Ron Paul does not attack other candidates. Alas, the same cannot be said for all of his supporters. by George Dance
(libertarian)
Monday, May 16, 2011
One of the many things that sets Ron Paul apart from the typical politician is that he seldom engages in negative campaigning. He campaigns to get his own ideas out; he does not often waste time attacking the other guy and his ideas. It is one thing that attracted me to him in the first place, and still does.
How does Paul manage it? The secret is simple; in fact, it's no secret at all. Ron Paul has, and has always had, other people to do any necessary attacking for him. Two of his long-time supporters have played special roles in that regard: Lew Rockwell of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, and Justin Raimondo of Antiwar.com.
In most respects those two could not be more different. Raimondo is a long-time anarcholibertarian peace activist from San Francisco, best known for his outreach to the antiwar progressive movement; Rockwell is an Alabaman widely suspected to have authored the notorious 1990s Ron Paul Report newsletters (12), best called outreach to "angry white guys who hate gay people and fear blacks." Raimondo is openly, proudly gay; Rockwell would probably be happier to have all gays executed (provided, of course, that it were done at the state level.) They could not be more unlike. Yet Paul brought them together -- the original prototype of the left-right coalition he forged in 2008 -- and they function as his attack dogs, going after anyone who even appears to criticize him. Not that there's anything wrong with that in principle; those criticizing Paul often deserve a going-after for one reason or another.
Given the above, though, I was nervous to hear what the pair would say about Gary Johnson, the other libertarian in the 2012 Presidential race, given the similarity of his views with Paul's -- which makes the two candidates subjectively allies, but objectively rivals. Paul himself seemed happy with Johnson's candidacy, telling Reason magazine that "the Republican Party had a history where we had less interventionist foreign policy and sound money and personal liberties [were valued], so having two, three, or four candidates who believe in them is good."(1) But that was to be expected; any negativity would come from the attack dogs.
Still, I was surprised by the first barks, which were sounded by Rockwell on Apr. 21, the day Johnson announced his run:
"Apparently downplaying the drug war, and never having raised the war issue, Gary Johnson has announced for president. If Johnson is the next Ron Paul, then President Obama was not only born in Hawaii, but he was delivered by Jack Lord, says Bob Wenzel."(2)
That quote made me sure of one thing, anyway: Bob Wenzel should definitely not give up his day job. As for the rest, though, I was puzzled. Johnson has been "downplaying" the drug war? And he has "never" raised the war issue? That sure did not fit with what I remembered.
Maybe, though, I was misremembering; that can happen when one is biassed towards a candidate. So I went back and looked at some of the other press Johnson received the week he declared his candidacy. I checked the first paragraphs of ten news stories at random. Here is what I found:
Beauregard Report: "Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, who's definitely going to jump into the presidential race soon, told the Huffington Post that he wants us to get out of Afghanistan and supports Dem. Sen. Barbara Boxer's bill setting a deadline for getting out, wants us to end our bombardment of Libya, and wants us to close our hated military base in Okinawa, Japan. He also re-iterated his support for ending the drug war and legalizing marijuana."(3)
Business Insider: "10. Libertarian former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson has announced his candidacy for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination. A fierce opponent of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (and a proponent of legalized marijuana), Mr. Johnson is expected to compete with Rep. Ron Paul for libertarian voters."(4)
Christian Science Monitor: "Gary Johnson, the Republican former governor of New Mexico, skipped formation of an exploratory committee and went right for the big show. 'I am running for president,' he blasted on Twitter Thursday as he made the same announcement in person from the New Hampshire statehouse. But Mr. Johnson is not your typical Republican. As a governor, he set records for vetoing legislation over spending, earning him the nickname Governor Veto. He advocates legalizing marijuana, supports gay marriage, and opposes the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."(5)
Crawford on Drugs: "Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson has announced his 2012 bid for the presidency, The Hill reports. Known for his small-government policies, Johnson rose to national prominence largely due to his advocacy of marijuana legalization. The libertarian-leaning former governor has made little effort to appeal to the more traditional parts of the GOPs base, saying of his stance on legalization, 'It is what it is. From the context of The Emperor Wears No Clothes, I'm the only politician that's saying the emperor is wearing no clothes. That's not such a bad deal.'"(6)
Huffington Post: "Earlier this week, I wrote a piece suggesting that Americans who want to end the war in Afghanistan ought to consider supporting former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson in the GOP primary, as a means of raising the profile and impact of Republican sentiment against the war."(7)
Just Foreign Policy: "Last week, former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson announced his candidacy for President of the United States. This was a historic event, because 1) Gary Johnson wants to end the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and 2) Gary Johnson is a Republican. He also wants to slash the military budget. Gary Johnson is also opposed to the "war on drugs," which he has called "an expensive bust".(8)
The Nation: "Last week, former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson announced his plans to seek the GOP presidential nomination in 2012. His anti-entitlement, anti-tax orthodoxy notwithstanding, Johnson was something of a conservative iconoclast as governor of New Mexico; he opposed the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the recent intervention in Libya. He supports marijuana decriminalization, and is a staunch opponent of the war on drugs."(9)
Sydney Morning Herald: "A former New Mexico governor who built a handyman business into a multimillion-dollar construction company and has climbed Mount Everest is the unlikely first official heavyweight contender for the Republican Party's 2012 presidential nomination. Two-term governor Gary Johnson, 58, is a libertarian who runs marathons, an extreme skier and backs the legalisation of marijuana. He opposes the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and says he would withdraw US troops."(10)
Of the first ten stories I read at random, eight led off their coverage of Johnson's politics with his positions on either drugs or war. Strange how they would all focus on the issue Johnson "downplays" and the one he "never mentions," is it not? Were all of them misrepresenting? Or was Rockwell?
In fairness, I also found one item in the National Review that focussed on a different topic, Johnson's views on immigration. In addition, I found one -- which turned out to be an article on Ron Paul -- that mentioned something else that needs to be remembered:
"One of Paul's current rivals for the 2012 GOP nomination, Gary Johnson, supported Paul's presidential run back in 2008: 'I am endorsing Ron Paul for the Republican nomination for President because of his commitment to less government, greater liberty, and lasting prosperity for America. We are at a point in this country where we need to reduce our dependency on government and regain control of our future. To this end, Ron Paul will bring back troops, end the War in Iraq, and will strengthen the U.S. dollar and the economy. For these reasons and more, Ron Paul has my support, respect, and vote.'"(11)
Johnson was the most prominent Republican to endorse Paul for President in 2008. Even more significant was when he did it. Just days earlier, The New Republic had run yet another expose on the 1990s Ron Paul newsletters, the albatross that Rockwell and Murray Rothbard tied around Paul's neck decades ago.(12) The progressive media, which had embraced Paul for his anti-war stance, promptly dropped him like a hot potato; for days the main stream media wrote of nothing on Paul but his alleged racism. For a while it looked as if the campaign would end then and there: that Paul would end up denounced by his party and abandoned by his following. Then, just days later, came the Johnson endorsement, and news coverage shifted. The endorsement, by its timing, arguably saved the Paul campaign in its hour of most need.
Ron Paul is a busy man, with a lot on his mind. Still, I hope that he spends some time reflecting on this, and looks into buying some dog muzzles. __.
(2) Lew Rockwell, “Gary Johnson the ‘Next Ron Paul’?” Lew Rockwell’s Political Theater, Apr. 21, 2011. Web, May 16, 2011. http://www.lewrockwell.com/politicaltheatre/2011/04/gary-johnson-the-next-ron-paul/
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