The GOP does not deserve the support nor should it be the benificiaries of the Ron Paul phenomenon. by Jim Hines
(libertarian)
Saturday, February 23, 2008
The idea that Ron Paul supporters should infiltrate the GOP and effect change from within is ludicrous.
It is necessary that I use dramatic examples to illustrate my POV.
I would not think to infiltrate the KKK or the Nazi Party or the Democratic Party for that matter and use their bylaws in an attempt to bring them around to my way of thinking. Any participation in those institutions only lends them credibility and legitimacy. Getting down in the mud with these individuals will only leave you dirty. The GOP does not deserve to be acknowledged as a credible vehicle for governance. They do not deserve to be the beneficiaries of the coalition that Ron Paul's presidential campaign has cobbled together. It is traitorous to the ideals that Paul has advanced to suggest otherwise. Regardless of how the party may have behaved back in 1952.
Furthermore, I believe recent experiences at the Louisiana Caucus should be all the evidence needed to see that if necessary the GOP will simply change the rules should an interloper pose a threat to their continued dominance.
If you need more evidence look no farther than the so-called Christian Coalition. The GOP has been paying lip service to these misguided individuals for decades now. That coalition is arguably larger, stronger, more committed, better organized, more easily identifiable and certainly better funded than the "Pauliticians". Has the Christian Right received anything for their slavish adherence to voting republican? No! Emphatically NO!
A new day must dawn.A day without the GOP having a prominent seat at the table. The only way to accomplish the change that citizens attracted to the message Ron Paul has advanced is to harness the power of the millions who do not currently participate or vote at all. Make every effort to maintain the current coalition and direct every ounce of additional energy and resource into attracting those who do not affiliate themselves with either party. Don't try and convince them to occupy an overcrowded, unresponsive, stubborn, chronically diseased and dying body. Bring them into a clean, healthy, sincere and progressive host. Stop the madness. Pull the plug on the GOP.
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I agree with you, Jim.  I understand why Ron Paul saw the GOP as a potential advantage over a third party run - ballot access, main stream resistance to third parties (as perpetuated by the MSM), and the idea that "old conservative Republicans" would be ready to reject the neoconservative (global socialist) direction the GOP has taken. But I think the outcome of his effort has proven your point.Â
It’s time to put a fork in the GOP. It’s time to break the back of the RepubliCrat one-party system. It’s just like the US embassy building built (in Russia?) a decade or so ago. It was so infested with electronic bugs that it could not be occupied. And so goes the GOP (and Democratic Party, for that matter). Beyond salvage, beyond repair, totally co-opted and ready for the wrecking ball.
We should never go down this road again; else we shall be responsible for our own failure.
I consider this article a counter-point to the article Ron Paul Delegates Advance Towards St. Paul (beginning at paragraph 6). I am glad to see this counter-point (and I have to admit that I have been thinking the same thing) but perhaps it goes too far the other way, and this is the point I want to make. These two articles present two extremes:
Working from within the Republican Party is the only way;
Working from within the Republican Party should not be done at all.
I suggest that there is a third perspective: that we all have very similar goals and we should encourage and support each other even though we may differ on the best way to bring about these goals.
Some people may choose to work from within the Republican party. Some people may choose to work from within the Libertarian, Constitution or other parties. Some people may choose to completely ignore political parties. But all of us, as Ron Paul supporters, have common goals. Our greater bond is in these common goals, not in their methods of implementation.
To all of the above I say: I salute you and wish you success! I will support you and your candidates for office with my time and money.
Personally, I will never join a political party. Thank goodness I live in a State (Alabama) that doesn't force me to join a political party.
