GOP doing everything to stop Ron Paul's rise

[cheguevara]

http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-washington-dc/how-predictable-jeb-bush-emerges-on-the-scene

Jeb Bush has all of a sudden emerged with an article he wrote that is being touted as "campaign-like" even though he has previously said many times that he would not run in 2012. Of course, the establishment did not expect Ron Paul to go mainstream or to be broadening his base so fast.

If Jeb Bush gets into the race, this will end-up turning into a 2-man contest between Paul and Bush. The rest of the candidates do not have enough rock solid support to survive an entrance of Jeb Bush as many of their supporters would likely leap over in his direction.

[cheguevara]

http://mwcnews.net/focus/politics/15620-ron-paul-surge.html


Why Ron Paul’s Surge is Making Them Nervous

While big government statists in both the Republican and Democrat parties remain mystified over Ron Paul’s surge in the polls in Iowa, the ones who seem most confounded by this phenomenon are the members of the mainstream media, who themselves are statist to the core. They just can’t figure out how it’s possible that increasing numbers of people are gravitating to the Paul campaign, especially when the mainstream media has either ignored Paul’s campaign or done its best to ridicule Paul’s libertarian positions.

One of the most amusing aspects to this phenomenon is when the mainstream media statists do their best to bring Paul’s views to the general public, with the expectation that when people learn what he really stands for, they’ll rush into the waiting embrace of big-government statists like, well, like Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney.

Yet, what actually ends up happening is that when people hear what Ron Paul stands for, instead of running for the big-government types, many of them say to themselves, “You mean, there is a candidate that stands for that? Well, that’s the way I feel. I’m going over to the Ron Paul campaign.”

Thus, the mainstream media effort to advertise Paul’s libertarian views boomerangs on the statist press, and it confounds them to no end. So, many of the mainstream media statists return to simply ignoring the Paul campaign and acting as though Gingrich and Romney are the only two frontrunners.

A good example of this phenomenon involves Iran. During the GOP presidential debates, the mainstream media statists say something that could be interpreted like this:

Mr. Paul, you don’t want to bomb Iran, like the other candidates do. This is shocking . How can you expect people to take you seriously if you’re not willing to bomb Iran? Don’t you know that they’re producing a nuclear weapon? Our government officials say so. What do you think our military is for?

Paul responds with something along these lines:

No, I do not believe that we should bomb Iran. That would involve killing and maiming several hundred thousand more innocent people, which would be added to the hundreds of thousands of innocent killed and maimed in Iraq.

No, I don’t believe that they’re producing a nuclear bomb because the actual evidence doesn’t support that assertion, and government officials often lie about such things in order to garner support for regime-change operations. Look at Iraq, a war which the mainstream media supported because it never doubted that government officials were telling the truth about those bogus WMDs.

But even if Iraq was producing a nuclear weapon, it wouldn’t affect anything anyway because they’re not going to go out and start a nuclear war that would result in the obliteration of their country.

And let’s not forget that the Iranians might just be concerned with another U.S. regime-change operation, like when the CIA ousted their democratically elected prime minister in 1953 and installed a brutal unelected dictator in his stead. After all, it’s not Iran that has the United States surrounded by military forces. It’s the other way around.

We’ve killed enough people around the world. It’s time to end the wars and bring our troops home.

At this point, those in mainstream media are ecstatic. In their minds, Paul’s libertarian position on Iran is just whacko and so loony that they’re certain that the American people are going to say, “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe that Ron Paul doesn’t want to go bomb Iran. That’s horrible. If we don’t bomb Iran, then who should we bomb?”

But there are obviously many Americans — in growing numbers — who are achieving a breakthrough on foreign policy — the same breakthrough that libertarians achieved a long time ago. They’re seeing the fundamental wrongfulness, in terms of both morality and religion, of attacking and bombing countries that haven’t attacked the United States.

They’re seeing how this type of thing produces anger and hatred for the United States, which then manifests itself in retaliatory terrorist attacks, attacks that are then used to take away our civil liberties here at home — and that are also then used to go and bomb more countries, thereby ensuring this cycle of death, destruction, and loss of liberty continues into perpetuity.

