the government to help them out of their economic straits even as the Government wipes the fingerprints from the pistol that whipped the public about the head.
Mr. Pauls message is cogent and to the point but the public seems to have habituated itself to fairy tales and boogie man in the woodpile stories.
Paul should put brass knuckles on and start swinging……his is the position of intellectual strength and he needs to go for broke with it even if his timorous campaign hacks are nervous.
Unfortunately, due to the “successful surge,” the Iraq war no longer has the pull it used to have. Now it’s time to repeat Carville’s slogan but to the average voter Paul economic views sound “kooky.” What? Go back to the gold standard? Alternative currencies? Is that like Monopoly money? Get rid of the FRB? Are you nuts? And then what happens when a bank needs a “lender of last resort?”
Mr. Sabin has it right. Paul should have come out of New Hampshire swinging. But I don’t think it’s in his nature. He is a gentleman of a different epoch. The real question is, would he have a receptive public if he did take the gloves off?
I’m not so sure. As Jim has referred to time and time again, no group of humans on the planet has the capacity for forgetfulness like Americans. The good ol’ American memory hole is cosmically vast! But the memory hole phenomenon didn’t come about at the flick of a switch. It took time to develop. And now it’s pretty damn well entrenched. (Heck, when you think about it, in less than seventy-five years after the signing of the Constitution, a great many people had forgotten enough about the nature of the compact between the States that 600,000 were killed as a result.)
I don’t want to sound overly pessimistic, but nothing Paul says is significantly going to change this phenomenon overnight. The American mindset will be changed when a majority of people are personally and dramatically affected by Washington’s murderous profligacy. Whether it’s changed for the better depends upon the strength and numbers Paul is able to convert in the next few months and what sort of movement and leaders they can build and put forward when the ‘shit hits the fan’.
The answer to the “kooky” line is to smile ear to ear and say, “Damn right skippy, in a lapsed Republic, any notion of Republican Government would sound kooky”
But what is more kooky is the notion that the American People need a government that is reckless, demigogueic, requires spying on it’s own public to qoute “protect them” and has succeeded in bringing millions of people to the brink of penury so a small majority can live like tycoons on a K Street Holiday”.
Personally, the people who know they’re nuts never worry me nearly as much as the loons who claim sanity.
The problem is that the “American People” in general have a knowledge of economics that approaches zero. As Jim’s colleague at FFF put it today “Not understanding basic economics is dangerous because you’re vulnerable to political con games foisted by unscrupulous politicians.” How many high school graduates have had a course in economics? It’s probably similar to the number who have taken a course in physics, but most people can live with the rudiments of what they learned in general science, but where is the equivalent background in economics?
I meant to indicate that Jim’s colleague I was referring to is Sheldon Richman. His article is at http://www.fff.org/comment/com0801j.asp.
I personally think a percentage of votes are being stolen. Even the vote recount in NH is turning into a joke. It’s not like the whole voting system hasn’t been set up for massive corruption and rigging for years now. Funny how on the day of a primary, the numbers never seem to go up and certain news stations seem to know the winners hours ahead of time… And Louisiana is still in dispute. Ron Paul may have even placed first there…
What’s an American citizen to do, when even your vote can’t count, lawsuits for clean elections are dismissed by corrupt judges, and the winners are pre-chosen? Take to the streets and have a REAL revolution??
Well, so much for this blog resurrecting my positive thinking.
Jim, suggested “antidote” for negative thinking: watch the film Election, particularly the part where Tammy explains her “platform” (“… as president, I won’t do anything. The only promise I will make is that, if elected, I will immediately dismantle the student government so that none of us will ever have to sit through one of these stupid assemblies again!”) and ends with “Or don’t vote for me! Who cares? Don’t vote at all!”
Do you think the fact that Paul published racist newsletters is depressing his vote count and the enthusiasm of his supporters? I know my enthusiasm waned after reading about that.
Sean Dougherty
Sean – the newsletters sure as hell didn’t help.
I don’t know how much impact they have had among potential supporters.
One reason for Paul to vigorously embrace the antiwar issue is to keep the focus on what he aspires to do in the future.
Jim
Heard the show this morning. Charles is the best period. My thoughts about the Paul campaign parallel with your feelings. Who cares he delivered 4,000 babies, the abortion folks are voting for McCain or Romney, the flip floppers.
My feelings is that Paul is paving the yellow brick road for future candidates to take the matel and run with it. Maybe I’m full of it, but why he isn’t doing with Eugene McCarthy did in 1968, is mind boggling.
Jean – thanks for listening.
Were you living in Maine in ’68 when McCarthy thumped LBJ? Maybe the political waves didn’t travel across the White Mountains, but….
I recall watching the LBJ speech in which he made the surprise announcement that he was withdrawing from the presidential race. Even though McCarthy got rolled later in the primary season, his stand on principle radically altered the American political landscape.
Hope the Paul campaign’s ads will zero in on higher ground.
Dirk – it would be worth the price of a case of beer to hear one of the candidates reply to a debate “moderator” (@#$#) with
“Damn right, Skippy!”
— almost but not quite enough to restore my faith in the political class.
Jim,
On a brighter note, I see that the Paul campaign hired on Doug Bandow as policy advisor, and Charles Pena and Phil Giraldi as foreign policy advisors. I also see that they’ve hired 2 new people for the ad campaign.
Maybe things will be a changing soon. Let’s hope in time for next Tuesday.
Here in Maine, we are heading for the caucuses, and looks like things will be quite good for Dr. Paul here. I’ll report later on what happened.
Yes, it is supremely frustrating to see the campaign literature and ads either downplay or ignore the Iraq War, when these issues have brought such a favorable response in the debates. The campaign simply does not understand that conventional TV ads will not do for a Ron Paul campaign. They need to show Paul speaking truth to power, that is it.
Joe’s point about overcoming the economic ignorance of the populace is a good one. Paul’s efforts here have been heroic, but he simply cannot do it all himself (not to discount the good work done by others, but it has yet to reach the masses). There must be sympathetic voices in the MSM, beyond Stossel’s great efforts on 20/20.
Looks like Dr. Paul will finish in second place here in Maine. On a lighter note, I was elected to the local GOP County Committee, even though I was at the caucus for a few hours. The darn thing lasted 6 hours. Don’t they know what they gotten themselves into.
Jean – congratulations on your election!
I hope this proves a mighty springboard to the U.S. Senate. You could do Maine proud!!
Glad to see the Paul campaign finish with strong numbers today. If they can replicate those numbers on Super Tuesday, then it will be a whole new ballgame.