Rush Limbaugh has obliquely endorsed Ron Paul by denying the conservative chops of other lesser Republican candidates. by creator
(libertarian)
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
When Joseph Farah of WorldNetDaily narrowed his field of candidates down to Ron Paul, Mike Huckabee, and Fred Thompson, I knew that big things were afoot. Yesterday, Thompson bailed out of the race, leaving Mr. Farah only Paul and Huckabee.
Then Norma McCorvey -- "Jane Doe" of Roe v Wade fame -- endorsed Dr. Paul, which will undoubtedly have an impact on the "values voter" crowd.
Now NewsMax has reported that conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh last week explicitly disavowed both McCain and Huckabee, saying "If either of these two guys get the nomination, it's going to destroy the Republican Party." This week Rush washed his hands of the rest when he stated that he might even not support the eventual GOP nominee!
"I never thought I would say that in my life." said a dismayed Limbaugh. He went on to admit that the "it's my turn" approach taken by the party with Bob Dole in '96 seems to be "the same scenario" the GOP is planning as its strategy for 2008.
It was blatantly obvious to me in '96 that the "run Dole" strategy was a sure-fire formula for losing the election to Clinton. Does the Republican party really want to repeat that mistake in 2008? Now with "mainstream candidates" dropping like flies, and the "remaining anointed" disavowed by "Mr. Republican," Rush Limbaugh himself, isn't that as good as an endorsement of Ron Paul? I, for one, think so!
Ron Paul being the only truly conservative Republican candidate for president still in the race, it's time for the GOP to read the handwriting on the wall. It's time to stop treating Ron Paul like an unwanted stepchild, and to realize that he is the only candidate offering the Republican party any hope of winning this presidential election.
Ron Paul supporters: With successes in Nevada and Louisiana, and with more and more "big names" like Rush abandoning the other candidates, the time has come to pull out all the stops! Let's win this election for Dr. Paul! Go canvass your neighborhood precinct today!
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Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, and John McCain are killing Ron Paul in the polls. Rush knows that this guy would get crushed if he won the nomination. All that Clinton would have to do is start talking about how the War in Iraq was a Clinton Idea, and the masses would vote for her over Paul.
Look, I hate this truth. I wish Ron Paul didn't sound like such a kook when he talks. Ron Paul doesn't play politics he just speaks from the heart, and because of that he will get ran over like a runaway dog on the big highway.
Obviously there is only one thing to do... Resurect Ronald Reagan.
All Ron Paul has to do is .. point at recent world and domestic affairs.. say he was against the war from the beginning.. wants to put more money in tax payers pockets.. stop spending.. stop illegal immigration.. and educate on the FED.. Income Tax.. and the people who are running our country..
The great thing is.. he does not just point out our problems.. he actually has solutions..
Drastic.. extreme solutions.. for drastic extreme times..
I think the mesage is slowly resonating and picking up steam..
the statist; I could not disagree more with your analysis if you pissed into a bucket and called it sunshine.
Ron Paul does terribly in the polls for one reason and one reason only. No one knows who he is or what he stands for.
I heard Dr. Paul speak for 20 seconds during the first debate. I tuned into it by accident. I'd never heard of him and all it took was 20 seconds for me to get hooked and recognize the truth.
No one can argue against the positions of Dr. Paul without distorting the arguement or the truth to do so. However, it is much better for his ditractors not to have to argue with him at all because they recognize that to argue against Paul is to voice an arguement against the constitution and individual liberty.
No, I find that when people hear Dr. Paul speak they quickly become avid and die hard supporters.
He isn't doing poorly in the polls because of his tone of voice or becasue he sounds crazy. Neither is true.
If he seems crazy to some it is only because he is the only sane man in a room full of lunatics. People look around and see all of the lunatics acting normally and say Ron Paul is the crazy man.. which is in itself crazy as hell.
No it's the media black out pure and simple. Early in this fight we, his supporters, often qouted Ghandi "first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they attack you, an then you win" or something along those lines.