They’re also seeing what Paul and libertarians have long emphasized — that all this imperialistic military aggression is expensive, to the point that it is hurtling us down the road to bankruptcy.

Moreover, the phenomenon starts to feed on itself. As more people gravitate to libertarian positions, it causes others to say, “Maybe I should check into libertarianism and see why people are so excited and passionate about it.”

Whenever asked about the Ron Paul surge, statists always respond, “Well, he can’t win.” Since they’ve convinced themselves that he can’t win, why are they so nervous? Because they see more and more people moving toward libertarianism and getting excited and passionate about it. And they just can’t figure out what to do about it. Ignoring the phenomenon hasn’t worked and neither has ridicule.

[cheguevara]

http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/tea-party-report/2011/dec/19/ron-pauls-new-iowa-surge-triggers-anger-hate-gop-c/


Columnist Kathie Obradovich’s editorial in the Des Moines Register recently illustrates the way some Republican leaders view the Paul candidacy – as an unwelcome interloper:

Suddenly, in the final weeks before the Iowa caucuses, Paul’s periscope has broken the surface. He’s running in second place in many December polls of Iowa caucus goers. He’s known to have an energized campaign on the ground. Sound the claxons! Code red! Battle stations!

The prospect of a Ron Paul win is causing aftershocks and seizures within the GOP establishment and with good reason. A new survey by left-leaning Public Policy Polling this weekend shows Paul leading the pack with 23%, Romney at 20%, and Gingrich at 14%. The latest Rasmussen poll shows Paul in third place – just two percentage points behind Gingrich and five behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

[boutons_deux]

Winning lily white Iowa and VT ain't winning the nomination.

Repugs are panicking because they will have no candidate that will beat Obama. That candidate will be Wall St choice: Willard Gekko

[DarrinS]

Winning lily white Iowa and VT ain't winning the nomination.

Repugs are panicking because they will have no candidate that will beat Obama. That candidate will be Wall St choice: Willard Gekko

Wall Street's candidate of choice is Barack Hussein Obama

[Stringer_Bell]

Wall Street's candidate of choice is Barack Hussein Obama

Then why does everybody say that corporations and job makers don't like Obama? Is Wall Street separate from that group? Hmmmmmmmmm

[greyforest]

ron paul has been shut down by his own party over and over.

ron paul will never be put in to power because he basically wants to dismantle the federal government and give most power to the states. the federal government will prevent that from happening.

[Yonivore]

Then why does everybody say that corporations and job makers [not on the receiving end of Obama's redistribution of the largesse he's plundered from America] don't like Obama? Is Wall Street separate from that group? Hmmmmmmmmm
He knows who to buy.

Goldman Sachs loves him. Hell, they may actually own him. Put that in your Plantation hat.

GM and their Union owners love him too.

Then there's the green industry that's been on the receiving end of billions of your tax dollars with almost nothing to show for it except failing companies and burning cars.

When you get down to the real job providers -- they have little power on Wall Street.

[fraga]

I actually like that crazy old bastard...

[mavs>spurs]

Dr. Paul now leads Iowa and seems to be peaking at the right time, his campaign is really starting to take off. He knows that winning Iowa is the only way to shed that media label and win the nomination.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

lol Jeb Bush

No one from the Bush family will ever be elected president again.

[CosmicCowboy]

Dr. Paul now leads Iowa and seems to be peaking at the right time, his campaign is really starting to take off. He knows that winning Iowa is the only way to shed that media label and win the nomination.

If that's the case then the major media headline will be "Gingrich gives Romney tough run for second place in Iowa!"

[AFBlue]

Foreign policy view doesn't identify with the vast majority of Republicans, and I would argue the majority of the American people. Instability in the Middle East and Asia can't be ignored.

[Nbadan]

I've posted in previous posts that Jeb Bush might jump in, although I really think he was being groomed for 2016....right now, I think its 60-40 against Bush jumping in, if you don't see Gingrich or Romney slow down the Paul express, the neo-cons could get nervous and throw in Petrus or Bush...

