Topic: Ron Paul
Ron Paul, ABC News, and the Voters of District Fourteen Ron Paul won his primary election for a return to his House Seat. The Main Stream Media is a little bit snide about it.by rtbohan
(Libertarian)
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
The national media have been annoyed with Ron Paul since he began his presidential campaign because they don't like to hear his ideas. As he trimmed back his presidential campaign to concentrate on returning to his seat in the House of Representatives, the media gave a sigh of relief and hoped to see the last of him on the national scene. There was speculation in the papers that maybe his constituents did not realize the strange ideas he had, and that this might lead to the end of his congressional career. It didn't turn out that way.
The New York Times ran a short story, stating that both Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich had won renomination for Congress. ABC News on its website ran a somewhat longer story by Byron Wolfe which announces the convincing victory by Ron Paul, but contains no quotation from Representative Paul on beating back a well financed challenge, nor from any voters in the district. The only quotes are from Chris Peden, Representative Paul's unsuccessful challenger.
The story quotes Peden as saying that the Paul's presidential campaign "has exposed some of his principles that are not in line with his district..." The fact that Representative Paul recived the votes of 70% of those who voted in the congressional race reveals this as wishful thinking on the part of both Mr. Peden and ABC news. The question which should have been asked of Mr. Peden, who had written a letter to Representative Paul aupporting the campaign for President and endorsing his principles, is who encouraged him to mount the campaign against Representative Paul. It was not, obviously, an outpouring of support from the voters. Was it the national Republican Party trying to distract Paul from his national campaign?
In fairness to Mr. Peden, Mr Wolfe and the national Republican Party, I must point out that while Representative Paul won the congressional primary with 70% of the vote, on 14% of his constituents voted for him as a candidate for President. This may have been simply because of a personal fondness for Dr. Paul, but not for all of his ideas. It might be because they like John McCain and dislike Chris Peden. It might be because Ron Paul is both a libertarian and a conservative Republican, and they support him as the latter but not as the former.
But it really does not matter. We know that Ron Paul is not going to be the Republican nominee for Preident this year, and we know that he is going to be the Republican nominee for Congress in the fourteenth district of Texas. So libertarians will continue to have him speaking for them in the United States Congress, and that is a great thing. I hope that Representative Paul, having won this race, will provide support and help for other libertarian candidates for Congress and that he will proceed with his plans for a Washington event this summer and continue to build the national coalition his candidacy called forth. In any case, it is good to know that he will continue his battles for liberty.
Did you like this article? If you did, Thumb It! 24 thumbs so far
2008 rtbohan, all rights reserved.
Published: Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Last modified: Tuesday, March 18, 2008
The views expressed in this
article are those of rtbohan only and do not represent
the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. rtbohan is
solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an
employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
Posted By: Kevin Houston
Date: 2008-03-05 13:51:50
Actually, we don't know that Ron Paul won't be the nominee. Dr. Paul can firmly establish himself as the "Not-McCain" candidate. The media loves a conflict, dramtic or otherwise. Ron Paul can start to get a lot more press.
Then all that needs to happen is for John McCain to suffer a major scandal or have a major temper tantrum on TV.
Ron Paul is literally a heart-beat away from getting the nomination - McCain's.
"I must point out that while Representative Paul won the congressional primary with 70% of the vote, on 14% of his constituents voted for him as a candidate for President."
This might also be because he's done such a good job for them as their Congressman. I once had a manager that stopped me from getting a transfer to a closer location because he didn't want to lose such a good employee.
If what Kevin says is true, that RP is a heartbeat away from getting the nomination, my enthusiasm has been renewed. Strange things do happen in politics, and McCain is a loose cannon. It's more likely that he will mess up than that he won't. Keep hope alive!
A large number of Texas Republican precincts that were not dominated by Paul supporters passed (unanimously!) no-confidence-in-McCain resolutions. These will be forwarded to the county/senate Republican conventions on March 29th. I can only assume that these were Huckabee supporters who will not line up behind McCain. I haven't seen a McCain sign in my city, and am beginning to wonder who his stealth supporters are. I also find it near incredulous that almost as many people voted Paul-for-Congress in his one district as Paul-for-President in all of Texas. With a 10.85% turnout for the Republican primary it looks like the resounding Republican primary winner in Texas is Mr. Apathy by an 80% margin.
Precincts reporting huge number of erstwhile "Republicans" crossing over to vote in Democratic primary, lining up for their place on the highly anticipated ClintObama dole.
Want to comment on this
article? Leave your comment here. Your email address is
required to track your comment. However, we will neither
publish your email address nor distribute it to other
organizations or persons. The only reason we might use
it would be if we needed to contact you regarding your
comment. All comments are subject to our
terms of use policy.
2008 rtbohan, all rights reserved.