Unfortunatly, the msm ignored him first, then they put him on to ridicule and attack him and when neither worked, it was back to step one.
For all of the network and cable media Dr. Paul gets, If I hadn't been lucky enough to see him in the debate, I would not know he was running.
Reagan is Dead. I know because I cried when he died. Ron Paul is alive and with him, I'm afraid, is our last hope of a bloodless return to the principles of individual liberty upon which this nation was based.
Liberty 08
The Statist, I disagree with your above assessment. Though Ron Paul may not poll well against Sen. Clinton now, much of that is due to his lack of name recognition and/or lack of knowledge of his platform. However, during the general election with only two major candidates Dr. Paul will get more msm coverage which will off set the lack of name recognition et. al. Further, Dr. Paul will pull from Clinton’s base. I say that because he is the only candidate to advocate an immediate withdrawal from Iraq. I agree that many on the right may stay home come election day and that will affect the outcome yes, but given the anti Clinton sentiment and the anybody but Clinton sentiment will offset the people on the right staying home.
Your headline says "tacit endorsment", but the "column" doesn't even come close to justifying this headline. What's up with all the nolan chart exagerated headlines lately? Don't you have to back up your headlines with evidence/facts at Nolan Chart?
When Rush Limbaugh is explicit about the other candidates who remain in the race as being "not conservative" enough for him to even support, should they become the nominee, his silence about Dr. Paul's bona-fides as a strict conservative speaks louder than words.
IMHO, the only possible reason that Rush might not explicitly endorse Dr. Paul would be his position on Iraq.
I sincerely doubt at this point that it was an endorcement of Paul. I really think the Republican talking heads are going to try and make Romney their guy.
"IMHO, the only possible reason that Rush might not explicitly endorse Dr. Paul would be his position on Iraq."
That is the biggest reason, the other is that he does say silly things that make him look like a kook.
I really wish he didn't sound like this. I still like his positions on most things, except for the war and the border.
Ron Paul has been fortunate to be ignored by the MSM. If they did give him any attention, he would be ripped to shreads. He avoided talking to Neal Boortz for what reason? Because he didn't want to explain his position on the war to that audience. Neal Boortz agrees with Ron Paul on a lot of issues too.
Thanks for definition of "tacit". I agree with you about that, but when Rush says, "If either of these two guys get the nomination, it's going to destroy the Republican Party." or when he says, "...he might even not support the eventual GOP nominee." how does that imply that he might support Ron Paul?
"When Rush Limbaugh is explicit about the other candidates who remain in the race as being "not conservative" enough for him to even support, should they become the nominee, his silence about Dr. Paul's bona-fides as a strict conservative speaks louder than words."
When Rush says the "front runners" are SO non-conservative that he will abandon the Republican party if one of them is nominated, What is he saying? He is clearly saying that he wants a Republican nominee who is authentically conservative.
Without saying it, perhaps without consciously thinking it, and probably without ever admitting it to himself, when you consider what Rush has said and what he omitted saying, he is saying that Ron Paul should be the Republican nominee. He has in the past said that "Ron Paul Doesn't Have a Snowball's Chance" - see http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_051607/content/01125110.guest.html
- and at least in that discussion (back in May) he said that he hadn't made up his mind on ANY of the candiates yet - and so, logically, a few of your possible remaining options are these:
He still hasn't made up his mind
He may in the process of deciding to support Ron Paul
He may never be able to support Ron Paul even if he wants to, because he doesn't want to bite the hand that feeds him
He may still think Ron has no chance at the nomination
Go ahead, you fill in the blanks - but whatever Rush personally thinks or decides about an endorsement of anyone, what he has actually said is that none of the candidates he expects to win the nomination are conservative. Ergo, anyone who wants a conservative Republican nominee has but one choice, and that, my friend, is an endorsement of Dr. Ron Paul, whether or not Rush Limbaugh ever intended it to be.