[boutons_deux]

Maddow: Ron Paul calls out uncomfortable truth in GOP politics

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow on Monday night discussed Ron Paul’s rising poll numbers in Iowa, and said his candidacy for president revealed an “uncomfortable truth” about the Republican Party.

She noted that establishment Republicans had blasted Paul’s isolationist foreign policy, even though his policies often received applause from Republican debate audiences.

Maddow said Paul was persistently popular across the country, noting his “sustained fundraising, his sustained support, his sustained ability to turn out big crowds, his appeal across the country, his cross-demographic appeal.”

“What is most interesting about Ron Paul is not just his isolationism, there has always been a strain of that in Republican politics,” she continued. “Pat Buchanan ran as an isolationist among other things when he ran back in the 90s.”

“What is most interesting about Ron Paul is the extent to which his domestic stuff, his social-issue libertarianism, his position on things not just like the war in Iraq but the war on drugs, calls out a really uncomfortable truth in Republican politics,” she explained. “Which is that Republicans want their brand to be small, hands off government, but the policies they support are more like big intrusive government. Things like forced, mandatory drug testing by the government and federal regulation of every marriage in the country.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/12/20/maddow-ron-paul-calls-out-uncomfortable-truth-in-gop-politics/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29&utm_content=Google+Reader

[boutons_deux]

How Ron Paul Could Win Iowa Caucuses -- and Screw Everything Up

Once Ron Paul wins the Iowa caucuses, he'll have a decent shot at winning the New Hampshire primary. Even if he finishes a close second in Iowa, that will be true. It's just the way momentum works. Ultimately, he won't win the GOP nomination, but that is likely not his aim.

I expect that soon after Super Tuesday, after having accumulated enough delegates to be something of a power broker going into the Republican National Convention, Ron Paul will get out of the race. He could play a game such as that played by Pat Buchanan in 1996, where he threatens to dramatically walk his delegates out of the convention until he gets control of the GOP platform, leaving the Republican presidential nominee to run on an agenda that calls for the end of the Fed and Social Security, and to implement the gold standard for currency. Or, he might just begin a third-party run even before the convention begins.

In 2008, after dropping out of the GOP presidential contest (following a fifth-place finish in Iowa), Paul did not go on to endorse John McCain. Instead, he backed Chuck Baldwin, nominee of the Constitution Party, which despite its secular name, is the political wing of the Christian Reconstructionist movement.

For Ron Paul, this may just be the perfect holiday season -- one that delivers, before next Thanksgiving, a GOP pushed even further to his America-first, anti-government, Christianist agenda, while delivering a mighty blow to a despised Democratic foe. As Will Ferrell, in a postmodern cinematic holiday classic, said of the malevolent imp, Miles Finch, “He’s an angry elf.”

http://www.alternet.org/teaparty/153511/how_ron_paul_could_win_iowa_caucuses_--_and_screw_everything_up?page=entire

[boutons_deux]

New Focus on Incendiary Words in Paul’s Newsletters

Emerging as a real Republican contender in Iowa, Representative Ron Paul of Texas is receiving new focus for decades-old unbylined columns in his political newsletters that included racist, anti-gay and anti-Israel passages that he has since disavowed.

The latest issue of The Weekly Standard, a leading conservative publication, reprised reports of incendiary language in Mr. Paul’s newsletters that were published about 20 years ago.

A 1992 passage from the Ron Paul Political Report about the Los Angeles riots read, “Order was only restored in L.A. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks.” A passage in another newsletter asserted that people with AIDS should not be allowed to eat in restaurants because “AIDS can be transmitted by saliva”; in 1990 one of his publications criticized Ronald Reagan for having gone along with the creation of the federal holiday honoring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., which it called “Hate Whitey Day.”

The magazine article largely matched a similar report in The New Republic in 2008, and it was written by the same author, James Kirchick. The passages were plucked from a variety of newsletters that Mr. Paul’s consulting business published during his years out of Congress, all of them featuring his name: Ron Paul Political Report, Ron Paul’s Freedom Report, Ron Paul Survival Report and Ron Paul Investment Letter.

