Paul’s surge in South Carolina is bound to give a lot of media pundits a headache in the days ahead. If the trend continues, the South Carolina debate will be an all out attack on Paul. Laurence O’Donnell–MSNBC’s token socialist–may think Paul is irrelevant, but he may soon change his tone.<>
Krauthammer on Ron Paul
Krauthammer, the eloquent neo-conservative, has written an interesting piece for the Washington Post. Though taking Paul out of context on two or three occasions, and by asserting the usual bias against Paul, he actually inserted a bit of sense into the discussion. He argues that Paul may have a legitimate shot at gaining an influential spot at the Convention in Tampa Bay, Fl. He observes that Pat Buchanan’s 1992 speech was a far more memorable speech than the acceptance speech of George H.W. Bush.
Paul has a real shot at re-energizing the real debate in this country. The debate is one of what philosophy governs best. The founding fathers understood that the government that governs best governs least. Paul is attempting to bring this debate to the forefront of the party.<>
Abraham Kuyper on Orthodoxy
I have transferred my Ron Paul news to this blog site. Many of the issues I discussed went beyond regular campaign details, and so I thought that a broader venue was needed.
“Do not bury our glorious orthodoxy in the treacherous pit of a spurious conservatism.”<>
Ron Paul Receives Support from Non-Active Duty Soldier
The way you get big news is by entitling an article with a false statement. Once the false statement is made, you then insert the real fact in one sentence toward the middle.
Rep. Ron Paul likes to silence the GOP rivals who criticize his foreign policy as “dangerous” by reminding them that he receives more financial support from military personal than all the other candidates combined.
But the Army is now investigating whether a 28-year old reservist breached military protocol when he praised Paul’s foreign policy positions on national television during a Paul rally Tuesday night.
The soldier, Cpl. Jesse Thorsen, walked on stage and lobbed praise on the Texas congressman, calling his foreign policy “better than any candidate out there.”
At one point, Thorsen stopped, reached out his hand out to Paul and exclaimed, “I’m flabbergasted right now. This is an incredible moment for me. It’s like meeting a rock star.”
The Department of Defense policy does not prevent soldiers from advocating for a political candidate, but active duty troops wearing a uniform are expected to avoid activities that “imply official sponsorship, approval, or endorsement.” Thorsen is not active duty.
The last statement is true, but for those just looking through titles it implies that he is an active duty soldier.<>
<>Bad for Average Americans
“When the federal government spends more each year than it collects in tax revenues, it has three choices: It can raise taxes, print money, or borrow money. While these actions may benefit politicians, all three options are bad for average Americans.” –Ron Paul
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War, Sarah Palin, Gingrich, and Ron Paul
Ron Paul is already awake and being interviewed by the Fox and Friends’ crew, who were surprisingly complimentary of him. Paul was quite sharp in his responses:
<>Ron Paul Finishes Third In Iowa. What happened tonight and where do we go from here?
Ron Paul finished a third place in the Iowa Caucuses. Early in the evening, there was a general sense of optimism as Paul took the lead in the beginning of the count. With 96% of the votes in, it appears Rick Santorum might win by a slim margin over Mitt Romney. Michelle Bachmann–who came in first in the Iowa straw poll– finished in last place (technically ahead of Hunstman, who did not run a campaign in Iowa). Bachmann’s disastrous finish may signal the end of her run. Rick Perry, who ended in fifth, will now return to Texas to see if there is a future for his campaign. Sunday’s debate may be a lot smaller.
Santorum’s victory will most likely propel him to the center stage in this Sunday’s debate in New Hampshire. Gingrich, who ended in fourth place, has begun his NH tour by condemning Paul’s foreign policy; a sign that Paul is still alive and well in this campaign.
Paul’s third place finish is not precisely what many expected, since Paul was counted to be among the top two. Despite a third place finish, Paul has the money and organization to continue strong in future states (Ron Paul’s speech). Beyond that, he may have won important delegates for the Republican convention.
Paul holds a second place in NH behind Romney who has taken a considerable lead. He will have to continue to harp his foreign policy message in the Live-Free-or-Die state of a strong national defense, no nation-building, no over-reaction to Iran, and a sober view of Middle East politics, and emphasize and contrast his economic policy from other candidates.
The GOP candidates share great similarity on a number of issues, but the two central issues at stake are the War and Economy. Ron Paul is actually fighting for the Taft/non-interventionist paleo-conservative tradition of war. And on the economy, Paul is arguing that only the Austrian school is a reliable theory to combat the deficit spending in Washington and the crony capitalism embraced by the bailout advocates within the GOP. Over the years, Paul has led the charge on auditing the Fed; a noble charge that has rallied a vast number of people. He has also proposed a bold plan to cut one trillion dollars in the first year.
Where do we go from here?
Paul’s third place finish is a remarkable achievement. In 2008, Paul finished a distant fourth, and now he is among the top three contenders. This is a strong finish (over 25,000 votes). Paul is still in the race and has the money to compete in NH and SC. Gingrich has already begun to attack Paul. Santorum–who will not compete in Virginia– will receive closer scrutiny, and Romney will be attacked repeatedly by Gingrich and others. The Keynesians are still feeling the wound caused by Paul’s Austrian’s spear.<>
