Ron Paul: Why a Top-tier Candidate Is Ignored by Republicans --- because he refuses to support a failed interventionist policy, nation building and israel
On Aug 31, 7:30 am, MJ <[email protected]> wrote: > "Let us be blunt: The stone cold truth is that for all of their talk of > “conservative” principles and the like, Paul’s Republican opponents in > Washington and the so-called “alternative” or “conservative” media are not > now, nor have they ever been, genuinely conservative. Whether we are > discussing Fox News contributors -- a shocking number of which are refugees > from George W. Bush’s administration -- the writers atThe Weekly > StandardandNational Review,or such talk radio personalities as Rush Limbaugh, > Sean Hannity, Bill Bennett and all of the rest, such “conservative” > commentators aren’t conservative at all; they areneoconservative."Ron Paul: > Why a Top-tier Candidate Is Ignored by RepublicansWritten by Jack Kerwick, > Ph.D. > Friday, 26 August 2011 00:00 > It is hard not to be amazed by the blackout of media coverage of Ron Paul’s > presidential campaign. Had Newt Gingrich, Herman Cain, Rick Santorum, Jon > Huntsman, or any second-tier candidate been performing remotely as well as > Paul has, he would no longer be regarded as a “second-tier” candidate. To the > credit of such left-leaning outlets asJon Stewarts'The Daily ShowandThe > Huffington Post, this phenomenon has not gone unnoticed by everyone. > Let’s think about this.In spite ofthe extent to which Paul has been ignored > by the establishment media in both of its leftist and rightist varieties, he > unfailingly elicits explosive applause in every GOP presidential primary > debate in which he has participated. AFox News poll, of all places, shows > that the overwhelming majority of its respondents hold that Ron Paul achieved > a decisive victory over all of the other candidates in the most recent debate > in Iowa. Of 7,991 “active” cities nationwide that participated in the poll, > and 43,293 total votes, 27,459 people thought that Paul won the debate. Newt > Gingrich came in second place -- with 5, 906 votes. > Statistically speaking,Ron Paul practically tied with Michele Bachmann for > first place in the Ames Straw Poll, a contest that is evidently so > significant that “top-tier” contender Tim Pawlenty’s third place showing > compelled him to abandon his campaign. Bachmann beat Paul by a meager 152 > votes. > ACNN/Opinion Research Corporation pollreleased back in May showed that among > possible Republican contenders (Perry may not have been a consideration as of > yet), Paul stands the best chance of beating President Obama. This poll > showed Obama leading Paul by only seven percentage points, while he led > Romney by 11. Since then, however, things have changed. > AGallup pollfrom August 23 shows that if the election were held today, Mitt > Romney would beat Obama by two percentage points (48 percent-46 percent) and > Rick Perry would tie with him (at 47 percent). It is true that this same poll > has Obama beating Paul by (only)twopoints (47 percent-45 percent); but it has > Obama beating “top-tier” candidate Bachmann byfourpoints (48 percent-44 > percent)! However, when it comes to that much cherished “independent” vote, > PaulleadsObama by three points. The significance of this vis-à-vis my > contention that Paulisa top-tier candidate himself and should be recognized > as such becomes obvious once we grasp that Romney is the only other > Republican candidate who leads Obama among independents by this much > (butonlythis much). “Top-tier” candidate Perry leads Obama in this category > by two points while “top-tier” candidate BachmanntrailsObama among > independents bysix points.In aTexas pollamong “882 highly active Republican > voters,” these voters said that if the Texas primaries were held at the time > that the poll was taken, they would vote for Congressman Paul before they > would vote for any other Republican contender including their own Governor, > Rick Perry (who was second choice). > As I write this,a Gallup Presidential Nomination preference pollshows that > Paul has leapt ahead of “top-tier” candidate Michele Bachmann and is now > third place behind Perry and Romney. Twenty-nine percent of those polled > prefer Perry; 17 percent are partial to Romney; and Paul picks up 13 percent > of the vote against Bachmann’s 10 percent. > Polls fluctuate. In any event, they are no substitutes for actual votes. > Still, the point here is not that Paul is likely to get his party’s > nomination or that he would actually win the general election if he did; in > these propositions it is not my purpose to either affirm or deny. Rather, the > point is only to show that by the very standards by which establishment > pundits and pollsters determine top-tier candidates, Paul should be > considered a top-tier candidate. > But he is not. > The reason for this, I think, is pretty clear. > Even though he is the partisan for constitutional or “limited” governmentpar > excellence,Paul is despised and feared by the party of “limited government.” > That is, he is anathema to the GOP establishment, for while he has proved > prescient regarding the economic collapse of 2008, and while an ever > increasing number of Americans generally and Republican-minded voters in > particular have gravitated toward embracing many of his views over the last > three years, Paul’s uncompromising repudiation of his party’s foreign policy > vision has earned him quite a few enemies within it. > Let us be blunt: The stone cold truth is that for all of their talk of > “conservative” principles and the like, Paul’s Republican opponents in > Washington and the so-called “alternative” or “conservative” media are not > now, nor have they ever been, genuinely conservative. Whether we are > discussing Fox News contributors -- a shocking number of which are refugees > from George W. Bush’s administration -- the writers atThe Weekly > StandardandNational Review,or such talk radio personalities as Rush Limbaugh, > Sean Hannity, Bill Bennett and all of the rest, such “conservative” > commentators aren’t conservative at all; they areneoconservative.In all > fairness, it may be a lack of familiarity with the conservative intellectual > tradition or even a reliable history of the conservativemovementin America > that accounts for why some of these folks wrongly, but sincerely, confuse > their commitment to neoconservatism with conservatism proper. As for many of > them, though, I suspect that they know exactly what they are doing when they > deceptively identify themselves as “conservative.” > My intention here is not to criticize Paul’s detractors for being > neoconservatives. The term “neoconservatism” is not, or at least should not, > be interpreted as a slur. As I and others, including its apologists, have > argued, neoconservatism is a distinct political-philosophical orientation, an > expression of the Enlightenment liberal rationalism that continues to > dominate our political imagination. But philosophically, neoconservatism is > as far from classical conservatism as is socialism. > There is no more shame in a neoconservative arguing and defending his > convictions than there is shame in anyone else doing the same. There is, > however, shame in a neoconservative pretending that he is something other > than he is. > And, like today’s “progressives” who pretend they are not “socialists” > because of the unpopularity of the idea of “socialism,” our neoconservatives > pretend they are “conservatives” because of the unpopularity of > neoconservatism. > To sum this all up, Ron Paul has proven to be, at the very least, competitive > with the best that this GOP primary race has to offer. However, as long as > his party remains dominated by neoconservatives, he will face an uphill > battle.http://www.thenewamerican.com/opinion/jack-kerwick/8751-ron-paul-why-a-top-tier-candidate-is-ignored-by-republicans -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