Mr. Paul did not respond to an interview request, but repudiated the writings in 2008. Likening himself to a major news publisher, he said he did not vet every article that was featured in his newsletters. “I absolutely, honestly do not know who wrote those things,” Mr. Paul said in an interview on CNN at the time, adding that he did not monitor the publications closely because he was busy with a medical practice and “speeches around the country.”

Mr. Paul, who is a physician, had said his political persuasion as a libertarian precluded him from harboring such biased views because “I don’t see people in collective groups.”

On Monday, his deputy campaign manager, Dimitri Kesari, reiterated that Mr. Paul “did not write, edit or authorize” the language.

“He totally disavows what was said and disagrees with it totally,” Mr. Kesari said. “The only responsibility he takes is for not paying closer attention.”

Mr. Paul is the latest in a series of candidates whose quick improvement in polls has drawn new scrutiny of the more problematic portions of their résumés. The focus on his newsletters comes as he seeks to seize momentum in polls by raising questions about his opponents.

During an appearance on “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” on Friday, Mr. Paul joked that Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, a Republican rival for the nomination, “hates Muslims, she wants to go get them.” He also concurred with Mr. Leno that former Senator Rick Santorum speaks about “gay people” almost exclusively, adding, “And Muslims.”

Though Mr. Kesari said those comments were intended to be “lighthearted,” they drew criticism from some commentators, including the Fox News host Greg Gutfeld, who on Monday pointed to Mr. Paul’s newsletters as evidence that he was being hypocritical.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/20/us/politics/bias-in-ron-pauls-newsletters-draws-new-attention.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=print

=============

Ayn Rand Paul, wasn't he the sociopath who thought businesses should be free ("Freedom!!" :lol ) to refuse service to, discriminate against anybody (like blacks, browns, yellows, Irish, Italians)

[cheguevara]

New national poll: Romney 30%, Gingrich 30%, Paul 15% and Perry 7%

Ron Paul makes some headway toward the top tier of the GOP presidential race in a new national poll.

An ABC News/Washington Post survey released Monday night shows the Texas congressman with backing from 15 percent of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents. That's behind Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich , who are tied at 30 percent, but ahead of Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann at 7 percent.

The poll, which echoes other recent national and statewide polls, is yet another sign that Paul's campaign could be a serious contender for the GOP nomination. The congressman's foreign policy views are well outside the Republican mainstream, but he has a loyal following that can't be overlooked.

http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/12/new-national-poll-romney-30-gi.html

[cheguevara]

pChzOaIeyxY

:lmao Ron Paul is a fucking pimp

[AFBlue]

He has a loyal following and it continues to grow...but the uncomfortable truth is that it's nowhere near enough to win him the nomination, let alone defeat Obama.

[cheguevara]

He has a loyal following and it continues to grow...but the uncomfortable truth is that it's nowhere near enough to win him the nomination, let alone defeat Obama.

possibly. But he is wrecking havoc and pissing off the corporations, mainstream media, mic warmongers, and elite politicians on both parties. good times :lol

[cheguevara]

oh btw, he could easily defeat Obama. He'd automatically get all the Obama haters which are close to 50% then, he'd snatch most of the ndependents

[boutons_deux]

"He'd automatically get all the Obama haters which are close to 50% then, he'd snatch most of the ndependents"

but he won't get the 1%'s $100Ms in donanation, and he doesn't have the organization.

[cheguevara]

"He'd automatically get all the Obama haters which are close to 50% then, he'd snatch most of the ndependents"

but he won't get the 1%'s $100Ms in donanation, and he doesn't have the organization.

well he got 4 million in just 4 days http://www.ronpaul2012.com/

his campaign is the best organized of the GOP

anyway, I agree he won't win GOP so this is all moot, but he'd destroy Obama on the popular vote

[cheguevara]

The Age of Ron Paul creates panic in the Republican Establishment


Congressman Paul has catapulted past the most recent conservative flavor of the month, Newt Gingrich to capture the lead in Iowa according to two recent polls. He is currently polling in second place in New Hampshire. His campaign raised over four million dollars from small donors in just over two days, a major news story in its own right that is getting very little coverage in the mainstream and conservative media. Paul had a blockbuster performance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Friday evening. All cylinders are clicking for Ron Paul.


