Ron Paul should start quoting Afghan President Hamid Karzai....

[jmdrake]

If Karzai is so upset about U.S. policy that he's willing to openly threaten to abandon the U.S. and join the Taliban, then maybe there's something wrong with U.S. policy.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/05/karzai-reportedly-threate_n_525414.html

Note that even Sarah Palin quoted this as a possible reason to leave Afghanistan.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20067702-503544.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody

What could the Rick Santorums, Rudy Giulianis and Chris Wallaces say to that? We shouldn't listen to our friends?

[Cutlerzzz]

He'll be called anti American, accused of siding with the Taliban, a "liberal"(ironically, they would be correct that Paul is a Liberal) left of Obama, and told that he doesn't understand foreign policy(by the people who give three sentence answers and say we don't need history lessons).

[jmdrake]

He'll be called anti American, accused of siding with the Taliban, a "liberal"(ironically, they would be correct that Paul is a Liberal) left of Obama, and told that he doesn't understand foreign policy(by the people who give three sentence answers and say we don't need history lessons).

You're missing the point. Hamid Karzai has been held up as our great ally. Ron's point would not be "Let's listen to the Taliban", but rather "Let's listen to our ally who is threatening to join the Taliban". This point is strengthened by the fact that Sarah Palin listened to what he was saying and responded with "Well maybe we should get out of Afghanistan". So if Ron said "Even Sarah Palin thinks this is a reason we should consider leaving" it would be impossible for anyone to call him "anti American" in response. Not unless they wanted to call Sarah Palin anti American. And further they couldn't attack Ron any worse on the "anti American" front than they already are based on him citing Osama Bin Laden. You've got to learn to think strategically to win this.

[A Son of Liberty]

I don't think he's missing the point. I think that's exactly what they will say. Ghouliani scored points pot-shotting Ron in 2008, and unfortunately, that hasn't really changed. You think that the people who boo'd last night are going to be swayed by quoting Hamid Karzai? I'm willing to bet somewhere around 50% of those people don't even know who Hamid Karzai is.

[jmdrake]

I don't think he's missing the point. I think that's exactly what they will say. Ghouliani scored points pot-shotting Ron in 2008, and unfortunately, that hasn't really changed. You think that the people who boo'd last night are going to be swayed by quoting Hamid Karzai? I'm willing to bet somewhere around 50% of those people don't even know who Hamid Karzai is.

They all know who Sarah Palin is. He is missing the point and frankly so are you. Ron shouldn't just quote Karzai. He should quote Sarah Palin quoting Karzai, and then Palin saying "maybe we should leave Afghanistan". To that Ron should add "I agree with Sarah Palin". And even the people who don't know who Hamid Karzai is know that we have a government in Afghanistan that is supposedly friendly to us because we supposedly liberated them. But hey, keep doing the same thing and expecting a different result.

Edit: One more thing. The fact that the audience might not know who Karzai is is irrelevant. In a debate you aren't just speaking to the audience. You are also speaking to your opponents and the media. Debates are like judo. To keep from getting thrown in judo you avoid letting your opponent get a "handle" on you. The way you answer a question in a debate can give opponents a "handle" for further attack. Rick Santorum would not be able to come back and say "How dare you listen to Karzai. That means you support the Taliban" because Rick Santorum would know that would give Ron a "handle" to attack him (Santorum) back. Same thing for the media. They are the ones building Karzai up as our great friend. They can't afford to attack Karzai just to get at Ron Paul. And again, tying Sarah Palin into your theory about Karzai is key to making your position unassailable from a right wing perspective. No one on the right is going to attack Sarah Palin on foreign policy whether they agree with her or not.

[Cutlerzzz]

Honestly, I would expect that if he said "Palin agrees" that someone, probably Santorum, would spread some kind of ignorant childish lie along the lines of "No she didn't". If he did it on stage, the media would NEVER call him out on it.

Of course, they might just throw Palin under the bus.

With all of that said, I actually agree with you. He should say it. Because even if 80% of Republicans would deny it (even with the facts sitting right in front of them, just a google search away), the other 20% of Republicans will potentially think about it (though 10% of them are already voting Paul).