From the Washington Post:
Simply, Ron Paul is just too popular to ignore. Republicans will find it very hard to win with him running as an Independent. If anything, a three-way split might play out even more strongly for Paul, as he can bash both the incumbent and the Republican as emblematic of the establishment — an establishment that more and more is failing America.
Of course, many forces are deeply opposed to Ron Paul, because for better or worse, his small-government anti-Federalist policies are a drastic change from the status quo, and embarrass big-government Republicans like Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry and George W. Bush who claim they want to balance the budget and end up spending a heck of a lot more.
So Paul supporters can expect a deluge of negative claims: claims that he is a racist, claims that his foreign policy is dangerous, claims he wants to return to segregation, claims that he cannot win and is unelectable.
Ultimately, everyone knows that it is the status quo that is more unsustainable than anything else. America is now the most indebted nation in the history of our planet, bogged down in expensive wars and its role as global policeman, and increasingly in denial of her constitution and the principles of her founders. Congress and Obama — as well as extending the reactionary and unconstitutional Patriot Act — have recently signed some of the most reactionary and illiberal legislation ever in the NDAA of 2011, which allows for the indefinite detention of American citizens without due process. Americans voted for Obama hoping for change from the big-spending interventionist corporatism of George W. Bush, and got much more of the same.
Paul’s non-interventionist foreign policy, his civil libertarianism, his strict adherence to the constitution, his rejection of banking bailouts and his willingness to cut spending are not what every voter is looking for, but are a tonic to the disastrous policies of the status quo that are sucking down the American economy.
Of course, many Americans fear radical change. That’s why establishment contenders like Cain, Gingrich, Bachmann and Perry have rapidly risen in the polls and fallen, as voters scrabble around hunting for a viable alternative to the status quo. Paul’s gains have been slow, steady and consistent. This has been in spite of an earlier campaign of media ignorance, and now a campaign of media smears, including the charge that he is either or a racist, or has associated himself with racists.
These media attacks will prove ineffective. Voters are turning to Paul because of his policies, and the fact that he represents a radical departure from what to many Americans is a disastrously failed status quo. He could be the Grand Wizard of the KKK, a shapeshifting Reptilian from Alpha Draconis, or a cross-dressing drug addict, and that would not change a thing because Ron Paul will ultimately be judged on the content of his policies, not superficial smears that have nothing whatever to do with policy.
Voters — middle class voters, poor voters, factory workers, the unemployed — like the idea that the President will cut the debt. Voters like the idea that the President will respect a strict interpretation of the constitution, instead of passing authoritarian legislation like the NDAA, SOPA and the Patriot Act. Voters like the idea that the President will end wars, close foreign bases, and defend America, instead of practicing expensive nation building in the middle east and central Asia. Voters like the idea of not pledging future tax dollars to bailing out badly managed and corrupt banks.
While some of his stances are unpopular with some segments of the population, there is no other declared candidate from either of the major parties who offers any of the above. None. Ron Paul’s rise is just a symptom of the establishment not delivering to the people what they want, need and deserve.
azizonomics 
I need to know the dirt on these Politicians.
I mean, I am so used of gossip mags and reality TV, that I need to be informed of these facts. How else can I make an imformed opinion.
I have trouble understanding all that “Nerd” stuff, I mean I much prefer to know what their fashion sense is, if they have any idea who Rebecca Black is, or whether they are just a cooool prez.
I probably won’t vote anyway. I will leave that for the others. There is a cool party that weekend. Oh yeah and the new mall has been opened!
Small nit, Ron Paul is not anti-federalist. Federalism is a core principle in the US Constitution. No one is more pro US Constitution than Paul. Were he calling for a return to the Articles of Confederation then yeah, he’s anti-federalist. But calling for a return to the role of the Government as defined in the US Constitution is not anti-federalist. His opposition will try to paint him as such in hopes of making him look like he’s pro-slavery, pro-segregation, etc.
Well anti-federalist in terms of supporting a stricter interpretation of 9th and 10th Amendment powers as defined by the constitution, in direct opposition to federalist as defined by Alexander Hamilton’s Federalist party, which I would argue is reincarnated today as both the Republican and Democratic parties.
I suppose I am technically wrong for using the term anti-federalist when I should say anti-Federalist, but I pray you’ll forgive me for the sake of simplicity.
You are not in need of forgiveness. Paul’s small Federal government posture is very reminiscent of views held by George Mason and Patrick Henry, both prominent anti-federalists in the lead -up to the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. The Bill of Rights, which includes the ninth and tenth amendments, is customarily attributed to George Mason.
I find it sometimes amusing the postures the anti-Paul people take. The Republicans and the Democrats (as establishment parties) get almost nothing right. One of the reasons, in my view, is that the career elected politicians in both parties think of compromise in terms of horse-trading, where each pol gets something he/she wants while the American people get shafted, instead of dealing on a single issue (entitlements, taxes, national defense, energy, environment, etc.) in a manner acceptable to both parties and in the interests of the American people.
Our representatives’ concept of compromise is the following: Cut taxes (R) and increase spending (D). How well is that working?