That is scaring the heck out of the Conservative and GOP Establishments.

Conservatives have flirted with several promising candidates who have seen their stars rise and fall, usually in a matter of a few weeks. Newt Gingrich is the most recent candidate to fold following Donald Trump, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, and Herman Cain. When voters started looking closely at their resumes, they rejected each of them.

During all of this volatility, Ron Paul has continued to increase his popularity with voters. Today Paul stands at 14 percent nationally in the latest CNN poll, which is the best he has fared in that poll to date, despite his spending practically nothing in states outside of Iowa or New Hampshire. He comes in a solid third at 15 percent in an ABC News/Washington Post poll released yesterday. He leads in Iowa and is second in New Hampshire (see above), early voting states in which Paul has competed aggressively.

The Conservative Establishment is the force that has the most influence over conservative voters today. Their media power center is conservative talk radio, conservative television, and the conservative blogosphere. Each of these outlets provides a seemingly endless stream of over-exposed conservative pundits who parrot the same talking points that are sanctioned by the conservative masters at the top of the pecking order. They play along because it pays to play along. Radio jocks and television hosts like Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly thrive by offering up a continuous supply of red meat conservatism to their Identity Conservative listeners and viewers while their sycophant pundits play along. Like a broken record, their uniform narrative never changes.

Why are they so afraid of Ron Paul? They are afraid because his message does not fit their increasingly outdated and tired narrative. If people begin to embrace Paul’s independent conservative message, many of them will undoubtedly stop listening to dinosaur Conservatives on the airwaves.

The GOP Establishment is a different animal. These are old guard Republican Party people, political insiders, and their various consultants and organizers. They are afraid of Ron Paul because as Politico points out in a bizarre article this morning, they believe Paul could shake things up so much, that it could affect business as usual.

http://www.examiner.com/independent-in-manchester/the-age-of-ron-paul-panics-the-conservative-and-gop-establishments

[boutons_deux]

oh btw, he could easily defeat Obama. He'd automatically get all the Obama haters which are close to 50% then, he'd snatch most of the ndependents

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnkjOHVK-H4


Poll: Americans Trust Obama Much More than the GOP


Do you have more confidence in President Obama or in the Republicans in Congress to deal with the major issues facing the country today?

Obama: 50
Republicans: 31

Back in March, there was a 44-39 split—a net 14 point swing in President Obama's direction. It's reflected in his approval rating compared to that of Congress:

Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as president?

Approve: 49
Disapprove: 48

Do you approve or disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job?

Approve: 16
Disapprove: 83

http://www.alternet.org/module/printversion/newsandviews/751108

[Trainwreck2100]

lol Jeb Bush

No one from the Bush family will ever be elected president again.

Wrong, I would gladly elect one of there bush daughters president of my penis

[PublicOption]

http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-washington-dc/how-predictable-jeb-bush-emerges-on-the-scene

Jeb Bush has all of a sudden emerged with an article he wrote that is being touted as "campaign-like" even though he has previously said many times that he would not run in 2012. Of course, the establishment did not expect Ron Paul to go mainstream or to be broadening his base so fast.

If Jeb Bush gets into the race, this will end-up turning into a 2-man contest between Paul and Bush. The rest of the candidates do not have enough rock solid support to survive an entrance of Jeb Bush as many of their supporters would likely leap over in his direction.


I think all these cannon fodder candidates "bachman, cain, perry, gingrich, they are just in the race to throw the scent off the real tea party, anti-lobby guy....Ron Paul.

http://www.ronpaul2012.com/

[PublicOption]

Then why does everybody say that corporations and job makers don't like Obama? Is Wall Street separate from that group? Hmmmmmmmmm


They don't like Ron Paul even more.

http://www.ronpaul2012.com/

[DarkReign]

Foreign policy view doesn't identify with the vast majority of Republicans, and I would argue the majority of the American people. Instability in the Middle East and Asia can't be ignored.

