economics102
03-08-2011, 10:49 PM
I think those who are acquiescing that foreign policy is not "the issue of the day" are well-intentioned but misguided in their notions.
Unlike in 2008, the issue of the day in 2012 is quite clearly the economic condition of the country. Ron Paul can point out the obvious, that it's straight-up not physically possible to deal with the debt and prevent economic collapse without a sanity check on our foreign policy. This will (hopefully) make perfect sense to the voters.
And it's good for us because Ron Paul will probably once again stand alone against the wars on the Republican side. And if any of the Republicans try to flip anti-war, they'll have no credibility vs. Ron Paul. It was hard for people in 2008 who didn't know a lot about Ron Paul to grasp that he has the most conservative voting record, etc. But it's very easy for Ron to stand up on stage and say "none of my opponents have a leg to stand on. I am the ONLY one who opposed these wars from the very beginning and has tried to end them year after year, and who warned repeatedly that they would bring us financial destruction."
In 2008 for Republicans the issue was the wars -- specifically, how to do more of them. In 2012 it's the economy, and Ron can say "there's simply no way to come close to balancing the budget without massively slashing military spending. if you're not for cutting deep into the military, you're not serious about balancing the budget. and none of my colleagues here have ever been serious about cutting military spending. so you do the math."
Unlike in 2008, the issue of the day in 2012 is quite clearly the economic condition of the country. Ron Paul can point out the obvious, that it's straight-up not physically possible to deal with the debt and prevent economic collapse without a sanity check on our foreign policy. This will (hopefully) make perfect sense to the voters.
And it's good for us because Ron Paul will probably once again stand alone against the wars on the Republican side. And if any of the Republicans try to flip anti-war, they'll have no credibility vs. Ron Paul. It was hard for people in 2008 who didn't know a lot about Ron Paul to grasp that he has the most conservative voting record, etc. But it's very easy for Ron to stand up on stage and say "none of my opponents have a leg to stand on. I am the ONLY one who opposed these wars from the very beginning and has tried to end them year after year, and who warned repeatedly that they would bring us financial destruction."
In 2008 for Republicans the issue was the wars -- specifically, how to do more of them. In 2012 it's the economy, and Ron can say "there's simply no way to come close to balancing the budget without massively slashing military spending. if you're not for cutting deep into the military, you're not serious about balancing the budget. and none of my colleagues here have ever been serious about cutting military spending. so you do the math."