In a cleverly titled article at Politico — “The audacity of nope” — writers Jeremy Lott and W. James Antle III set up Congressman Ron Paul as the antithesis of not only Sen. Barack Obama but the entire field of presidential candidates, Republicans and Democrats alike.
Lott and Antle make a good point, but in the process, they miss a much larger (and more obvious) point, namely: Paul and his “no” message might be polling well, but Obama’s “yes” message — as in “yes, we can be a better nation; yes, we can get past divisive partisanship; yes, government has a valid and valuable role to play” — still draws more voters.
Consider: In the latest poll aggregation, Obama draws 1 in 4 on the Democratic ticket while Paul draws 1 in 25 on the Republican ticket. Moreover, Paul’s cross-party appeal is severely limited, while Obama’s — as we’ve seen both in anecdote and en masse — is quite strong.
Sure, there’s a libertarian spirit dwelling in the center of the American soul, but it’s clearly dwarfed by the spirit of expectation.