By the same logic, no libertarian should ever enter a pie-eating contest, because if they won, the people running the contest would be FORCED to give them the prize. Contradiction: Exposed!
:rolleyes:
Were Paul by some miracle to win the GOP nomination, under GOP rules, GOP members would still be free to vote however they like.
Yes, but I think the underlying premise is that the Paul supporters might be willing to use various underhanded techniques to make sure Romney doesn’t win on the first ballot. That is the problem, not the rules that allow them to vote for their own candidate after the first ballot.
My preference for methods other than IRV is largely a matter of idealism: If one method is objectively provably strictly superior to another, then it seems silly to a techie like me to ever use the dominated method, even if it almost never makes a difference. In practice, though, I recognize that the perfect is the enemy of the good, and that IRV has a lot higher chance to ever be implemented than something like Condorcet, while still being nearly as much of an improvement over the current system.
Was that one deliberate?
Unfortunately you need to watch the video on this page but it is interesting. It makes the case that delegates to the RNC convention are unbound and free to vote for whoever they want.
The plot thickens…
If that’s the claim – some kind of fraud and/or violation of the rules – then yes (though I don’t see any sign that that is what is happening or is intended).
he is snatching delegates up to win! with Santourum and Gingrich out their delegates may vote Paul now cuz Romney is scum! Romney is a Democrat in Mormon sheep’s clothing lol
Well, yes, you get delegates to win, but Paul knows he’s not going to win. I’m not sure he thought he ever had a chance in this electoral cycle, but if there was, it went away a long time ago. I don’t know what the hell “Mormon sheep’s clothing” is supposed to mean. Left to his own devices Romney is probably not a far-right conservative, but Mormons are a conservative bunch for the most part.
Whoosh or Poe’s Law?
Paul essentially quit campaigning today and said he’ll only compete for delegates through the convention process. His campaign doesn’t have much money and I’ve heard it pointed out that by quitting now, he avoids getting his butt kicked in his home state (Texas) and in his son’s home state (Kentucky).
The Ron Paul dream is over!!
Now he can start his 2016 run, and become the new Harold Stassen.
Ron Paul won 12 of 13 delegates in Minnesota’s state GOP convention
Looks like it’s going to be an interesting convention.
From Rhythmdvl’s CSMonitor article: As reported by Jon Ward on Huffington Post, Paul wants several things to be included in the GOP platform at Tampa: a proposal for stricter oversight of the Federal Reserve, a ban on indefinite detention of American citizens, and a provision advocating greater freedom on the Internet. Not that my political instincts are sound, but those demands seem pretty smart. #3 is a crowd-pleaser. #2 makes Ron Paul sound serious. And the first is possibly toxic, possibly not, but addresses a longstanding theme of RP and his base.
After the 2012 election, I suspect that the RP caucus reps will not simply disperse. I could imagine them running for office in various local capacities. They might just be able to point to some national accomplishments by 2020, which is remarkable for a fringe group. Lefties should pull out their pads and take notes.
Form a stubborn lefty faction within the Dems and find a candidate (who we know can’t win the nomination, and if he did he’d lose the general election, but we’ll pretend otherwise) to rally 'round? Would that work? Dennis Kucinich’s efforts in that direction have never seemed to accomplish much.
That’s why lefties need to take careful notes. I’m guessing that Ron Paul has repeatedly signaled to the insiders that he would never pull a 3rd party stunt if he was treated with a modicum of respect. It also helps that he focuses on stuff that amenable to the Republican base: I noticed pot decriminalization wasn’t on the list.
In short, RP is corralling the wackadoodles and fringies for policies that are unobjectionable to the Republican base. He’s become an asset to the GOP rather than a threat.
In other news former Governor Gary Johnson is hoping to become the next Libertarian Presidential candidate next fall. Here is his latest ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELWM9VS1PJQ&feature=relmfu
I think it’s intended to appeal to fence-sitting libertarians.
Dammit, isn’t it on any pol’s list?! :mad:
BTW: Here, Penn Jillette rants about Obama & pot.
Funny, I just got a robo call trying to convince me to vote for Ron Paul in the TX Republican primary. That seems odd behavior for a campaign that is technically over. It made sure I was aware that doing so didn’t obligate me to vote Republican, and it didn’t mention pot or the Federal Reserve. I didn’t pay too much creed to the idea that Paul was continuing his campaign with an eye on monkey business at the convention until now. I don’t see another reason for a long shot to continue his campaign after declaring it over, though.
It’s a robo call. For all we know, an order was placed and nobody remembered to cancel it.
I can’t help wondering, what with continuing news reports of Paulbots grabbing delegate slots in state after state:
Yes, supposedly many of them are technically duty-bound to vote for Romney on the first ballot; but what if they choose instead to abstain from voting at all? If enough delegates refuse to participate on the first ballot to give Romney the required number of votes, could they flip it to another round where they’d be free to vote for their hero?
I know, I know; there’s probably something in the rules to prevent it; but do the Paulbots know that? Do they care?
OK, let’s take careful notes. What the Ronulans are doing here is called entryism – sneak into an established organization and take it over – a tactic generally associated with Trotskyite socialists, but I doubt they invented it, it’s got to be as old as any politics more complicated than “Do what the King says.” (But the Trots have never been able to apply it with much success.) Only time I can think of when it has worked in America was when the Religious Right won a lot of low-profile local elections in the 1980s by running its candidates “under the radar,” usually as Republicans, dissembling their real agenda and priorities, and the RR built up from that base and thereby became a major power within the GOP. And as an honest lefty, I’d rather have nothing to do with that, thank you.
So now Louisiana has two sets of delegates…this is going to be interesting.