while I, of course, disagree with your conclusion.
ranagrande Send a noteboard - 10/01/2012 02:21:46 PM
For every idea of his that is acceptable or even attractive to any particular group in American politics, he has two that said group would find absolutely unacceptable. He doesn't want to become president bad enough to abandon his principles, which of course is one of the things so many people admire about his candidacy - but it also means he's not actually a candidate to be President. He just wants to promote his ideas, and he certainly has a lot more influence this way than he'd have through his House seat alone.
Why would that mean he's not actually a candidate? He would have vastly greater influence still to promote his ideas as President.
So to sum up, it's not gonna happen, and you wouldn't like it if it did (although Paul becoming president would definitely be one of the most exciting political experiments in recent history: how much would he actually change, and what would the consequences be? It's just only a madman would want to volunteer his country for said experiment.)
It could happen. After Iowa, there's a three-way tie for first place between Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and Ron Paul. With very few votes counted so far in New Hampshire, Paul is a close second to Romney there too.
If by some miracle Ron Paul does get the republican nomination, I think he goes on to become President. (For the record, if by an even greater miracle Jon Huntsman were to be the republican nominee, the general election will be a contest too close for me to call. If it's anyone else: Perry, Gingrich, Santorum, or Romney, than Barack Obama will serve a second term.)
And if it did happen, then yes, I think I would like it very much. I don't completely agree with Ron Paul on everything, but he comes much, much closer than any other candidate in any other party. Unlike with most candidates, and unlike our current President, chances are good that Paul will actually do, or at least try to do, what he says he will. He has a long congressional record to use as evidence: in all his time in the House, he has never voted to raise taxes and he has never voted to go to war.
As you say, it would be exciting to see how many of his ideas he could actually implement, how people would respond to them, and what the results ultimately were. I shall gladly volunteer my country for this experiment, and I'm not a madman. In fact, the last time I took psychiatric exam, the doctor said I was one of the "most classically normal" people he'd seen. Anyway, Paul's theories are sound and any changes he is able to make are sure to be improvements. He certainly couldn't be any worse than Bush or Obama.
Santorum is #2 in Iowa
- 04/01/2012 01:24:13 PM
1672 Views
would you stop using that word? It is gross. *NM*
- 04/01/2012 01:48:45 PM
537 Views
What's your word for it? *NM*
- 04/01/2012 03:43:44 PM
487 Views
Well, there's nothing wrong with Santoruming in the privacy of one's home.
- 04/01/2012 02:35:56 PM
991 Views
yeah that it so funny
- 04/01/2012 03:05:59 PM
864 Views
he kind of brought it on himself by being so decidedly anti-gay that it pissed lots of people off
- 04/01/2012 04:36:39 PM
903 Views
maybe the gays brought all the gay bashing on themselves
- 05/01/2012 03:18:15 PM
1088 Views
Civility is a social contract
- 05/01/2012 04:39:46 PM
869 Views
so now that the gays have broken that contract they are fair game?
- 05/01/2012 06:37:52 PM
620 Views
Re: so now that the gays have broken that contract they are fair game?
- 06/01/2012 05:29:49 PM
881 Views
So is it OK if just insult the gays who are politically active and push their agenda?
- 06/01/2012 06:16:30 PM
904 Views
If you call them out by name for hypocrisy, then sure.
- 10/01/2012 05:22:34 PM
931 Views
yes but once you have thrown out all civil decency why start getting nuanced?
- 11/01/2012 09:09:13 PM
846 Views
Actually, your response was expected
- 04/01/2012 10:08:33 PM
959 Views
do you still pretend that it isn't political?
- 05/01/2012 03:14:25 PM
794 Views
I'm sorry
- 05/01/2012 03:52:57 PM
900 Views
funny how it always woks out that way
- 05/01/2012 06:44:55 PM
704 Views
Believe what you will, but my wok skills are poor 
- 05/01/2012 07:32:17 PM
862 Views
- 05/01/2012 07:32:17 PM
862 Views
You should ask one of the gays to help you. I hear the gays are good at cooking. *NM*
- 06/01/2012 01:54:21 AM
576 Views
Santorum is a man who believes you must compare homosexual love to bestiality and pedophilia
- 05/01/2012 04:42:26 AM
867 Views
and Savage is a Man who believes that vulgar personal attacks
- 05/01/2012 03:12:42 PM
1006 Views
Why should a person tolerate intolerance? (Serious question.) *NM*
- 05/01/2012 08:46:05 PM
606 Views
The question boils down to why should someone tolerate what they think is wrong.
