Paul Campaign Should Not Be Concerned About "Fair Weather Friends"
Dave Nalle posted an article in which he raises the question as to whether there should be concern about support from the left for Ron Paul as orchestrated by moveon.org. The answer is no. by Walt Thiessen
(libertarian)
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Nolan Chart columnist Dave Nalle's column today raised a concern that he has. He notes that moveon.org is backing the Ron Paul campaign, and he is ringing the alarm bell that this is an infiltration of the campaign by "fair weather friends" who are there (in his view) mainly to cause disruption with Paul's more conservative supporters.
I respect Dave's viewpoint, and I'm very glad that he has joined the ever-increasing number of new columnists who have decided to directly contribute here at the Nolan Chart. So Dave, I say once again, welcome!
The problem with the viewpoint he expressed in his column is that it assumes that there is an inherent crisis when two or more people from different political camps work together to support the same candidate. As he correctly points out, this can lead to infighting and dissension within the ranks of the campaign, but that's about as far as we can go with the analysis along this track. It's a "glass half empty" point-of-view, and it is therefore limited.
The "glass-half-full" point of view is that our country desperately needs liberals, conservatives, libertarians, and centrists to come together and fight for liberty. Make no mistake...the Paul campaign is about fighting statism in the name of liberty within our country, and this means it is a fight that affects all of us. A Paul victory would be a victory for nearly the entire population, except for some micromanager types as well as some uber-wealthy bankers, politicians and power-brokers.
We must recognize that there are an awful lot of differences of opinion in our country as to what constitutes real liberty. If such differences didn't exist, there would be no liberal camp, no conservative camp, no libertarian camp, and no centrist camp. So when a candidate like Ron Paul comes along (which happens very rarely), his appeal is broad enough that it is bound to attract people from all viewpoints.
Nalle would like us to believe that moveon.org's motivation in supporting Ron Paul is that it will help elect Hillary Clinton, but is that true? Probably not. Even though Paul is still relatively unknown to most of the people of this country, he is only a few percentage points behind Clinton in a head-to-head race. If he were 30-40 points behind, then perhaps there might be something to Nalle's claim, but that's simply not the case. Yet, even if his claim about moveon.org is true, does it really matter? As long as Paul and Clinton head-to-head is so close while Paul is still a relative unknown, I think the answer has to be a clear, resounding "no, it doesn't matter."
Ultimately, if we are going to take back our country from the big government statists who dominate it, it means that libertarians, liberals, conservatives, and centrists are going to have to work together to make that happen. So instead of creating conspiracy theories that only serve to divide us, I suggest that a more practical approach would be to find ways to work together. This means, among other things, urging Paul supporters who disagree on various issues to put their disagreements aside and work for the common goal....liberty through Ron Paul's election to the presidency. And even-if-and-when Paul's campaign doesn't reach that goal, we must still continue to work together...and put our differences aside...so that we can move toward greater liberty for all of us.
In the words of that great American patriot, Thomas Paine, "If we do not hang together, we shall surely hang separately."
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In my heart, I truly want you to be right. Ron Paul IS a uniting influence across the country, no question. In my head, I know you cannot be serious. You cannot trust a liberal. They are weak kneed and cowardly. Expect to be deceived by them at every turn. They will happily join any cause that looks like a winner, then bail out as soon as there is a hint of setback or hard work. Once they bail, they will use your good-natured acceptance against you for whatever purpose is the fashion of the day. Dave is right to be suspicious, as should we all be.
Au contraire, Larry! When you attempt to put someone into a box by simplistically labeling them, it almost invariably turns out that the one in the box is you.
Walt is spot-on here; as long as we continue to remain divided, we will continue to remain conquered. That's why I am such a strong supporter of http://www.downsizedc.org - an impressive group that has seen through the fraudulent nature of partisan politics that keeps us all "in our boxes."
If I could somehow induce you to check out their website, like by sending you a buck, I would! :)
Posted By: Walt Thiessen
Date: 2007-12-12 11:09:09
Larry...couldn't we take what you said about liberals, remove the word "liberal," replace it with the word "conservative," and get a resulting statement that has the exact same level of truth? I think the Bush administration and its conservative supporters have proven this observation to be starkly true.
The point is that:
all liberals are not the same, just as all conservatives are not the same, just as all libertarians are not the same, just as all centrists (or moderates) are not the same, just as all statists are not the same.
It's very dangerous to get caught up in generalizations about people just because of the political camp they are in philosophically.
I love Downsize DC. I have asked my family to donate to them for my Christmas gift. If Ron Paul is elected, they will be an extremely valuable ally. If he is not elected, they will continue to plug away.
One of the basic tenets of libertarianism is "live and let live". If my neighbor has different goals than me, we can still cooperate to our mutual benefit. We don't need to have a "one world" mindset to prosper together.
Check out the chart at the top of the page. It shows that the Statist vs. Libertarian axis runs vertically. There is still scope for people spread across the left vs right axis to desire to move from a Statist position to Libertarian position.
Posted By: Scott from Oregon
Date: 2007-12-12 14:33:08
Larry's little diatribe above is very indicative of the ugliness rampant in political discourse in this country.
I have NEVER supported a Republican president ( I was out of the country for Reagan, and I may have supported him), and I am far more comfortable associating with open-minded "liberals" than righteous and hypoctisy-filled uber Conservatives, but having said all that, I can easily find a comfortable place in the Ron Paul camp.
The reason being is that I know my more liberal views are better addressed far more locally than the federal level. Over-sight, implementation, etc... are far more effective locally than federally.
Besides, I know that different regions have different needs and beliefs, and therefore different levels of government are necessary.
The hrd sell to those with a liberal viewpoint should be that local governmenets are far better able to provide for liberal sentiments than a one size fits all federal system.
It puts the argument closer to home, where we can all participate.
