A few excuses I need answers for...

[TexicanLady]

I need some ideas on how to answer these questions from non supporters.

1. I'm afraid he won't get the nomination and will end up running as an independent.

2. He's not a "real" republican.

3. Ron Paul appears to be a nervous mouse

4. His views sound good until you think them through

5. He's a politician

6. The general fact that people are afraid of change

7. He's not tough enough

8. If he wins I'll loose my job

9. His foreign policy scares me

10. His ideals are admirable but not realistic for the world we live in

11. He's too extreme/radical

12. He would be ineffective in bringing about real change

13. He could negatively impact national security with his military policy

14. I'm afraid that he will become a third party candidate and then a vote for him would mean victory for Clinton

15. His supporters' allegiance to him reminds me of some of the historical accounts of the early years of Adolf Hitler's rise to power...and we all know how well that worked out

16. I don't believe he will do what is necessary to protect us from our enemies

Again, I want to stress that these are NOT my personal questions, they are questions I've seen posted on other sites. I have a few answers that I could give to them, but I'd like to get some other ideas from people here on this forum. I'm sure many of you know more than I do and can give good answers that will alleviate peoples concerns. Please share your best responses to the above questions. TIA

[Zarxrax]

A lot of this sounds like it would be trivial to counter, I can't delve too deeply into any of them because I could write pages and be here all day... but seriously, you ought to be able to counter most of this stuff with just some basic research or thinking.

1. It's people like you who would cause him to not get the nomination. He WONT get it unless people get fully behind him.

2. Just make a list of traditional conservative values... Ron Paul is perfectly aligned with them. Right to bear arms, pro-life, advocates smaller government and limited spending, I could go on all day.

3. And you appear to be a fat jackass (seriously, wtf is the point of this one??)

4. In my experience I have felt the opposite. Most of his view seem wacky until you think them through, and then they make perfect sense. Don't accept cop-out replies like this, ask for specific issues.

5. And you propose electing someone who... isn't?

6. I'm personally not very concerned with what other people are afraid of.

7. Ronald reagan had made some statements on how ron paul is strong on defense. Look them up.

8. Unless they work for the federal government or prepare taxes for a living, I don't think they have much to be afraid of.

9. Our current foreign policy scares me.

10. Thats just a cop-out, argue the issues.

11. Only if you think we need government controlling every aspect of our lives. Much of what he proposes has been tried and was successful in the past. What's so radical about that?

12. At least he wont let us keep gong further in the WRONG direction.

13. Theres no way to counter that, because these people wont accept the arguments.

14. Thats stupid. You assume I would vote for the republican candidate if Ron Paul were not on the ballot. I can assure you that you are wrong. You would probably be hard pressed to find even a handful of Ron Paul supporters who would vote for any other republican candidate.

15. This is just dumb. Ron Paul fights for FREEDOM and LIMITED GOVERNMENT, basically the exact opposite of what was going on with Hitler.

16. Same as questions 9 and 13 pretty much... I don't know what frame of mind someone must be in to think that our president WOULDN'T protect us. I mean seriously, do you think Ron Paul would be blissfully happy for tons of Americans to die?

[Colin]

1. He's said that he doesn't want to run as an independent. He's concurrently running for reelection to congress. Even if he changes his mind, I don't see any reason to be afraid. (see:14)

2. He's won 10 elections as a Republican. He was one of only four congressmen to endorse Reagan in 1976. He's against abortion He's for limited government, gun rights, and all sorts of other Republican things. In any case, so what? Even if, by some contorted definition, you could say he's not a real Republican, no one's being mislead. We all know where he stands on the issues.

3. Frivolous. Don't bother responding to this.

4. Which ones? Then you'd have to argue those.

5. Yep, but he's a politician with integrity. He's never taken a government-paid junket. [some other examples of integrity and humility would be good too] Oh, and he left Congress at some point and went back to delivering babies, but then came back. He has delivered over 4000 babies.

6. I'm not. Are you?

7. He has huge balls. Look at his voting record. Watch him in the debates; he's the only anti-war Republican up there.

8. Things happen slowly, especially in government. You'll have time to prepare.

9. Hard to argue with that, really. Ummm...I'm afraid of the other ones.

10. His ideals are exactly that, ideals. His position on Social Security and Medicare shows that he is realistic. While being idealistically opposed to Medicare and Social Security, he's proposed a way to support those programs until we can find a sustainable, long-term solution. He wants to save money by bringing our troops home from all around the world and use it for Soc. Sec. and Medicare

11. I don't think so. It may seem like it because he's so candid. He's not afraid to say what he really believes. This isn't a very good response. I'm sure someone else could think of a better one.

12. He's the only one arguing for real change. It's hard to imagine that any of the candidates who aren't arguing for real change would bring it about.

13. Hmm...well, this is quite a big issue.

14. Not necessarily. Next to Ron Paul, Clinton would look like a huge loser in the eyes of the anti-war left. She already does. He could also criticize her health care ideas with more credibility. From what I've heard (I don't know much about it), they're very corporatist. Ron Paul is more inclined to point that out. That kind of criticism would get more traction among liberals than the criticisms other Republicans would be more likely to make ("It's socialism!").

15. He's not going to invade Poland. Trust me on this one.

16. Again, quite a big issue.

[Convert]

1. I'm afraid he won't get the nomination and will end up running as an independent - doesn't sound like someone considering supporting him, it sounds like someone who is supporting the neocons he's running against. Not necessary to respond to that IMO.

2. He's not a "real" republican. He is the only republican running who isn't a neocon or RINO.

3. Ron Paul appears to be a nervous mouse. Just a slam IMO. No response.

4. His views sound good until you think them through. Peace, Prosperity, and Liberty don't hold up to thinking through???

5. He's a politician. No. Guiliani, Romney, Huckabee, McCain, and Thompson are politicians. Ron Paul is a statesman who walks the walk.

6. The general fact that people are afraid of change. Change is necessary unless your goal is stagnation.

7. He's not tough enough. For what?

8. If he wins I'll loose my job. I'd have to know what job, before trying to address that one.

9. His foreign policy scares me. The Bush/Cheney, Guilani, Romney, Thompson, Huckabee, McCain foreign policy ought to scare you.

10. His ideals are admirable but not realistic for the world we live in. Such as?

11. He's too extreme/radical. He's extreme/conservative. Kind of the opposite of extreme/radical.

12. He would be ineffective in bringing about real change. Give him a chance, you know the other guys will bring more of the same.

13. He could negatively impact national security with his military policy. By bringing the troops home, and not bankrupting the country, we'll actually be more secure.

14. I'm afraid that he will become a third party candidate and then a vote for him would mean victory for Clinton. Vote for him in the primaries. If he doesn't win, and launches a 3rd party bid, re-evaluate then. Did you know he is probably the ONLY GOP candidate that can defeat Hillary?

15. His supporters' allegiance to him reminds me of some of the historical accounts of the early years of Adolf Hitler's rise to power...and we all know how well that worked out. It's not the man, it's the message.

16. I don't believe he will do what is necessary to protect us from our enemies. A strong national defense is part of his platform.

[Maverick]

2. He's not a "real" republican. He is the only republican running who isn't a neocon or RINO.


Hopefully I don't derail things here, but what is a RINO? I've seen the term thrown out in a few places, but I'm not clear on it's meaning.

[Colin]

Hopefully I don't derail things here, but what is a RINO? I've seen the term thrown out in a few places, but I'm not clear on it's meaning.

Republican in name only