The Washington Post has an article today on the number of Ron Paul’s relatives who worked for his presidential campaign.
I will be curious if there are other analyses of how the Paul campaign spent $30 million.
The Post article quoted Paul campaign spokesman Jesse Benton saying that Paul would be “continuing a positive, respectful campaign to influence the policies of the Republican Party.”
How can one run a “respectful” campaign when the opponent favors quasi-genocide?
At what moment did the Ron Paul campaign decide to begin pulling their punches?
According to one insider, Ron Paul is now focusing primarily on negotiating with the Republican National Committee to get a good speaking slot at the Republican Convention in September.
Instead of bringing down the roof, is Ron Paul now angling for a seat at the table?
UPDATE: I also posted this comment on the Antiwar.com Blog. It has sparked some heated replies….
UPDATE #2: Some folks on the Antiwar.com Blog are questioning whether Congressman Paul is focusing on getting a speaking slot at the GOP convention. The Washington Post reported on May 6 that “Paul’s campaign hopes to turn such support into upward of 50 delegates for the party’s national convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul in September, where he is gunning for a speaking slot.”
The Paul campaign did not dispute this report when it was published earlier this month.
the man is a fraud and so is the whole “right-libertarian” movement.
Or, to put it charitably, Paul and “right-libertarianism” have utterly failed to understand the most basic points of political analysis, namely that politics divides into left/right, with the left being the reform/masses element and the right being the conservative/ruling class element.
No genuine reformer could be for a minute a member of a right wing party like the Republicans. And hardly a member of the Democrats either. You need to go much further to the left.
If this is the case, it’s a real let down. Paul has been treated worse than a stray cur by the Republican machine. The last thing he needs to do is ‘make nice’.
I don’t think ‘the cause’ is advanced by verbal civility at this point.
Wes – I agree.
And there is a big difference between verbal civility and avoiding mentioning the Warmongering Elephant in the middle of the room.
What election have you guys been watching? Ron Paul has been the only person to stand up and say the truth, and point out how wrong the republicans are. He has stated he would not support McCain. What do you expect him to do? Come out name calling, which would get him no where?
You guys can’t be serious.
Dr Ron Paul is famous in the US House of Representatives as Doctor NO for always voting NO on new expenditures and more restrictions on liberty – according to our news media the man is some kind of crook ?
Ron Paul should have hired from Temporary Day Labor (would have been cheaper).
“continuing a positive respectful campaign to influence the policies of the Republican Party” is like bailing water from the Titanic to slow the dive into the mid-oceanic trench. Sure, there is an element of value in soldiering on amidst these charlatans and attempting to move the few remaining small government Republicans who are not yet in Depends but really now, exactly what does he expect to achieve? I like and admire what Mr. Paul has been attempting but at some point, these boys went nice when they should have kept hammering.
Although it is remarkable that the shock and awe routine still works on our media, nobody should be at all moved a scintilla by McClellens book about the Bush Bunker. The puzzled quislings of the Lord Bushleroy War Train will simply use this new confusion to run down the clock until another hapless sap can be installed as whipping boy on Pennsylvania Avenue, the lightening rod for the Military-Industrial-Entertainment-Energy-Education-We Want Your Dreams Too Complex.
If you want to see a preview of the end, watch the closing scenes of Herzog’s Aguirre Wrath of God, as Kinski looks about him on his doomed raft as monkeys gibber about and the few remaining soldiers lie rotting in the amazon sun and says
“Who’s With Me”.
Perhaps if somebody trusted appeared on the nightly news and after cackling like a Jackdaw , looked sternly into the camera at the viewer and stated “you are about the dumbest simple bastards on God’s Green Earth” before then pulling down a chalkboard and amid a furious cloud of chalk, began listing the various delusions this public sucks on like a babe to teat. This might be news.
If Paul’s too genial for what should be done, he should put some more effort into finding somebody who can deliver meaningful punches. The Republican party is dead and the only things worse are that it won’t shut up and , of course, the Democrat Party….an institution that makes Lord Bushleroy look like Einstein in comparison.
The timing isnt right for Paul to do this kind of thing. If he wants to gain some sort of influence he should stick to his guns, especially in light of Scotty’s new book
Dirk, on that idea about the chalkboard for the evening news — I always knew this country had taken a turn for the worse when CBS fired Dan Rather.
Steve – I think you got a bullseye there.
This is a time for turning up the heat….