The Mosh Pit of Candidates: Ron Paul Will Hold ‘Counter-Convention’ at Republican Convention
May 16th, 2008 | 6 responses
Ron Paul, one of the most interesting and unique of the men who ran for the Republican nomination, well… He’s not giving up.
He and his considerable group of supporters have already rented space for their assembly near the site of the Republican Convention in St Paul Minn.
Paul doesnt support John McCain; thinks McCain’s ideas are far different than his.
Says he has a lot of ‘numbers’ in terms of voters
Doesnt think he’ll be interested in campaigning with Bob Barr, who is running to gain the nomination on the Libertarian ticket.
Some people think Ron Paul– and Hillary Clinton– are demented for not dropping out of a race that some insist they cannot win, and that are in effect, over already.
However from the point of view of our country being is such serious straights, it’s just my two cents worth, but if I had to choose who to be in my lifeboat trying to not go down with the current ship of state, I don’t think I’d want sister and brother sailors who gave up because it seemed the odds were not good, or because they thought the lifeboat cost too much money to man, or because landfall had not yet been sighted…
I’d want the brothers and sisters who are stalwart, never give up kinds of people… considering not the odds only, but what great moment is at stake. “Never, never, never”… you know, like that other ‘demented’ guy Winston Churchill said.
This interesting article by Marcus Baram who writes for ABC news, on what has become what I’d call ‘a mosh pit’ of candidates …
Asked during an appearance on “The Daily Show” last week which of the two Democratic nominees he preferred to run against in the general election, McCain quipped, “Ron Paul.”
But Paul might get the last laugh during
McCain’s coronation at the party’s convention in early September.McCain’s nomination may be certain, but he finds himself pressured by different wings of the conservative movement — from the libertarians and the anti-war activists, to social conservatives and evangelical voters.
In recent primaries, as many as 25 percent of Republican voters chose a different candidate, with many pulling levers for Paul and former GOP candidate Mike Huckabee, who snagged 27 percent of the vote in the Pennsylvania primary.
A similar phenomenon also occurred in 2000, when 33 percent of Republicans voted against Bush in the Colorado primary though Bush was the presumed nominee by then.
Paul’s grass-roots movement of enthusiastic supporters is reportedly planning a minirebellion
at the convention to push its anti-war, anti-tax agenda.
In state conventions in Maine and Nevada, Paul’s forces battled McCain’s delegates to the brink. While they won’t have the muscle to challenged McCain in the national convention, they can be an annoying sideshow when the spotlight is supposed to be solely on the candidate.
Huckabee has endorsed McCain, but some of his evangelical supporters remain skeptical about McCain’s claim to be a social conservative.
Virginia conservative Michael Farris, the chancellor of Patrick Henry College, reportedly promoted an Obama presidency as a biblical punishment for Republican sins, which would allow the party to regroup and come back under the leadership of Huckabee in 2012. Farris denied that he ever suggested such a thing during an interview with ABCNEWS.com.
And former GOP Rep. Bob Barr, who won acclaim in conservative circles for leading the drive to impeach President Clinton, just announced his run for the presidency on the Libertarian Party ticket.
The party commands few votes, but Barr has the potential to draw away Republican voters and be a spoiler in battleground states as Ralph Nader was accused of doing to Democrats in the 2000 election.
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6 Responses to “The Mosh Pit of Candidates: Ron Paul Will Hold ‘Counter-Convention’ at Republican Convention”
As always, dr. e, I get your point, but I think the circumstances are completely different between running a political campaign and being in a lifeboat or defending one's country in times of war. A more apt comparison would be if two generals were supposedly on the same team and one had been given a mission only to look over to find the other general leading a separate charge.
I'm more accepting of Paul continuing because he offers a very different picture of the Republican party than McCain. But Clinton and Obama are two varieties of the same basic policy agenda. Should the good people of W.Va. still be giving money to Clinton instead of saving for college? Of course, they have a clear right to; I just think it would be the more decent thing for Clinton to do is to say “thank you but it's time for you to keep the money for your family or give it to my friend and opponent who is going to lead going forward; however, you see fit.”
[...] The Moderate Voice – Domestic and international news analysis, irreverent comments, original reporti… wrote an interesting post today on The Mosh Pit of Candidates: Ron Paul Will Hold â??Counter-Conventionâ?? at Republican ConventionHere’s a quick excerptThe Mosh Pit of Candidates: Ron Paul Will Hold ‘Counter-Convention’ at Republican Convention May 16th, 2008 by DR. CLARISSA PINKOLA ESTÉS, TMV Columnist Ron Paul, one of the most interesting and unique of the men who ran for the Republican nomination, well… He’s not giving up. He and his considerable group of supporters have already rented space for their assembly near the site of the Republican Convention in St Paul Minn. Paul doesnt support John McCain; thinks McCain’s ideas are far diff [...]
The indoctrination of the American public by this country's political oligarchy and media runs very deep. The process of deprogramming is long and difficult. The Libertarian Party and associated organizations have been reeducating people for over 40 years. Ron Paul's campaign was more of a massive exercise in deprogramming than a real political campaign. He may have achieved a lot and made some breakthroughs but there is still a long way to go. At least his campaign had the lasting effect of leaving behind a political structure through which freedom and liberty oriented candidates can be elected and the reeducation can continue at a faster and more effective pace.
It really doesn't matter if it's a lifeboat scenario or a couple of generals. The fact that Paul is running a counter=convention, at a different location, is proof that he has given up. His supporters are now attempting to infiltrate the Republican convention by some political tricks in the several State convetions and caucuses. But they have run up against a wall. So the counter-convention is the next best–yet it reeks of failure. Paul willnot even be able to make any inroads as to McCain's running mate, and hardly any into the McCain administration, if McCain wins the Presidency. Paul's political tactics along with his statmenst and books on policies and principles forever makes him persona non grata in any McCain White House. As to the Clinton situation, well, she has far more delegates, as a percentage, than Paul, and will be able to influence the Democratic convention, perhaps even to influence the choice of Obama's VP, as well as his administration. Who knows, in this thing called politics, where uncertainty is king, she may be the nominee. But Paul's lifeboat has sunk and his army defeated.
It's one thing to have a chance and another to play the lottery.
“,Ron Paul's campaign was more of a massive exercise in deprogramming than a real political campaign”
That's one way, a positive way, to look at it.
I'm doubtful, though, how deprogramming can work if the tools used are identical to those in the system that is targeted for change.
If it looks like a political campaign, and talks like a politiclal campaign……..
:Clinton and Obama are two varieties of the same basic policy agenda.”
A policy agenda is, of course, a prime motivator in elections.
What many people will be voting for, however, is a different process for arriving at specific policies,. Here, Clinton's 'reaching across the aisle' and Obma's are entirely different. Clinton stakes out a position and fights on to the bitter end until co-operation, is inevscapable. Obama starts out by including diversity of views from the beginning., trying to avoid the bitterness in fghts..
In a different climate, I would be attracted to Clinton's approach. I think her health plan is superior, for example.
Right now, however, Obama's attention to process is what the ountry needs, IMO.