erowe1
02-12-2010, 10:07 AM
For those who are interested I made a thread suggesting a Hostettler subforum (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?p=2543741#post2543741) in the Forum Feedback area. If you have thoughts for or against the idea, that would be a good place to share them.
Here's a recap of what I said there:
1) Hostettler was in the House of Representatives for 12 years. This background gives him a greater factor of credibility than most of our liberty candidates.
2) I believe it would be no exaggeration to say that his voting record was closer to Ron Paul's than any other Congressman that whole time, bar none. You can find more details about his record in my thread "Hostettler's Dissents." Here's one factoid: The two most expensive bills passed by Republicans during Bush's tenure were the authorization to invade Iraq and Medicare Part D. Our budget would now be $300 Billion less per year if not for those 2 bills. Ron Paul and John Hostettler are the only 2 Republicans in all of Congress to have voted against both of those bills. As you can see in the thread I linked, Hostettler had a rather reliable, consistent, constitutionalist voting record for 12 years.
3) John Hostettler is a friend of Ron Paul's.
4) Ron Paul is directly helping the Hostettler campaign. Just yesterday (2/11) Dr. Paul sent this email to his entire email list in Indiana soliciting their help in gathering signatures for Hostettler to get on the ballot.
5) I know from a very good source that the Hostettler campaign has been successful enough in their petition drive that Hostettler will be able to make the filing deadline with the required number of signatures. So some time within the next week he will officially file as a candidate (the filing deadline is 2/19).
6) Hostettler is the author of the anti-Iraq war book, Nothing for the Nation. Notice Ron Paul's personal plug for that book in the Amazon reviews. I have been told that Dr. Paul submitted that review completely unsolicited.
7) Hostettler has a definite chance of winning. Granted, he's not the favorite for either the GOP primary or the general election. But he's within striking distance for both. His odds are definitely better than Schiff's, for example. In this poll Hostettler came within the margin of error of beating Bayh. In this poll he didn't do so well, but he did outperform the GOP establishment anointee, Dan Coats.
8) The race he's going for is a U.S. Senate seat, just like Rand and Schiff.
9) Hostettler has proven himself to be anything but an establishment shill. In addition to his voting record where he so often stood along with Ron Paul against the majority of the GOP on many important votes, he also turned down an offer from Newt Gingrich to come campaign for him in one of his House races, and he has publicly stated that he voted for Chuck Baldwin for president in the 2008 presidential election.
10) Hostettler does not have the nationwide name recognition among Ron Paul supporters that several other candidates have, and his campaign would greatly benefit by our use of this forum to help rectify that so that he can raise the funds he'll need.
Here's a recap of what I said there:
1) Hostettler was in the House of Representatives for 12 years. This background gives him a greater factor of credibility than most of our liberty candidates.
2) I believe it would be no exaggeration to say that his voting record was closer to Ron Paul's than any other Congressman that whole time, bar none. You can find more details about his record in my thread "Hostettler's Dissents." Here's one factoid: The two most expensive bills passed by Republicans during Bush's tenure were the authorization to invade Iraq and Medicare Part D. Our budget would now be $300 Billion less per year if not for those 2 bills. Ron Paul and John Hostettler are the only 2 Republicans in all of Congress to have voted against both of those bills. As you can see in the thread I linked, Hostettler had a rather reliable, consistent, constitutionalist voting record for 12 years.
3) John Hostettler is a friend of Ron Paul's.
4) Ron Paul is directly helping the Hostettler campaign. Just yesterday (2/11) Dr. Paul sent this email to his entire email list in Indiana soliciting their help in gathering signatures for Hostettler to get on the ballot.
5) I know from a very good source that the Hostettler campaign has been successful enough in their petition drive that Hostettler will be able to make the filing deadline with the required number of signatures. So some time within the next week he will officially file as a candidate (the filing deadline is 2/19).
6) Hostettler is the author of the anti-Iraq war book, Nothing for the Nation. Notice Ron Paul's personal plug for that book in the Amazon reviews. I have been told that Dr. Paul submitted that review completely unsolicited.
7) Hostettler has a definite chance of winning. Granted, he's not the favorite for either the GOP primary or the general election. But he's within striking distance for both. His odds are definitely better than Schiff's, for example. In this poll Hostettler came within the margin of error of beating Bayh. In this poll he didn't do so well, but he did outperform the GOP establishment anointee, Dan Coats.
8) The race he's going for is a U.S. Senate seat, just like Rand and Schiff.
9) Hostettler has proven himself to be anything but an establishment shill. In addition to his voting record where he so often stood along with Ron Paul against the majority of the GOP on many important votes, he also turned down an offer from Newt Gingrich to come campaign for him in one of his House races, and he has publicly stated that he voted for Chuck Baldwin for president in the 2008 presidential election.
10) Hostettler does not have the nationwide name recognition among Ron Paul supporters that several other candidates have, and his campaign would greatly benefit by our use of this forum to help rectify that so that he can raise the funds he'll need.