Verbatim Post
The latest weekend Public Policy Poll for Iowa was just released and for the first time Ron Paul now leads in Iowa over Mitt Romney with Newt Gingrich sliding into third place and the other candidates bunched together at 10 percent of the vote. I know for a lot of Paulians this is the moment they’ve been waiting four years for.
But Paul supporters should remember the old saying be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it. By taking first with two weeks to go before the caucus means the media “blackout” of Paul will be lifted. Unfortunately it also means the attacks and smears are going to come at him fast and furious now. If you wanted Paul to be taken seriously as a candidate well you’ve got your wish but also means he’s going to be in for serious scrutiny and serious assaults from all sides of the political spectrum.
Tim Carney basically relayed the warning in the Washington Examiner. today. If Paul wins Iowa it’s all out war against him. Not just by the Republican establishment but by the establishment Right, Left, Center you name it. Why? Because Paul is a threat to the existing political order. If Paul wins the GOP nomination, a political realignment of the parties will take place not seen really since 1964-1972 Goldwater-McGovern period changed wholesale the make-up of the Republican and Democratic parties. Indeed, I guarantee you the Kristols, Limbaughs, Morris and O’Reilly will be supporting Obama rather than Paul which is no far fetched than watching union leader George Meany support Nixon. Many Paul supporters (including your truly) would like to see this happen but there are powers out there who making their living off the current system and do not wish to see upheaval and will do anything to stop it, fair or unfair. Make no mistake what this comes down to…all out political warfare. I hate to use the phrase because no one is getting shot at unlike real war but as of right now I can’t think of anything stronger and Paul supporters need to realize what they are entering into. It certainly test their faith in the system if there’s any left at all.
Just ask Pat Buchanan. Look at the political tremors he set off after he won the New Hampshire primary in 1996 and look at that went to trying to stop him. It’s the same thing. However, it’s not the same year. The establishment is much weaker than they were in 1996. The internet, online journalism and social media far more advanced as a political tool. Paul’s forces do have the resources to fight back effectively unlike a Buchanan hit from all sides, backstabbed by Rush Limbaugh and William Buckley and others on the Right who were happy to indulge him only when he wasn’t a serious threat to win the GOP nomination. If Paul can develop a broad coalition in the primaries and caucuses, then there’s nothing said establishment can do to stop him. But they will go on such a vicious assault to try and keep their own troops in line. But if they do they should remember they may win but it will be the equivalent of a victory parade in through the ruins of a nuclear holocaust as the Paulians will rip away their support for any candidate left standings who goes overboard in slamming them.
I will admit I’m not overly concerned who ultimately wins the White House since we’ve been living with socialism since 1933, what’s another four years? I think an Obama-Paul showdown would be a wonderful contest of philosophies and I’m under no illusion who would win out. But as Goldwater and McGovern proved in their landslide defeats, it doesn’t matter. These two men did more to influence U.S. politics in defeat than many Presidents do in victory and Paul can get control of the GOP, it will finally mean politics in this country can structured not on culture wars or national security or such, but between centralists and decentralists. Once that’s happens the decentralists, with the full backing of a major political party behind them, won’t have vote for the lesser of two evils anymore.
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Paul Supporters – Let’s Discuss the Coming Paul Bashing Amongst Ourselves
I will start with a disclaimer: I am a huge Ron Paul supporter. I supported him in 2008 from the start. I have supported him all this campaign season. I even have documented evidence for anyone who doubts my Paul supporting bona fides that I was calling for him to run for President even before he announced in 2007 and almost no one knew who he was. As a paleoconservative and not a libertarian, I have some issues with Ron Paul and I have never hesitated to make those clear, but he is clearly the best candidate of them all and is so right (and so alone in being right) on so many issues that I can forgive him on the issues where I believe he is wrong.
That said, I have never believed that Ron Paul could win the nomination nor be elected President. I have always considered his campaigns to be message campaigns, although this year he has clearly done a better job of running a “real” campaign, as his presence in Iowa attests. While I don’t think it helps to pour water on people’s enthusiasm, and I think the candidate always needs to maintain the pretense that he is in it to win it, I do think it is important to temper expectations. When I read or hear people say Ron Paul is the only Republican who can beat Obama, I cringe a little.
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