Jesse is headed off to school this evening - more on that later. She invited several of her buddies over for a little dinner party and posted a photo on her blog. It was a fun group with lots of laughing and story telling, but at one point the discussion did turn to politics and the media. Her friends are young, conservative Republicans who are pretty well informed. They brought up the recent Iowa straw poll and how the media ignored Ron Paul's part in the poll. This morning, I did some googling and found this article. You know that I'm not that in to politics, but I thought some of my readers might find this interesting and give their thoughts.
7 comments:
People shouldn't be too quick to dismiss Ron Paul. He could very well be this election's Ross Perot, dividing the Republican vote and handing the victory back to Obama.
Like the author of the POlitico article I don't think there's a media conspiracy to ignore Ron Paul. I DO think most in the media perceive him to be a nut-case, though, given his radical views in some areas.
I like the guy, mainly because I sympathize with or support about half his views and positions, bein' the small-L libertarian I am. But there are areas where I have significant disagreement wit Paul, e.g., I don't like his isolationist position where foreign policy is concerned, along with his proposal that we withdraw ALL financial support from Israel. He isn't military-friendly, either... BIG minus in my book.
That said, Paul has a very rabid, hard-core group of supporters that is getting bigger every day. I hope he doesn't decide to run a third-party campaign... that would be disastrous for conservatives.
The press has, in recent years, made "the press" into "the story," which flies so far into the face of journalistic integrity as to require severe flinching.
Yeah -- Paul has gotten the shaft, and I'm not quite sure why the press is trying to marginalize him. If they keep ignoring him, and he continues to perform pretty well, he might just jump ship and run as a Libertarian or Independent candidate, and that would not bode well for conservatives.
Do I think hye can get the nomination? No. He's too honest and too Libertarian. I lean toward Libertari8an and he's too for out there for me.
To be honest, I think that to make ANYTHING of Paul's second place finish in a straw poll (where you had to pay $30 to vote, btw) of 16,000 or so Iowans would be foolish.
I am pretty dang sure that EVERY HUMAN BEING IN IOWA that supports Ron Paul for President laid down their 30 bucks...all couple of thousand of them.
Look, I was a registered "Libertarian" for years. I have a good deal of respect for the views of Congressman Paul, even though I don't agree with them all...legalizing drugs, yeah, secession, yeah, but his stands on isolationism, the war on radical islam, etc...are just dead wrong.
Ron Paul can go ahead on and run as a third party candidate if he likes, and it will not bother me one bit. It will not have any impact on the results of the election. His supporters will not go hold their noses and vote for a Republican they don't like, just because they want to see Obama gone. They will just stay at home. They are that rabid...and have already decided that it's Paul, or Nobody.
Trust me...I know 'em. I've known 'em for over 20 years. They are the true believers that stayed home in 1992 because Bush & all the rest were not Ron Paul. Trust me...I've known these people a long, long time.
A couple of thousand rabid Iowans do not a serious campaign make.
Becky,
It seems to be a damned if you do; damned if you don't situation. If you dismiss him as unimportant, maybe he will not run. If he gets very much attention, he will run, but he could split up the Republican party. Then again, maybe Andy is right.
Buck,
I truly do not know much about Mr. Paul and need to do more reading. It is interesting that he would have served in the military and Guard and not be for the military.
Moogie,
I think the press has some "journalistic integrity" problems. It may not be a conspiracy, but it is manipulative.
Andy,
I'm not "making anything" from the Iowa poll, but I do find it interesting - maybe a sign of the times that Ron Paul would do well and that the media would down-play it. I think Mr. Goodhair will be the man to watch right now, but we will see if he has lasting ability.
Lou, I didn't mean to say you were "making" anything of Paul's showing. I understood that.
What I was saying is that the media got this one right. Paul has zero chance of winning the nomination, or even coming in a distant 5th or 6th. To spend any ink on the results is a waste of time.
Plus, not mentioning Paul very often probably does the Republican party a favor in the big scheme of things. If they ever tried to make him the face of the party, then I'd worry.
Lou, I like your moniker for Perry. Mr. Goodhair indeed!
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