I missed this one when he filed the paperwork to form an exploratory committee – only learned of it through some random surfing on Free Republic. (The discussion thread offers a fascinating look at the intra-party tension between libertarian-leaning Pubs and other kinds.) Ron Paul served three terms in Congress as a Republican, 1978-84; ran unsuccessfully for the GOP nomination for the Senate in 1984; returned to his medical practice; was the Libertarian nominee for president in 1988; and returned to Congress as a Pub in 1996; he has held his seat continuously since then. He is strongly against the Iraq War and wants it ended ASAP.
Based on Wikipedia’s list of his stances, he’d certainly be preferable to some presidents I could name. His insistence on returning to the gold standard raises a red flag since that’s (a) unworkable and (b) usually a sign of either extreme paranoia or a poor understanding of how the economy works. However, as President, he wouldn’t be able to act on that issue, since few in Congress would support it.
Probably not. At least in my observation, the libertarian wing of the Republican Party is small and disorganized. The GOP’s big names in fundraising and media would largely be against him. Further, his base of support would have to include a substantial number of anti-government extremists, and their behavior might drive away moderates who have some interest in parts of Paul’s platform.
Now all us Libertarians, Greens, United-We-Stand people and whatever other hard-luck third party people ought to get together and all vote for one guy. It doesn’t matter which one, as one third-party guy gets enough votes to put a third party (and of them) on the ballot in as many states as possible. Of course this is a pipe dream. Third party people never form groups, sort of like house cats.
The Libertarian candidate will get his or her usual 0.2 - 0.4% of the vote. If Paul runs as a Republican, he’ll get none, since he won’t make it thru the primaries. Interestingly, the OP omits which party he is running on.
He’s seeking the Republican nomination – see the news report cited in the Freeper discussion thread linked in the OP. As for the Lib nomination, three candidates have filed so far and two others have expressed interest, but not Paul.
I am decidedly not a Libertarian, but I admire Ron Paul for his seriousness, determination, & understanding that “3rd parties” are a dead-end without serious changes in our culture.
Would he be any good? He would be uncomfortable with global hegemony; whether he could help extricate us from it is another question. How he would deal with it in executive office I just don’t know.
His biggest hurdle is getting elected in a culture where US hegemony & exceptionalism are assumed by most.
Anyway, I’m more Green than Lib; if I were to vote for him, it would be out of outsider solidarity more than agreement. And I consider the GOP presidential primary a futile exercise in '08 anyway.
The Republican party seems to be in eating its own mode at the moment; I watched Larry Kudlow’s show on CNBC yesterday and saw some nerfball from something called Human Events, which is apparently some right-wing nutjob think-tank or magazine or something, say that Chuck Hagel, who’s about as conservative as they get, as I recall, was a RINO (Republican In Name Only) for being so dead-set against Iraq now. Pretty much what they did to McCain up until about a year or so ago. Ideological purity tests seem to be getting stricter and stricter over there. The fact that Hagel isn’t the only Republican questioning the surge apparently cuts no ice with the extremists on that side of the aisle.
So, this guy has a snowball’s chance in Hades of getting anywhere anyway, given his stance on Iraq. And he’s even more merciless on budget questions, which certainly won’t get him anywhere with the current crop of Republicans.
I’d say something about Texas, but my brother lives there now. Anyway, Bush the First wasn’t nearly as bad as his son, so between LBJ, GBI and GBII, we did manage to have one who was merely mediocre rather than batshit crazy.
I’m afraid the Lone Star State is gonna be a long time living W down!
