Now this IS a difficult one

[febo]

Romney's and Gingrich's new deference for Paul - is it real or is it a tactic, or both?
Politeness begets politeness - is this the end of the angry, animated Paul? Only a couple of debates ago just before Newt's surge (the cause of it in fact) - the one where Romney was soo dull, Paul palpably had the most energy of them all. I'm sure this was noticed.
We are moving into the I agree with Nick phase:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15ZP9-mChKo

Ron Paul, stay angry! No coalitions!

[Rincewind]

More of a tactic, but at least on a relative level, Romney's is probably more "real" than Gingrich's, for a certain value of "real."

[69360]

It's a tactic to get your support. Although I do believe Romney is actually a polite person. Newt is a dick.

[BuddyRey]

It also has the added effect of giving them the appearance of courteous and magnanimous debaters, while making it hard for Ron to hit them on any major policy points without seeming confrontational or unfriendly.

[affa]

we need an 'I agree with Ron' memetic video.

Ron Paul stance, followed by short bursts of 'i agree with Paul' statments from opposing candidates and media icons.
Repeat for each issue.

Tagline something like:
We all agree with Dr. Paul. Liberty unites us all!

[Rudeman]

Maybe they think it'll get them Ron Paul supporters, but isn't it a double edged sword? If they agree with Ron Paul so much then maybe he isn't as wacky or kooky as people said he was.

[Adrock]

Romney's seems the most genuine. Seems like he and Ron get along pretty well. The Grinch makes my skin crawl.

[KCIndy]

There's a common (mis)perception among the mainstream Republicans and media that Ron Paul's supporters will see reason and fall in line to support the eventual nominee "since Ron Paul can't win." So the conventional wisdom right now in the Romney and Gingrich camps is to be nice to Ron Paul and not piss off his supporters.

They misunderstand us completely.

[Sola_Fide]

It's a tactic to get your support. Although I do believe Romney is actually a polite person. Newt is a dick.

I remember someone telling a story of how they knew a past limo driver for Romney, and how much of a stuck up jerk he was. It was on the Daily Paul a while ago.

[CJLauderdale4]

There's a common (mis)perception among the mainstream Republicans and media that Ron Paul's supporters will see reason and fall in line to support the eventual nominee "since Ron Paul can't win." So the conventional wisdom right now in the Romney and Gingrich camps is to be nice to Ron Paul and not piss off his supporters.

They misunderstand us completely.


NOBP

[RonPaul101.com]

Pure Tactic. Neither see Paul as a threat in FL and therefore being nice to Paul, or towards anyone for that matter, makes them seem more likeable to FL voters.

[lauren]

They are sucking up to Paul supporters because they know we won't vote for any other candidate but Paul. They think they are going to win the nom and know Obama will beat them without us.

[jolynna]

Romney makes my skin crawl. Like George W. Bush and Obama, he is the "chosen" one that ALL of the media tippy-toes around and that Wall Street and corporate interests bought. He isn't just flip-flopping when he changes positions. He is lying. And a man that will say and do ANYTHING is ALWAYS the one you have got to watch. He is the MOST WAR-HAWKISH of any GOP candidate, even putting how much he wants to build up our military and increase our military strength on his websites. You couldn't get further from EVERYTHING Ron Paul stands for than Romney. He is the anti-Paul to the greatest extreme.

Like Obama , Romney oozes charm (although it is oilier) and knows when to keep his mouth shut.

I never criticize Santorum or Gingerich. Why bother? They don't pose any danger to what Ron Paul wants to do. They don't have the organization or the money and WEREN'T EVEN ABLE TO GET SIGNATURES IN so that they could meet the ALL of the state deadlines that have come up. Those guys are not threats. And when they drop out, I THINK IT WOULD BE SMART NOT TO ANTAGONIZE THEIR SUPPORTERS by saying mean things about them online. Romney ISN'T a limited government kind of guy. He sure isn't tea party. There is a chance that if the limited government people can be convinced that Israel has a big enough military and more than enough nukes to take care of itself, SOME might come our way, if we don't make them hate us.

Romeny ISN'T a populist. Nobody except the 1 percenters REALLY likes him. They just want to get rid the guy they've been told is a Marxist and will hold their noses and vote for Romney DESPITE hating him because they hate OBAMA more.

They don't get that Romney has been selected by the VERY same people that selected Obama in 2008 and is going to ALSO ram mandated healthcare down our throats (the pharmaceutical and insurance interests that support him are going to want their money's worth. And it isn't like Romney isn't a proven flip-flopper that sells out to the highest bidder EVERY TIME).

It isn't possible win over Romney supporterS who thinks it is fine to rip off individuals unethically through the dirtiest and most unfair financial systems. They think that for the good of the whole, big banks (especially the thieving, sneaky cheating ones & the rich corporates in charge of them) should be saved at ANY cost especially at the expense of middle class taxpayers (a very socialistic and non-capitalist way of thinking but they call it class--envy). They'll always say any plan that involves THEM losing status and power and their BIG BANKS will lead to the ruin of the masses (not so).

