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View Full Version : Examining a chance that was "missed"




LibertyMage
07-23-2009, 01:57 PM
Reid Wilson of The Hill recently reported (http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/rep.-paul--the-reluctant-leader-of-a-still-energized-grassroots-movement-2009-07-20.html) on comments made by Ron Paul on a the potential of running in 2012:


"There's a lot of people that are smarter and academically inclined. They are spreading this message of freedom even better than I am," Paul said.

As far as his own future, Paul said he is unlikely to run for president again.

"It's very unlikely," a smiling Paul said. "I had my chance and just missed it."

Many ardent Paul supporters are currently echoing his reluctance in regard to a 2012 run. However, I think all of us, including the Good Doctor, should take a moment and reflect on the secondary intent of the campaign and its level of success, which Ron has stated in the past (http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/opinion/local_story_004173049.html):


In April, shortly after he announced he'd run for president, Paul told the Trib that his goal -- besides winning, of course -- was to make an impact on the race and to spread his ideas about maximizing freedom, limiting the federal government and practicing nonintervention overseas.

So was the campaign successful in achieving these goals?

Was Paul not successful in impacting the race? After his comments on eliminating the IRS (http://tinyurl.com/2kda8h) became popular, Mike Huckabee, one of the most fiscally irresponsible (http://www.clubforgrowth.org/2007/01/a_report_on_mike_huckabees_fis.php) candidates on the Republican ticket, mimicked his position - however superficially (http://tinyurl.com/nxcl58) it may have been. Paul was able to bring an objection to the U.S policy of foreign intervention to the forefront of public dialog, a policy that would have undoubtedly gone unquestioned by both major parties throughout the campaign. He accomplished this despite being blocked from the debates (http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2007/12/ron_paul_indeed_outfoxed_for_n.html) and having his debate responses cut from televised replays (http://tinyurl.com/m4qc23).

Was Paul not successful in spreading the message of liberty, educating the people and curing the apathetic? Ron unified supporters across the country as thousands of supporters created hundreds of MeetUp groups (http://ronpaul.meetup.com/). During the campaign, these supporters spontaneously organized a new type of fundraiser, the "money bomb", which smashed fund raising records (http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2007-12-17-ronpaul-fundraising_N.htm) in a flooded field of Republican candidates and forever changed campaign fund raising. Paul peaked our interests in economics and showed us the real reasons why our country experiences the same problems again and again (http://mises.org/story/672). The enthusiasm hasn't faded since the end of his 2008 presidential campaign. Ron's Campaign for Liberty (http://www.campaignforliberty.com/) has continued with the post-election momentum and continually pushes for liberty based reforms such as the H.R. 1207, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act and S. 604, the Federal Reserve Sunshine Act, both of which have gained serious momentum.

Was Paul not successful in inspiring people across the country to run for office? In 2008 Ron had a full slate of six liberty candidates (http://www.politicker.com/maryland/8850/ron-paul-supporters-file-full-slate-delegates-6-candidates-congress) running for congressional seats in my state, Maryland. He has already inspired a quite a few liberty candidates who are either running or considering runs for 2010, including Peter Schiff (http://schiffforsenate.com/), Mike Vaskovski (http://www.vasovskiforcongress.com/), Adam Kokesh (http://kokeshforcongress.com/), RJ Harris (http://www.rjharris2010.com/) and Rand Paul (http://randpaul2010.com/), not to mention the candidates running for smaller positions outside this already impressive list.

Was Paul not successful in pushing the party back towards its roots? The Republican majority was very supportive of the July 4th Tea Party movement (http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/15/tea.parties/) which was symbolic to the Paul campaign. Ron is now seeing support on the right from blowhards like Ann Coulter (http://tinyurl.com/dzkhyj) to important Republican players like Michael Steele (http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2009/01/05/ron-paul-finally-gets-his-due/) to influential economists like Jim Rogers (http://vodpod.com/watch/597937-jim-rogers-fire-bernanke-abolish-the-fed). Paul is getting tons of exposure, often seeing several interviews on big news networks in a single day (http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog.php?view=22242).

It was thought by some that Mark Sanford would be the liberty candidate to step up in 2012 and attempt to cast down Obama. With his recent marital implosion (http://www.thestate.com/sanford/story/839231.html) it looks very unlikely that he will be our next champion. In light of this event we should consider the real results of the 2008 Paul campaign - which was a monumental success in spreading the liberty message despite his loss.

If we go to 2012 without no liberty candidate stepping forward we will be stuck with someone from the unprincipled abyss that is currently the Republican party, which is still rife with hypocritical windbags such as Lindsey Graham (http://tinyurl.com/om7psu). With that in mind, I pose this question to you:

If we knew going into 2012 that he would suffer defeat, would it still be worth having Ron Paul enter the race again to continue to spread the message of liberty?

Given the recent coverage Fox News has been giving him, I suspect his biggest detractor in 2008 may now be favoring his ideas. Wouldn't people be receptive to his policies seeing how accurate his predictions (http://tinyurl.com/mxslp5) have been? Wouldn't it help the cause to see him thrash the neo-cons again with irrefutable truths (http://tinyurl.com/m4qc23)? Wouldn't it be great to see someone with integrity, intelligence, principle and an actual message (http://tinyurl.com/b6fxxz) stand up against the Democrats? To those of you who doubt that another run for the Good Doctor would be beneficial, I beg you to consider the alternative:


http://www.libertymage.com/skins/andreas_01/img/palinwink.jpg

I can only hope that Dr. Paul seriously considers a 2012 race. I am confident I speak for the rest of the liberty movement when I say that we are behind another run 100%.

http://www.libertymage.com/

SWATH
07-23-2009, 02:14 PM
He has been vindicated on nearly every count, and I cannot foresee anyone doing a better job than he and gaining anymore success than himself. He would be a fool not to run again.

TonySutton
07-23-2009, 02:19 PM
I think he will be easily recruited when the time comes ;)

FrankRep
07-23-2009, 02:22 PM
I think he will be easily recruited when the time comes ;)
We may need to break our past Money Bomb records.

satchelmcqueen
07-23-2009, 04:20 PM
i think this time around if he isnt ignored again by the msm, he could without a doubt be the next president.