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View Full Version : Ron Paul only member Congress elected 3 times non-incumbent.2 times beat an incumbent




Man from La Mancha
11-04-2007, 01:58 PM
The Washington Post profiles libertarian congressman Ron Paul (R-Tex.) — in its Sunday Style section, which is sort of a throwaway placement.

It’s one of those 1970s-style laundry list stories:

The amiable Texas congressman would do away with the CIA and the Federal Reserve. He’d reinstate the gold standard. He’d get rid of the Department of Education.

Rather than really try to present the argument for individual rights and limited constitutional government, drawing on public choice economics and the failures of government programs, the reporter just lists one out-of-the-mainstream position after another. Still, she does make it clear that he’s philosophically principled and not your typical Bush-supporting JFK-lookalike 21st-century congressman.

Here’s an interesting point about Ron Paul that I haven’t seen anyone make: As far as I know, Ron Paul is the only member of Congress who has been elected three times as a non-incumbent. Two of those times he beat an incumbent.
He first won a special election in 1976, then lost that fall. Two years later he came back and defeated incumbent Bob Gammage. After three terms he ran for the Senate, losing the Republican nomination to Phil Gramm. The really bad news was that he was replaced by Tom DeLay. In 1988 Paul was the Libertarian Party nominee for president. Then in 1996, 20 years after his first election and 12 years after he had last won election to the House, he ran again in a differently configured district. He had to beat Democrat-turned-Republican incumbent Greg Laughlin in the primary — against the opposition of the National Republican Congressional Committee, the National Federation of Independent Business, the National Rifle Association, former attorney general Ed Meese, Senators Gramm and Kay Bailey Hutchison, and Gov. George W. Bush.

Given that kind of firepower and the incumbent reelection rate of about 99 percent these days, Ron Paul has a remarkable political record. He must be doing something right back in Texas.

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tnvoter
11-04-2007, 02:47 PM
He's catching on!

Nash
11-04-2007, 03:01 PM
Given that kind of firepower and the incumbent reelection rate of about 99 percent these days, Ron Paul has a remarkable political record. He must be doing something right back in Texas.

.[/B]


Just as he's doing "something" right on the presidential campaign trail. He knows how to campaign. He knows how to raise money. He knows how to stick to his talking points and he knows how to advertise.

He knows what he's doing. He's a professional. I'm not saying we shouldn't voice our opinions about the stuff that HQ does but let's try to keep the second guessing to a minimum. There is nothing about the HQ campaign that is amateur.

Primbs
11-04-2007, 04:21 PM
We can always use improvements at the HQ, the campaign and all the states.

Never under estimate the resourcefulness and creativity of the grassroots.

Many are accomplished professionals in their own fields and many of the professional skills can translate well into campaigns and political marketing.

Bruehound
11-04-2007, 04:33 PM
I'm hoping people remember this the next time they feel a campaign ad doesn't live up to their expectations.

Dr. Ron Paul is a political genuis and we should defer to and learn from his past experience. He has been up against incredible odds for thirty years and he has been beating the establishment like a drum the entire time. Remarkable.

werdd
11-04-2007, 04:55 PM
http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/8435/catchinonis9.jpg

Bradley in DC
11-04-2007, 05:11 PM
Then in 1996, 20 years after his first election and 12 years after he had last won election to the House, he ran again in a differently configured district. He had to beat Democrat-turned-Republican incumbent Greg Laughlin in the primary — against the opposition of the National Republican Congressional Committee, the National Federation of Independent Business, the National Rifle Association, former attorney general Ed Meese, Senators Gramm and Kay Bailey Hutchison, and Gov. George W. Bush.

I think the NFIB supported Dr. Paul, one of the very few groups, in that primary.