Ron Paul unelectable?

butterjam

http://www.kcautv.com/story/15255706/ro ... straw-poll

He has the most energetic campaign and most loyal followers. Every time there is a discussion about him, it always reverts to something "crazy" he says or how people can't agree with everything he believes. Is there really a candidate that you can completely agree with?

I think last night his anti-war message resonated well. Rick Santorum re-affirmed that he is a war monger. Pawlenty will say anything, Bachman is nuts, Newt/Perry are the typical GOP candidates, Romney is Bush 2.0, they all suck.

I imagine that most liberals would choose Ron Paul over any of those candidates. Plus, Fox News hates him. Wonder why they buried this?

http://www.topix.com/issue/fox/gop-debate-aug11

I would much rather have another 4 years of Obama than any of the other GOP candidate. But, I will vote for neither because they represent the status quo of the past century.

I know its a far stretch, but a Paul/Nader ticket would be my perfect ticket. I think between them, they could get a health care plan that doesn't line the pockets of insurance companies.

arthurdent

311jj wrote:

He has the most energetic campaign and most loyal followers.

I think that is RP's biggest problem right there. His base supporters are often rabid and incoherent. The ones I've spoken to seem to have no idea what the impact of Paul's policies would actually be.

He reminds me of the band Tool. Maybe some good ideas/songs, but the fan base just ruins the experience.

butterjam

arthurdent wrote:

311jj wrote:

He has the most energetic campaign and most loyal followers.

I think that is RP's biggest problem right there. His base supporters are often rabid and incoherent. The ones I've spoken to seem to have no idea what the impact of Paul's policies would actually be.

He reminds me of the band Tool. Maybe some good ideas/songs, but the fan base just ruins the experience.

What are the policies that you agree/disagree with?

ComeToTX

the scariest thing about him for me is his kid!

inlet13

People get scared of him because he talks about the Fed all the time. They immediately think someone is crazy when they talk about the negatives associated with the Fed.... but, that's because they, themselves, don't understand the Fed.

I'd bet 99% of those criticizing Ron Paul would fail a moderately easy multiple choice exam on Monetary Policy.

Jason P

He is the best candidate I saw in the debate last night. And the only one who was clearly speaking from his heart and not rehearsed notes.

maj4e

Ron Paul seems to be an internet sensation. Everyone on forums etc loves him. But he is too polarizing to be elected. I think it would be a Jimmy Carter, last 2 years of Bill Clinton etc. Where Congress would simply ignore him and he would just sit there as President. Personally I think he's crazy and wouldn't vote for him but that's just my own opinion.

Pontikas

Ron Paul is my favourite politician ever.

gimmesometruth27

unless a mojority group of like minded people got elected in the congress along with ron paul taking the white house, ron paul would accomplish absolutely nothing. he would be hamstrung by congress, just as obama has been since day one...

Halifax2TheMax

I've been reading the postings on here regarding Ron Paul and such and have tried to read up on him and his policies. I was surprised at his answers to a couple of questions when he was interviewed on NPR. Namely his response to the question about how soon he would get the troops out of Afghanistan. His response, "as soon as the ships can get there." I was very disappointed as he chose to resort to sound bite politics instead of giving a thoughtful, intelligent response. Never mind that Afghanistan is a landlocked country. Particularly given the opportunity to appeal to a more liberal audience. He did it again when he was asked what he would do to shrink government. His reply, "eliminate the Commerce Department. Don't need it." Again, no intelligent articulation of how he would go about downsizing the government. Just shut down a department with no thought to what happens, how those functions are carried out and the consequesences of them no longer existing, never mind the 1,000s of newly unemployed. He had a chance to bring me over to his side and he greatly disappointed me with typical sound bites that sound good on the stump but require actual thinking and plans to implement.

We all know what the problems are. The devil is in the details.

He's lost my vote and he's unelectable. The Ralph Nader of the republican party (and I mean no disrespect by saying that).

Peace.

mikepegg44

311jj wrote:

http://www.kcautv.com/story/15255706/ron-paul-wins-online-straw-poll

He has the most energetic campaign and most loyal followers. Every time there is a discussion about him, it always reverts to something "crazy" he says or how people can't agree with everything he believes. Is there really a candidate that you can completely agree with?

I think last night his anti-war message resonated well. Rick Santorum re-affirmed that he is a war monger. Pawlenty will say anything, Bachman is nuts, Newt/Perry are the typical GOP candidates, Romney is Bush 2.0, they all suck.

