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Ron Paul will never be president. And he was never going to be president. It's not just that he's too intellectual and not suave and good-looking enough. It's

Ron Paul will never be president. And he was never going to be president. It's not just that he's too intellectual and not suave and good-looking enough. It's that he actually wants to run the government. The bureaucracy, the intellectuals, the press, and monied business interests don't want to see a more innovative, more free, and more forward-looking country. They like preserving the power they have just fine, thank you. And the press, the academy, and big business have enough influence over public opinion to prohibit anyone they really don't like from winning power. The purpose of sending money to Ron Paul and voting for Ron Paul is to move the Overton Window. [1] The day that someone like Ron Paul can win the presidency, there will be dozens like him running and he won't seem like a special shining light. The thing that does make Paul special is that he is running when it's impossible to win but still possible for things to change. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window

WiseWeasel 14y ago
Meh. If he's not in it to win, I don't see the point. Sure, nothing gets handed to you on a silver platter, positive national media coverage in particular, but that doesn't mean it's impossible, it just means you need a very creative strategy. Paul doesn't have that.
redthrowaway 14y ago
I'd like to see libertarians admit that most people simply don't like Ron Paul and his policy platform, rather than try and claim it as a conspiracy of the political elite to keep him out. The political elite, like most of America, don't give two shits about Ron Paul. They're not afraid of him; they ignore him. He's easy to ignore, because he will never be a threat. He will never be president, not just because he doesn't have the charisma to win an election, but because his policies are actively off-putting. Paul fans like to claim that there are things to ling about him from all sides of the political spectrum. This is true. As a liberal, I like his stance on civil liberties, drug policy, and the like. However, I hate his economic policies, which appear to be crafted under the illusion that the world stopped turning in the 1920s. So while I like some things about him, I would never vote for him. Likewise for social conservatives: while they might like his tax policies, they hate his social ones. Ron Paul is a perennial also-ran because his policies actively repulse the vast majority of Americans. Deal with it, and stop blaming it on some conspiracy of the political elite.

WiseWeasel 14y ago

Meh. If he's not in it to win, I don't see the point. Sure, nothing gets handed to you on a silver platter, positive national media coverage in particular, but that doesn't mean it's impossible, it just means you need a very creative strategy. Paul doesn't have that.

redthrowaway 14y ago

I'd like to see libertarians admit that most people simply don't like Ron Paul and his policy platform, rather than try and claim it as a conspiracy of the political elite to keep him out. The political elite, like most of America, don't give two shits about Ron Paul. They're not afraid of him; they ignore him. He's easy to ignore, because he will never be a threat. He will never be president, not just because he doesn't have the charisma to win an election, but because his policies are actively off-putting. Paul fans like to claim that there are things to ling about him from all sides of the political spectrum. This is true. As a liberal, I like his stance on civil liberties, drug policy, and the like. However, I hate his economic policies, which appear to be crafted under the illusion that the world stopped turning in the 1920s. So while I like some things about him, I would never vote for him. Likewise for social conservatives: while they might like his tax policies, they hate his social ones. Ron Paul is a perennial also-ran because his policies actively repulse the vast majority of Americans. Deal with it, and stop blaming it on some conspiracy of the political elite.