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| Home Front: Politix |
| Has the Conservative Elite Really Failed? |
| 2012-01-02 |
| Ross Douthat at the New York Times (seconded by Rod Dreher at the American Conservative) thinks that Ron Paul plays a salubrious role as truth-teller and gadfly: |
| Posted by:g(r)omgoru |
| #16 Frank: You are right. The Tea Party is much less than 75% of the party. But fully 75% of the party can't stand Romney. Sorry that wasn't clear from my post. |
| Posted by: Iblis 2012-01-02 21:45 |
| #15 The Tea Party are not 75% of the party by any measure I've seen. I wish. They are the vanguard, and the future of a better opposition to the Socialists. Take your gains and solidify. |
| Posted by: Frank G 2012-01-02 21:10 |
| #14 After 2010 the Tea Party people were talking about dealing with all the establishment types, and the establishment types were talking about cleaning out the Tea Party people. The fight goes on. A Romney win would be remarkable in that 75% of the party openly despise him. If the "establishment" can overcome that kind of visceral hatred, then they truly are running the show. |
| Posted by: Iblis 2012-01-02 20:57 |
| #13 Romney has ties to wall street that nullify any attacks he might make on Obama over his ties to wall street. That's unfortunate. That's what OWS is for. The Democrats have been gearing up a mass movement aimed at running against Romney in particular for the last six months, and Romney is showing no signs whatsoever of being prepared to combat this (as opposed to letting proxies like Bachmann run down fellow republicans). |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2012-01-02 19:22 |
| #12 that's what Obama is counting on - don't do it |
| Posted by: Frank G 2012-01-02 18:37 |
| #11 A lot of us can't see ever voting for Romney under any conditions. He's a definition of slimy. I would rather not vote than vote for him. |
| Posted by: Water Modem 2012-01-02 18:34 |
| #10 Romney has ties to wall street that nullify any attacks he might make on Obama over his ties to wall street. That's unfortunate. I think a lot of folks like Romney because he looks Presidential and hes the economy guy and because they all realize he would have been a better choice than McCain and somehow wish to purge themselves. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2012-01-02 13:48 |
| #9 The amount of support for this mad man is frightening. I dislike his followers the most. |
| Posted by: newc 2012-01-02 12:46 |
| #8 Moose, there may be a part of the establishment Pubs that value Romney for those reasons, but understand there's a part that value Romney because they think he can win, and that's what matters. They Obama out, and more importantly, they want to divide the pie themselves. If they thought Paul could win the whole thing they would support him. It's politics. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2012-01-02 11:06 |
| #7 The Iowa caucus is scheduled for tomorrow, and the last poll I saw was that Paul was a close second to Romney. If Romney's victory margin is too slim, or if somehow Paul wins, it is going to be a very influential protest vote against the Republican leadership who unabashedly support Romney. They support him half because he is a liberal, with the other half because he is anti-conservative. A win for him is a slap down to both conservatism and the Tea Party, that they are as marginalized in the Republican party as are blacks in the Democrat party. Neither group having any influence or choice as who to support. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2012-01-02 08:45 |
| #6 There is a certain element of hard core Libertarians in the Democratic and Republican parties (mostly Republicans). Libertarians have been so ignored for so long by both parties that many are jumping to Ron Paul and ignoring his madness. Sad really. Hopefully some of the fiscally sane suggestions will be taken up before Ron Paul sinks into obscurity again. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2012-01-02 08:41 |
| #5 It's people seeing the stage set for the collapse of the republic as voters are urged to conclude they have no power (or responsibility) within the political system. Do you really think the people are so foolish that they could be3 fooled into thinking they have no power, when they actually do, by some doddering old man? One fruitcake alone can set the stage for the collapse of the republic? The stage has been being set for the collapse of the republic for the last 80 years. That it lasted so long is a testament to the foundations that preceded it. It is time for radical change. Paul is the only one calling for it. That is why his ideas resonate. Everyone else is an echo. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2012-01-02 08:33 |
| #4 FUDD being pulled out at the last min. to skew an election is rude. Either win the argument earlier or attack him after the polls close and before New Hampshire with argument instead of FUDD. |
| Posted by: Water Modem 2012-01-02 08:01 |
| #3 FUDD: Fear Uncertainty Doubt and Disinformation - something perfected into an art by Redmond in its desire to kill Linux and OpenSource - However, it is something used since the beginning of time by politicians to gain unearned advantage. |
| Posted by: Water Modem 2012-01-02 07:57 |
| #2 What concerns me deeply and urgently is that Paul is, as Goldman notes, explicitly urging people to feel powerless and to scapegoat. There's a long history of such things leading to overt tyranny. I don't think what's going on here is guilty nerves. It's people seeing the stage set for the collapse of the republic as voters are urged to conclude they have no power (or responsibility) within the political system. |
| Posted by: lotp 2012-01-02 07:51 |
| #1 With all the volume raised against him... you know he touching a few guilty nerves.... It's starting to remind me of the character assassination of Palin. This is not pro-nor-con for Ron Paul rather a comment on the shrillness and seeming desperateness of the attacks that are appearing everywhere and suggest a well funded mass FUDD campaign. |
| Posted by: Water Modem 2012-01-02 07:45 |