The mainstream media is moving to drown Paul very strongly today. So, if Paul’s support is capped by this, and we get 4 more years of Obama or Romney, well, I guess America will get what she deserves. More of the same. More debt, greater trade deficits, less manufacturing, less civil liberties. More capital controls. Maybe a war with Iran — and we know China and Russia will help Iran. The internet will be “regulated”, protestors — or “low level terrorists” as DHS defines them will be “dealt with”. The banks will keep sucking money out of the Fed, and securitising increasingly absurd products and using them as fungible currency equivalents, and creating increasingly abstract derivatives, creating an ever-larger web of debt and probably inviting yet another debilitating systemic failure when Greece finally defaults.
The odds are against Paul, not just in getting elected, but given the mess that he will be confronted with; in terms of Congress, in terms of the debt, in terms of resistance from within various agencies. His medicine will be bitter, and people expect instant gratification. Externalities may make things much worse. 2008 crystallised a terrible global financial system that is primed today to trigger greater mayhem.
But a lot of things need to change — the status quo is a destructive mess. The only candidate offering any real change on either side of the aisle is Dr. Paul. The only one. If Americans want to keep America there can only be one choice.
Rolling back the state would be very painful now. Not rolling back the state would be much much more painful later. The electoral system is skewed in favour of the status quo and in avoiding pain now for later. In short we are doomed! I cannot realistically see the electoral system putting someone like Paul in power, indeed if his policy changes were implimented even slowly and gradually they would lead to pain and very vocal calls for his dismisal. Scaling back the millitary would create huge unemployment initially anyway.
Ron Paul’s solutions are at once extreamly easy to comprehend, obey the constitution, and extreamly difficult to convey to the voter (Spending is a Tax, to name one). For example, I am sure Roll Back that you are a well informed person or would not be posting here. Ron Paul has stated there would be a transition period during which he would not discharge military personel. Instead, for the period, they would create a demand for housing and a general stimulus to the economy here in the US after returning from abroad.
Your charts are no doubt accurate, however, as an active member of the campaign leading the Cleveland OH campaign, I do not feel he will run as a third party candidate. The barriers, especially having competed in IA, are too great. For one, spoiler laws in some states prohibit running as a third party candidate once you have been on the ballot in a primary as an R or D. I think he will be content to stay in the race to the very end and allow his supporters to simply write his name in. We are not worried about the national poles v. the IA poles. It simply shows that voters blurt out whatever name they have heard the most on the T.V. It also shows, that with education, we can convert these voters and never lose them. Dr. Paul has stated he believed the magic number, or tipping point, would be 12% of the voters. At that point he believes there will be a sufficient number to spread the word and educate the voters. I think we are very close to that tipping point.
One of the most interesting “lies” spread by the mainstream is that he cannot win in the general election. Of course, that would be the easy part, it’s getting there that will be tough. Our local group contains many Democrats and Independents. I would estimate Ron would take at least 5 percent of those registered Democrats that are very dissapointed with the president. The primary disapointment is with his stance on civil rights. Much of his base is livid. He would surely win over many more “Fiscally Conservative, Socially Liberal” Independents than any of the other GOP candidates. You only have to check the polls to see that any pro-war, pro-torture candidate is going to have a tough go, no matter how bad the economy is doing.
It is comical listening to establishment types claiming the Democrats in the Paul movement are just stealth plants that will vote for Obama. The Dems in my group, many I have known for ten or more years, are busy making phone calls to IA and waving signs for Ron Paul. If they are stealth plants I want the Dem master mind that trained them to run our CIA – because they are doing an impressive job.
Wow… really nice blog. Well written and concise. Bookmarked and shared ya ;).
http://www.voteforronpaul2012.com
U.S. Grassroots site coming up please support and like on facebook.
The Right Call is Freedom For All
Vote for Ron Paul 2012! Please Subscribe, Share, Comment, Like, and share the views of this brilliant man.
How about we have a return to what worked beautifully prior to 1913 when the robbery of the people began? The passing of the PRIVATE Federal Reserve to issue money with Interest due on every note printed and worse, now in the computer age, not even printed, is worse than a cancer to a country.
Does anyone recall why the the USA had a Revolutionary war with England to begin with?
After England made it illegal for the colonists to issue it’s own money (Colonial Script) things took a serious turn for the worse.
“In one year, the conditions were so reversed that the era of prosperity ended, and a depression set in, to such an extent that the streets of the Colonies were filled with unemployed.”
“The colonies would gladly have borne the little tax on tea and other matters had it not been that England took away from the colonies their money, which created unemployment and dissatisfaction. The inability of the colonists to get power to issue their own money permanently out of the hands of George III and the international bankers was the PRIME reason for the Revolutionary War.”
Benjamin Franklin
This is one of the major issues Ron Paul is keenly aware of and has been a proponent of. It’s high time we had a Doctor to properly diagnose, expose, and remove the cancer before it kills the patient – the USA.
Any third-party conservative candidate would split the conservative vote. It has nothing to do with Ron Paul per se.
Right. So the point extends to Gary Johnson who may become standard bearer if Paul fails to win the nomination. Paul supporters in the general election will swarm to Johnson, and Romney will struggle.