Ron Paul — It's Real, Get Over It

It's getting harder and harder for those fascists at Redstate to claim Ron Paul supporters are nothing more than "a bunch of liberals pretending to be Republicans." From Time:

Paul... is not only drawing impressive crowds (more than 2,000 at a postdebate rally at the University of Michigan last month) but also raising tons of cash. In the third quarter of 2007, Paul took in $5.3 million (just slightly less than GOP rival John McCain), mostly in small, individual donations. On Oct. 22, he aired his first TV ads, $1.1 million worth in New Hampshire.

The numbers are even more impressive considering that as of early October, 72% of GOP voters told Gallup pollsters they didn't know enough about Paul to form an opinion.

I'll say it again—insisting that Ron Paul supporters are liberals in disguise, as members of the right are doing, is a particularly pathetic blend of paranoia and denial, and it's only going come back to bite them in the rear. There is something real about Ron Paul (maybe it's the fact that Paul, as Frank Luntz says, is the candidate "the most likely to look at the camera during the debates and say, 'Hey, Washington, f____ you.'") that has tapped into the energy and enthusiasm of a bunch of voters that are internet-savvy, willing to donate, and politically educated. That's a group Republicans ought to be courting, not ostracizing.

And here's a fun Ron Paul anecdote from the Time article. "On Tuesday, both Paul and Tom Cruise were guests on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. The actor went to Paul's dressing room to thank him for his work on a bill fighting the forced mental screening of grade-school kids. "Go. Go. Go. Go hard," Cruise said. Paul turned to an aide and asked, "What movies has he been in?""

Update: More on Paul in Iowa.

Comments

"That's a group Republicans ought to be courting, not ostracizing."

What a great quote, and what a great lesson for Democrats to learn. I see many parallels to the Republican establishment treatment of Ron Paul supporters and the Democratic treatment of Ralph Nader supporters. As I recall, it didn't work out so hot for the D's back in 2000. They should have spent more time courting, and less time ostracizing. That is how you win.

Posted by: bigtimecynic on 11/01/07 at 8:04 AM Respond

Too bad Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich are not in the same party. What an alternative set of candidates they would be, a definite challenge to the big money, corporately sponsored others.

Posted by: slanted tom on 11/01/07 at 8:52 AM Respond

That was the jackass who said that RP supporters were like crabgrass...not the kind of grass you want.

Now let's say that I was a Giuliani supporter reading that...but had a lot of respect for RP's views on the Constitution (damn, his consistent MENTIONING of the Constitution).

That crabgrass remark would throw me over to supporting RP.

I don't need to be condescended to by people who are being paid by someone to give me the opinion of the payer.

RP is not Howard Dean and people are making a mistake to think that. HD didn't get pro-war military vets like myself thinking he was cool despite disagreeing on that subject.

I see RP having a chance in a crowded field, although I still predict a loss to Giuliani on Tsunami Tuesday, which is February 5th.

But Giuliani will then have to promise cabinet positions to leading libertarian thinkers.

If the evangelist right is blocked out in the primaries by a Giuliani landslide with Ron Paul coming in 2nd or 3rd in lots of places, a lot of religious people in DC can start to think about finding new jobs in the private sector where they belong.

Posted by: Jim Peterson on 11/01/07 at 9:49 AM Respond

Interesting op/ed piece about RP: http://suicidegirls.com/news/politics/22533/
I'd have to say I agree.

Posted by: Kyle on 11/01/07 at 9:57 AM Respond

I like the fact that you stick to the facts and let readers make up their own minds about embracing Ron Paul.

Many love him; some never will. I appreciate the balance in your piece.

Posted by: Skip Cook on 11/01/07 at 1:09 PM Respond

Kyle-

You know what's annoying? A hipster porn site trying to offer political commentary that amounts to the written equivalent of sticking out your tongue. The fact that Ron Paul is currently losing to Hillary Clinton by just 10% in a hypothetical race is remarkable because 3/4 of the public has no idea who the *fuck* he is. And the last time I checked Clinton beats any Republican by about the same amount.

I, for one, prefer to get my political commentary from legitimate news outlets. You know, like Playboy.

Posted by: charlie on 11/01/07 at 1:52 PM Respond

Jonathan

Let me apologize for the post I -just- placed on your other article. You were actually one of the only people who has written about the "other" issue that did not try to imply that any of the polls were spammed as a result of it.

Posted by: Jason on 11/01/07 at 3:36 PM Respond