I imagine that most liberals would choose Ron Paul over any of those candidates. Plus, Fox News hates him. Wonder why they buried this?

http://www.topix.com/issue/fox/gop-debate-aug11

I would much rather have another 4 years of Obama than any of the other GOP candidate. But, I will vote for neither because they represent the status quo of the past century.

I know its a far stretch, but a Paul/Nader ticket would be my perfect ticket. I think between them, they could get a health care plan that doesn't line the pockets of insurance companies.

loved that map. I wish it was that simple.
He has by FAR the best foreign policy stance out of all the candidates Obama included. I don't doubt for a second his conviction to accomplish everything he sets out to in regards to foreign policy. Where he starts to bog down the most is when he discusses the economy and the fed. Instead of being a good GOP politician who talks about religion, abortion, same-sex marriage, and stem cells. He is more concerned with economic problems. He doesn't dumb it down. Republicans at large don't want to deal with the problems with actual solutions like the war on drugs, and most people have no interest in trying to understand why a change in course might be the best thing for the long term. So they call him crazy and try to minimize him. People are entitled to support any candidate they want, they can even call their opponents crazy, but no one should be surprised when things never change.
Ultimately I think it comes down to this...Ron Paul's ideas are not unelectable...it appears that the GOP and the Dems have made it so Ron Paul is unelectable.

mikepegg44

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

unless a mojority group of like minded people got elected in the congress along with ron paul taking the white house, ron paul would accomplish absolutely nothing. he would be hamstrung by congress, just as obama has been since day one...

He could change foreign policy with regards to the military. Lots of things can be done simply through executive orders.
Gridlock is better than the government doing something for the sake of it. Veto baby. Veto it all. If they override him that is their problem. Also, he could end the god damn wars, this silly offensive war on terror, get the fed and the banks to start being transparent....there is a lot he could do as president. Legislation isn't the only way to make a difference. You may disagree with some stances, but wouldn't you want to see the leaders of both "parties" being dragged out into the main steam media and taken to task? I would love it and I firmly believe he would do it.

Pontikas

I agree that because he doesn't dumb down his message, people don't understand him.

polaris_x

ron paul would be shot before he ever became president ... and i say that because he would pretty much have to upset the order of power in washington now from the coporations and lobbyists to him ... and that's just not going to happen ...

but like i keep asking everyone in the RP threads ... how is RP going to avoid the same pitfalls obama has had?

i'm not interested in arguing what he says he's gonna do ... because we all know actually doing it is gonna be nearly impossible ...

UpSideDown

No clue how he can avoid the same pitfalls, but he already has my vote above anybody else (and I'm typically a liberal)

Go Beavers

inlet13 wrote:

People get scared of him because he talks about the Fed all the time. They immediately think someone is crazy when they talk about the negatives associated with the Fed.... but, that's because they, themselves, don't understand the Fed.

I'd bet 99% of those criticizing Ron Paul would fail a moderately easy multiple choice exam on Monetary Policy.

I disagree that people get scared of him because of his talk about the Fed. It's because his policies exist in a theoretical fantasy land, and when you start to picture those policies in reality, it starts to look iffy at best.

CROJAM95

Loved him in Bruno!!!

That clip should win the hearts and minds of conservative America.

He's not for Gays settling and such

I actually like the man, he takes a stand. It's funny how that's labeled crazy. Both parties voters claim they want real change in Washington, yet are scared off by a Ron Paul?? We need a pretty large overhaul, not this

slightofjeff

Dude, he thinks heroin should be legalized. He actually said this out loud. Rather he's right or wrong, that makes him far outside the mainstream of American politics and therefore unelectable.

CROJAM95

slightofjeff wrote:

Dude, he thinks heroin should be legalized. He actually said this out loud. Rather he's right or wrong, that makes him far outside the mainstream of American politics and therefore unelectable.

I agree with him(never done heroin)

It's not the heroin being legal part to focus on, it's the fact he understands the "war on drugs" is a farce

slightofjeff

CROJAM95 wrote:

slightofjeff wrote:

Dude, he thinks heroin should be legalized. He actually said this out loud. Rather he's right or wrong, that makes him far outside the mainstream of American politics and therefore unelectable.

I agree with him(never done heroin)

It's not the heroin being legal part to focus on, it's the fact he understands the "war on drugs" is a farce

All of that is well and good. Still, the second you say, "I think heroin should be legal," 95 percent of the voting public takes you for a crackpot. Hence, unelectable.

You can be right and still be unelectable.

Parachute

unelectable.

Now his son on the other hand...... electable.

But Perry will be the President in 2012, and Moochelle will have to go back to hating her country.