This is meant for a progressive audience and if you want to use it to persuade your liberal friends, feel free:

Nothing wrong with tactical voting. Operation Hilarity, however, distracts progressives from a much more promising application.

There is a risk that this tactic might backfire and Republicans find in Santorum a true believer they can enthusiastically support. Regardless, the outcome of giving aid and comfort to any neo-con will serve as a minor irritant or even welcome relief to the GOP establishment.

A much more serious blow can be struck against the GOP by progressives tactically voting for Ron Paul. If Ron Paul can go to the GOP convention with a plurality of votes and/or delegates, the GOP establishment will be forced to reject him and cause his followers to walk out. A rupture of this magnitude would cripple the Republicans in the general election. Paul's supporters would convince him to run a third party or write-in campaign and draw enough votes away from Romney/Santorum to give Obama a landslide victory.

Additionally, with Ron Paul in the debates, Obama can be restrained from the instinctual reaction of so many Democratic candidates to prove they are not "weak on defense" by going along with calls for steroidal increases in funds for the MIC beast. Instead, Obama would appear to be the moderate while Romney's true warmongering intentions are exposed.

Finally and perhaps most promising, Ron Paul's presence in the general election would lend support to Libertarian candidates for Senate and House which would also draw votes away from Republican candidates for congress. This could very well result in giving President Obama the 60 Senators and the re-established Democratic majority in the House he needs to get anything significantly progressive done in his second term.

Making sport of Santorum at Romney's expense may give us a thrill but greater fecundity is to be found in tactically supporting Paul in the primary.

Why this tactic is not being widely endorsed by the likes of Huffington, Moore, and Moulitsas is mind-boggling. Wasting this exceedingly rare strategic opportunity would be an epic political failure.

http://progressivesforronpaul.blogsp...rity-with.html