The powers to be have determined that this election is going to be between Obama and Romney and I say to all of you, that is exactly what NONE us want. It would be the WORST possible outcome for the future of this country.

I think we should kindly overlook the tweets and posts promoting the worst from Gingerich or Santorum, emphasize any areas of agreement, just like we should be doing with the progressive anti-war crowd.

Romney isn't going to go away. He has too much organization, money and power behind him. Newt and Santorum will. I think we should go after THEIR leftovers.

[jolynna]

My husband just reminded me of all the money Gingerich got from the Nevada guy.

However, his baggage...iit's going to do Newt in.

In the end Romney is the threat. The guys with the money that have blasted Newt up one side and down the other will keep it up until they get Romney for the GOP candidate are WHO you should be VERY afraid of. The effort that Wall Street and the suck-up pandering media is making to BLAST and TEAR APART anybody who threatens their boy, Romney, scares me.

They did THIS before.

When the people became immune to George W. Bush's brand of studied folksiness, EVERYTHING GEORGE W. BUSH BECAME MEDIA POISON. Even Fox backed away from him.

Obama was chosen to be Wall Street's replacement brand. Obama had almost NO experience, other than two years in the Senate, lacked ANY MORAL CORE, and could be painted as all things to all people. Obama's brief Senate voting record was a MISERABLE SURRENDER TO CORPORATE INTERESTS.

He was perfect.

Romney is perfect for ALL of the same reasons Obama was perfect.

Anyone, NOT ROMNEY or OBAMA will be media poison. People fell for it before. How many times does a rat have to run through mazes before he learns which ones lead to dead ends?

[Dianne]

I noticed that in the last debate.. Those two thugs said " I actually agree with Congressman Paul on this" , yeah right !!!!

Still don't think matters... Paul doesn't have the baggage those two guys have; and anyone with a sound mind should recognize that and vote for the honest Paul... Anyone without a sound mind, shouldn't vote at all !

[Captain Shays]

It's a tactic to get your support. Although I do believe Romney is actually a polite person. Newt is a dick.

Mine and my wif'es feeling exactly. I actually applauded Romney in the last couple of debates when he took it to Newt and or Santorum. My take is let's get riid of the riff raff Santorum and Gingrich then go after Romney and beat him with class. Just the issues. No character jabs and I don't think if it came down to Mittens and Ron Paul neither of them would go after character and they would both stick to issues respecfully. They both have class as far as I'm concerned. And this coming from a guy who disagrees with Romney on about 40% of his issues.

[tajitj]

If they would only realize that their scary foreign war/nation building stance is turning off 1/5th of GOP, then Paul gets that 1/5th by default. We can only grow support as we change minds.

[VBRonPaulFan]

they were dicks or ignored Paul for the first few months because they figured he didn't have enough support to where pandering to Paul's audience was worthwhile. now Romney/Gingrich seriously realize that unless they hook into a big chunk of Paul's voting bloc, they aren't gonna win the nomination or the general. so now it's just a matter of them trying to appeal to enough soft Paul supporters that if they get the nomination over Paul, they'll get their support.

[Babylon]

It makes the audience trust the "i agree" person, and casts doubt on the original speaker.

It can only be defused by an immediate and somewhat confrontational reply by the original speaker along the lines of, "well, of course you agree. Only an idiot would disagree. And, real honestly, whether you agreed or not, we (referring to the audience) know this is true."

[Revolution9]

There's a common (mis)perception among the mainstream Republicans and media that Ron Paul's supporters will see reason and fall in line to support the eventual nominee "since Ron Paul can't win." So the conventional wisdom right now in the Romney and Gingrich camps is to be nice to Ron Paul and not piss off his supporters.

They misunderstand us completely.

This misunderstanding is providence at work in our favor. Do not underestimate the invisible hand.

Rev9

[unknown]

Yes absolutely. They all know Ron Paul is the only one with a real conservative record worthy of exposing the other phonies.

They also know hes respectful and doesnt like to engage in attacks so theyre trying to butter him up.

Well it wont work!!!!!!!! Get em Ron!!!!!

[PolicyReader]

There's a common (mis)perception among the mainstream Republicans and media that Ron Paul's supporters will see reason and fall in line to support the eventual nominee "since Ron Paul can't win." So the conventional wisdom right now in the Romney and Gingrich camps is to be nice to Ron Paul and not piss off his supporters.

They misunderstand us completely.

^^This

Additionally they have noticed that there's a lot of support for Paul on most issues so if they can 'be nice' now and get people to believe what they're saying instead of looking at their records (which are pretty much anything but honest) then that helps their public image.
And honestly it's easy to be nice to someone you don't take seriously, the only times we've seen Romney lose his cool are the times when he feels his "inevitable" win is threatened. Aside from Paul I don't trust that any of the other candidates (regardless of party) are being honest or sincere in their dealings with Paul or the average voter. I've heard too much about what they've done in office/in their past to see any truth in them now.