- 05/01/2012 10:53:40 PM
844 Views
and when santorum tells you that your lifestyle is worse than pedophilia and bestiality?
- 06/01/2012 03:34:52 AM
792 Views
To be fair...
- 06/01/2012 05:32:31 AM
942 Views
You are correct
- 06/01/2012 01:21:18 PM
983 Views
Then it seems like it's a problem of definitions more than anything else.
- 06/01/2012 09:48:49 PM
898 Views
Following the logic to its bitter end. Why do I do this to myself???
- 06/01/2012 10:14:01 PM
904 Views
Following the logic to its bitter end. Why do I do this to myself???
- 06/01/2012 10:14:01 PM
904 Views
Those are really not equivalent.
- 06/01/2012 04:18:37 PM
753 Views
Re: Those are really not equivalent.
- 06/01/2012 10:27:11 PM
884 Views
I don't like your definition of tolerance and you're not consistent with it anyway.
- 07/01/2012 01:49:05 AM
915 Views
In case you were curious, I really disagree with your understanding of tolerance. *NM*
- 09/01/2012 08:24:45 PM
566 Views
I find myself agreeing with you recently
So at this point, most of the candidates had a moment at the top. Kind of awesome.
- 05/01/2012 11:22:50 PM
874 Views
that is why Perry is staying in the race
- 06/01/2012 06:20:54 PM
827 Views
He should stay, they should all stay. Trump should get back into it and Palin should jump in too.
- 06/01/2012 07:00:52 PM
767 Views
It would be the joke of the year if Huntsman got a turn.
- 06/01/2012 10:59:36 PM
778 Views
Is he a bigger long shot than Santorum, though? Gingrich? Bachman? CAIN!?
- 07/01/2012 01:34:47 AM
881 Views
Yes, for the reason you state.
- 07/01/2012 03:04:39 PM
847 Views
I really do not agree.
- 09/01/2012 08:51:46 PM
868 Views
Like I said, check Obamas numbers any time in the last year and a half.
- 10/01/2012 11:41:47 AM
747 Views
More like everyone has had a moment running second to Romney.
- 07/01/2012 01:59:25 PM
768 Views
It's not a foregone conclusion yet.
- 07/01/2012 04:03:51 PM
884 Views
It kinda is; Paul cannot even win a majority of Republicans, let alone the country.
- 07/01/2012 09:09:07 PM
863 Views
Ironically, Paul has a better chance of winning the general election than the republican primary.
- 07/01/2012 10:14:07 PM
936 Views
What's the likelihood of Paul running as an independent/3rd party if he doesn't get the GOP nod? *NM*
- 07/01/2012 10:21:23 PM
307 Views
Not very high, I think. He didn't try it last time either, and it would hand Obama the election. *NM*
- 08/01/2012 01:29:01 AM
429 Views
many states have laws that you cannot run 3rd party after being on the ballot for a party primary
- 08/01/2012 06:12:36 AM
978 Views
Yes, he and Romney have that in common, but Pauls positions are (mostly) sincere.
- 10/01/2012 03:46:04 PM
953 Views
give up the hope it is nothing more than a pipe dream
- 09/01/2012 02:57:03 PM
889 Views
All of the republican candidates are pipe dreams.
- 09/01/2012 08:56:57 PM
697 Views
I find Ron Paul absolutely infuriating.
- 09/01/2012 10:44:09 PM
953 Views
Um...
- 10/01/2012 03:54:53 PM
783 Views
Paul is an equal opportunity infuriator, to borrow Vivien's word.
- 09/01/2012 10:56:57 PM
848 Views
while I, of course, disagree with your conclusion.
- 10/01/2012 02:21:46 PM
1289 Views
The original santorum 2003 interview for those who want to know
- 07/01/2012 05:32:00 AM
1064 Views
And here is the 2002 op ed where he blamed liberalism causing the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal
- 07/01/2012 05:36:39 AM
886 Views