Rush also say's----- "if you want to know who the most conservative candidate is--- look and see who the MSM is ignoring ........" This quote came from his explanation of how the MSM are in collussion with the Liberals in puffing up the candidate that is less likely to compete with Hillary--- McCain would be a LAMB to the Slaughter.... as well as Huckabee....... Romney would alinate most of the evangelical vote....... Guliani is not a conservative (though rush say's he likes and could live with RUDY---)
Thats how unconservative RUSH linbaugh has become..... he sides with the bleeding heart liberal from New York......
He also refuses to get behind people he doesn't see as a sure winner......... ( Look at his football bandwagon record)
Rush is no longer a REPUBLICAN----- He is a GLOBALLY VISIONED LIBERAL--- Just like the rest of the NEO -CONS
* in comparision to democrats being domesticly vissioned liberals---------
The worldwide markets are shaky right now. One bad thing happen and it could cause a worldwide market collapse. We are borrowed to the teeth and refuse to change our ways.
Ill hope nothing bad happens. Reality might be different though.
What happens when we have no rights and no money? All hell is going to break loose.
Rush is doing Ron Paul a favor, maybe he will endorse him if he somehow wins an actual state primary. Ron Paul is a great guy full of great ideas, but he is not a great politician. I would like to see him run for governor of Texas rather than president. Most presidents have been governors since the job is essentially the same. I think he would have a shot too.
Actually, Rush doesn't seem to lean towards Paul. On his radio show a week ago or so, he said none of the republican candidates are canservative enough. A caller echoed his view, but added "i don't know if you agree with me on this, but Ron Paul seems to be the only candidate with a conservative record." Rush paused, cleared his throat, paused and said "I'm going to have to disagree with you on that" then he cut to commercial and never said why.
Unless he had a revelation, I don't think he has researched Paul yet.
Ron Paul is the greatest hope for America. The only reason most Americans want to stay in Iraq and fund military bases in Korea, Saudi Arabia, etc., is pride and fear of change. If Americans want a stronger economy, President Santa W Clause is ready to give us all a big $500 'stimulus' check, but when you look at the signature at the bottom of the check, it's your own -- we'll all pay later for the free money now. W's dad did the same thing with the withholding tax 'cut' -- READ MY LIPS -- that was no tax cut at all.
We don't need to resurrect Ronald Reagan -- let's bring back Andy Jackson so he can axe the national bank again.
Rush is not going to support a politician that won't play the game. Politics is a dirty business, Ron Paul speaks from the heart. The great paradox of politics is that what it takes to win an election is not necessarily what it takes to run the country. Until Ron Paul plays the game, most Americans are going to be too stupid to realize that he is libertarians only hope.
Rush fails to mention the good doctor because Rush has dismissed him as a potential victor of the Republican nomination and the possibility never enters his mind. People like him only vote for those they consider likely to win. They aren't voting, they are betting on the likely outcome and their desire to be part of the in-crowd that voted for the winner.
People like Rush have been divorced from truth and integrity for so long they can't even hear Dr. Paul's message, the truth to them is like a human listening for a dog whistle.
Hopefully enough of the masses are still listening at the proper frequency. Good luck Dr. Paul!
To Rush, he can't see past the anti-undeclared wars thing. So to him, Ron is not 'conservative'. However, Ron is not anti-military or defense or pro-disarmament like some pacifist - but no one does their homework. Not even Rush.
I can appreciate that Rush has painted himself into a corner regarding the remaining GOP choices. I can further appreciate that, overall, the thought of his endorsing Ron Paul would be a welcomed event. However, it's something of a stretch, however hopeful, to put forth that his recent remarks actually constitute an endorsement. I would like a specific endorsement to issue forth from his mouth but, unless and until that happens, his listeners are not likely to pickup on the existence, not to mention wisdom, of choosing Ron Paul.
I am also very disappointed with Rush. Every day he boasts about the values of conservatives (I am one) and what he wants in a president. He talks bad about McCain and Huckabee but never mentions Ron Paul. All these values he seeks are in Ron Paul. I had been a long time listener but his blatant shunning or Congressman Ron Paul is just too much. I can't stomach his false conservatism anymore. Get ready for a liberal president, be it McCain, Obama or Hilary.