I believe it absolutely can be ignored.

[cheguevara]

Why Do GOP Bosses Fear Ron Paul?

DUBUQUE: Ron Paul represents the ideology that Republican insiders most fear: conservatism.

Not the corrupt, inside-the-beltway construct that goes by that name, but actual conservatism.

And if he wins the Iowa Republican Caucus vote on January 3 -- a real, though far from certain, prospect -- the party bosses will have to do everything in their power to prevent Paul from reasserting the values of the "old-right" Republicans who once stood, steadily and without apology, in opposition to wars of whim and assaults on individual liberty.

Make no mistake, the party bosses are horrified at the notion that a genuine conservative might grab the Iowa headlines from the false prophets. Already, they are claiming a Paul win won't mean anything. If Paul prevails, says Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, “People are going to look at who comes in second and who comes in third. If [Mitt] Romney comes in a strong second, it definitely helps him going into New Hampshire and the other states.”

http://www.thenation.com/blog/165290/why-do-gop-bosses-fear-ron-paul

[boutons_deux]

RP getting the nomination is as unimaginable as him being President.

If such a nightmare were to become reality, all you Paul suckers would find out that nothing he campaigned on would become legislation because he won't have enough Congresscritters behind him.

[Winehole23]

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5510790&postcount=4

[Winehole23]

echo in here?

[cheguevara]

RP getting the nomination is as unimaginable as him being President.

If such a nightmare were to become reality, all you Paul suckers would find out that nothing he campaigned on would become legislation because he won't have enough Congresscritters behind him.

So he's just like Obama without the warmongering.

[Winehole23]

what are Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen?

[cheguevara]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnkjOHVK-H4


Poll: Americans Trust Obama Much More than the GOP


Do you have more confidence in President Obama or in the Republicans in Congress to deal with the major issues facing the country today?

Obama: 50
Republicans: 31

Back in March, there was a 44-39 split—a net 14 point swing in President Obama's direction. It's reflected in his approval rating compared to that of Congress:

Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as president?

Approve: 49
Disapprove: 48

Do you approve or disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job?

Approve: 16
Disapprove: 83

http://www.alternet.org/module/printversion/newsandviews/751108

Ron Paul Polls Strong v Obama in Relation to Paul's Competitors

LAKE JACKSON, Texas, Dec 21, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- 2012 Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul polls strong against incumbent President Barack Obama in a general election matchup, according to a new CNN / ORC poll has Ron Paul.

Poll highlights include Paul besting Obama 47 to 46 percent among those 65 years and older, said to be the most reliable voters. Paul also beats Obama among whites 51 to 46 percent, persons who reside in rural areas 52 to 44 percent, and independents by 48 to 47 percent.

When compared to other Republican presidential hopefuls in a general election matchup against Obama, Paul does best among the following population segments: males; persons ages 18 to 34; persons under 50 years of age; persons earning less than $50k per year; persons who have attended college; crossover Democrats; self-identified liberals; self-described moderates; residents of the Northeast and Midwest geographic regions; and those residing in urban areas. Noteworthy as well is that Paul fares better than all of his GOP competitors against Obama among non-whites -- garnering a solid 25 percent, or one in four non-white adults.

"This poll further debunks the establishment-created myth about Ron Paul's electability and shows an expanding base of support," said Ron Paul 2012 National Campaign Chairman Jesse Benton. "Americans of all stripes are tired of the status quo Washington insider games, and are looking for someone who represents real change. Congressman Paul is that candidate."

ORC International surveyed 1,015 adult Americans via telephone from December 16th to the 18th. The margin of error for this total sample is +/- 3.0 percentage points. Total sample includes 928 registered voters, with the margin of error for this group also +/- 3.0 percentage points. Error margins for micro-targeting can range much higher.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ron-paul-polls-strong-v-obama-in-relation-to-pauls-competitors-2011-12-21