Ron Paul ran for president as a libertarian and I never heard a word about him. He ran on the same principles he is running on now. The only difference - the media attention given to the republican debates. Sending ron and his 5-7% of the national republican vote to an independent will not make an independent party that garners national attention. I think its a stupid system, but it is the system provided us. If dozens of similar minded congressmen and senators were to leave a party and help form a new party all at once, it might work - but one man, cannot do that - unless he was president already - which sadly it seems ron wont be. The movement needs to become much larger yet before we can influence mainstream politics in this country - and I feel that can only happen today with the help of the exposure provided to candidates for one of the major parties - no offense to 3rd party organizations. Just a simple fact as I see it.
I think it's been generally agreed that the MSM has put him into a near blackout despite him running as a Republican. And even though he was in the debates his treatment there was less than positive and the time alloted him was certainly not equal or even fair. He got our views all the attention that he could as a Republican but now it is time for us to leave the GOP behind.
I'm not suggesting Paul leave the Republican Party because I know he won't. I wish he would but that is another article. I'm suggesting Ron Paul supporters not throw their support behind the GOP. The nearly 10% nationwide vote Paul has gotten in the primaries will make a significant difference in the general election.
Should he not be a choice on the ballot I'm recommending anyone who would otherwise vote for him vote instead for the Libertarian candidate for POTUS. That parties platform and philosophy come closer to Paul's than do the Republicans. There will be a Libertarian presidential candidate on the ballot. Obviously the Democrats are not an option. That should go without saying.
I do support and encourage anyone currently active in the GOP to fight for Paul at the convention. Win the fight there and I promise I'll vote for Ron Paul and come back and joyfully write an article humbly eating crow.
But I would never lead anyone who agrees with RP's policies to joining up with the GOP. Rather as my article suggests it's time to abandon it for good.Â
Posted By: Ivan from Oregon
Date: 2008-02-23 18:00:33
This an argument that won't be won (either side). Your "extreme" example is a red herring. The KKK or similar never had the right platform or "constitution" if you will. The Republican Party used to be for all the things we want - limited government, a humble foreign policy, etc. The Neocons have hijacked it to the point there's no difference between the two parties. When we succeed in filling out our government with people who are worthy of our trust, we will, in fact, have resurrected what used to be the GOP, no matter what name we give it.
The key ingredient in a free market is "competition". If we keep shopping at Walmart then the little corner market goes out of business. Afterwards Walmart can do as it pleases. Mainly import from China and abuse labor. That's where we are now. The Republicans and Democrats can do as they please because the electorate is not providing any competition. However, this election there is an identified 5-10% nationwide that can provide that competition. But only if they vote for a third party in unison and keep increasing those votes for that alternate party thereafter. For me it seems logical that third party would be the Libertarians. People who are attracted to Paul's candidacy would find plenty to agree with in the Libertarian platform. More so than either major party.Â
Getting inside a party that has moved past the philosophy they once held with the intent of moving it back to that rejected philosophy is counter productive and quite frankly disingenuous. They will simply absorb you into their agenda and before you know it you will be compromising the majority of your principles in hopes of gaining some meager toehold.
Â
My efforts here are to encourage all who support Paul and who are not currently active in their local GOP as delegates to turn towards the Libertarians this cycle and hopefully in the future as well. The GOP that was once upon a time (1952) is no more. However, there is a party that shares our values. They are called Libertarians.
The dramatic examples where for illustration purposes only.Â
Posted By: Ivan from Oregon
Date: 2008-02-24 11:06:28
As I said, neither side will win this argument. The Trojans finally had to think "out of the box" because their assault from outside was getting nowhere. The strings of our government servant "puppets" are being manipulated by very powerful forces that have been pursuing a path to the global plantation. This plan is more than a century old. It is not secret, just the movers and shakers (the ones behind the curtain) remain hidden, for the most part. Part of the plan is to dumb-down the populace and destroy morality, pretty much accomplished already.Â
The root of power is being in charge of the money. This part of RP's message may finally get some traction in the imminent economic crash we're facing. The LP and others have been at it for decades and have gotten nowhere.
Ron Paul is our "Trojan Horse" that has garnered more attention than any other strategy, but he needs some help - he's pretty much alone in the "horse".
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