Sunday, January 13, 2008

Why not Ron Paul?

He seems pretty smart, very honest, unafraid to say what he thinks. His supporters are more like disciples, a rabid following who would go to the wall to fight for Ron. He openly supports homeschoolers. He is strongly pro-life.

Quite frankly, while Ron Paul seems like a good guy, and someone we need in Congress, his quest to be President is quixotic.

  1. He is unelectable. He barely registers in state and national polls. He is at 3.7% national among Republicans according to the latest Real Clear Politics average. He may be a swell guy but he is never going to be President. I think I would be a great President but I have about the same chance of winning the election as Representative Paul.
  2. He supports doing away with the Federal Reserve. While the system has it's faults, it also keeps inflation in check and prevents us from having the enormous swings in interest rates of the past. Want to go back to 18% mortgages?
  3. His foreign policy borders on isolationism. Guess what, hiding in America will not make Muslim terrorists hate us less. We didn't force them to attack the World Trade Center, and a head in the sand foreign policy will not make America more secure, but less.
  4. His greatest strength is his biggest weakness. His supporters are rabid to the point of being almost cultish. They tend to be arrogant and condescending to those who have not sipped the Ron Paul Kool-Aid. Maybe they aren't all that way, but the ones I have met in person, around town and on the internet always are. They seem personally offended if you don't support Paul. I recognize that Mike Huckabee has faults, as we all do. But to hear Ron Paul supporters tell it, the man is the greatest American politician to ever live.

For all of those reasons and more, Paul is just not the guy. There are candidates who are a serious part of the debate, but Paul is not one of them and is probably a few primaries away from not getting invited to further televised debates. It was amusing and refreshing while it lasted, but it is time to let go. Paul is not the answer, unless the question is "Name the most unelectable man in the Primaries"

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