Ron Paul is Still Hanging in There
by Big Dog on Jan 16, 2008 at 11:08 Political
Ron Paul is still hanging around and has done better in the last few primaries than Rudy Giuliani. The Michigan primary was yesterday and it was won by Mitt Romney (no surprise and not because of Kos). Ron Paul placed ahead of Rudy and Fred Thompson, two candidates who do not get excluded from debates. It also appears that Paul has plenty of money coming in while Rudy’s folks are going without pay this month. Rudy’s plan is to wait until Florida and the others are now trying to compete in the South. Dr. Paul seems to be plodding along and about the time Super Tuesday comes he might be in the best shape.
Romney was one loss away from being out, Huckabee and Thompson need to do well in the South and McCain might not win another state. By the time they get to Florida it will be important to have plenty of money for ads because no candidate can afford to run ads in all the states on February 5th and it is physically impossible for them to be in all of them. Florida is the last big showdown before the stuff hits the fan and Paul might end up in the best position.
If Fred loses SC he is probably out or soon will be. Same with Huckabee and Romney cannot afford many more loses or he is through. Right now it seems to be a race of staying power to see which one can afford to keep going. If the ones who are left make it to Florida and have little money for the blitz, Ron Paul just might sneak in and win.
He is still a long shot and there are still folks who don’t get him but he is the one who believes in reducing spending, reducing our presence around the world and fixing our monetary system.
Ron Paul gives the impression of being the tortoise running against the hares in the Republican Party. When the race is over he might just be the one to end up across the finish line.
I just wish he did not look (and act) like a grumpy old man.
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Tags: Giuliani, money, primary race, romney, ron paul, thompson
Ron Paul will not make a comeback. He’s got pockets of support and he’s a great fund raiser, but I think he’s done for. You don’t get less than 10% or so in each of the 1st 4 major primaries and just hope that the top tier will punk out and let you ease around. It’s never gonna happen.
Maybe I’m just not inside this thing enough, but this is what I think about Ron Paul. He’s right in the middle of a storm of hate and love for everything he stands for. On one side are the neo-cons who love how he’ll cut taxes on corps but he wants to end their wars and their no-bid contracts boosting the industries they hail from. One the other side is the Christian Right who loves that he’s pro-family but hate that he doesn’t want to legislate morality over abortion and marriage. On another side are the people feeling the tax burden and liking that he wants to lesson that but they also understand the importance of certain social programs like social security and do not trust the private sector to handle that. I think all of this and more is why he’s got about 10% support and you need a bit more than that to win the party.
Don’t even get me started on Rudy. Rudy is deluded in his plan to somehow do good in Super Spectacular Oh My Lord Tuesday. It won’t work. He’s just a centrist Yankee mayor who can’t stop talking about 9/11 and get to talking about what really matters to Americans. He has no money, no other message, and no real support anywhere. He’s shown in the past that he has too many personal problems and no ability to slip out of those like some politicians do. He’s hosed.
The GOP race is a wide open 3 way battle, and I don’t believe that will change any time soon.
Over on the Dem side it’s a 2 person race with Edwards’ hope to even affect the outcome slipping more every day. If Obama can eek out a win in Nevada and coast in South Carolina where he has strong support, then he may erode Hillary’s support in Florida.
If Edwards does well in South Carolina he might rise up to a stronger 3rd place and have more affect, but that’s not looking good right now.
If Hillary can eek out a win in Nevada that should be enough for her to take a loss in South Carolina and still do well in Florida where recent polls have her at a 30 point lead. Even with a loss in Nevada and South Carolina it will be hard to stop her in Florida. After that then it’s out of their hands pretty much…
Well, Florida won’t matter because the delegates won’t count so no matter who wins it there will be no delegates. No matter who wins it there will be no delegates.
I find it interesting you said that Ron Paul will end the neo cons wars and no bid contracts.
I know I have said this before but people fail to listen. Bill Clinton gave no bid contracts to Halliburton. I know it is hard to believe but he did. I also wonder how the new contract for food in the Capitol was awarded. Was it no bid.
There is nothing wrong with a no bid contract of there is only one company that can provide what is needed. Suppose the government wanted to make all computers in the government have the Microsoft operating system. Would they put out a bid for the MS operating system or just contract with MS since it is the only one who makes it?
Just a little reminder, the military dropped bombs and shot at people in Iraq and Bosnia and the rest of the Baltics during the last administration.
It helps to keep things in perspective. You know, like Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter used warrantless wiretaps to listen to our enemies even if they were talking to someone in the US.
They have all done it and the will continue to do it.
The fact remains, Paul considers the military used as we do it now an incredible waste of tax payer money, and billions of tax payer dollars in contracts just icing on the cake. I believe this has you nervous about him a little, as you’ve said in the past. I think you are a good example of why no matter how many great things Paul says, he still gets 10% support because too many people are uneasy and unsure. Match that with the media’s incredible stupidity towards so called “lessor” candidates, and Paul’s pretty much hosed.
The deal with Florida is not like it was in Michigan where the candidates dropped out. When your opponents aren’t even on the ballot there’s no symbolism there, but in Florida you will still have a match up to take note of going into Super Tuesday, even if they aren’t fighting for delegates.
I am not nervous about Ron Paul and I believe I said I did not agree with some of his foreign policy. He would be a better candidate than any of the Democrats and has more experience (if Hillary wanted to argue it) and would provide more change than Obama could imagine. Remember, all the Democrats voted for the war and none have voted to cut off funding. Obama was not in Congress and though he claims he was against it he did say he is not sure how he would have voted.
I worry about some of his foreign policy, not necessarily the war but others. I have said many times we should bring our troops home from all the other countries like Germany, Japan, the Phillipines, and South Korea. That would save us a fortune.
I’m really not sure that a Paul or a Kucinich can ever win with the media and the party lockouts that we have. It’s bad enough too being on the fringe in your party, being an outsider like Ralph Nader is even worse. I don’t think it’s fair and I don’t think it’s good for our country.
I agree with you there. Let’s face it, regardless of party the people in power want to stay there and they have systems in place to ensure the power of incumbency. Members from both parties look down upon and unfavorably toward any third party or fringe party candidate.
Does not matter what your political bent is, we can all see that the people in Congress are not much like any of us and most have their interests and not ours at heart.
I can’t think of a single state Ron Paul can win. His chances are still exactly zero.