OK, honestly I don’t care who wins. I already know who I’m voting for in November, and while I’d like an easily beatable candidate, part of me wants the GOP’s best shot, too, so… I guess when it comes down to it really doesn’t matter to me one way or the other. But, here’s why at least a small part of me is rooting for Ron Paul:
I want so see where the country really stands.
Ron Paul is, if you ask anyone who supports him, the single most eloquent advocate for fiscal conservativism and social libertarianism in the country. Even when his son (small government afficianado Rand Paul) talks about the same things, it just doesn’t wear as well on Rand as it does on Ron. It’s like a Don Shula/David Shula dynamic.
When Ron Paul says he wants to abolish the income tax, put America back on the gold standard, repeal Affirmative Action and do away with FEMA, the Federal Reserve, OHSA, Americorps, the EPA and the Fed (to name a few), he really MEANS it. One thing I haven’t heard anyone ever say is “that Ron Paul… such a flip-flopper.” Not naming any names, but you don’t have to worry that four years from now, he’ll be running for president again as a completely different person (although he’ll be 80 by then, so it’s unlikely he runs as ANY kind of person). What you see with Ron Paul is what you get. You can’t take that away from him, no matter how important you think having emergency management is.
Likewise, to hear some people tell it, Barack Obama is the embodiment of big government. If you listed all the things Ron Paul wants to get rid of, chances are Obama likes them, funds them, and wants to keep them. All the freedoms that Barack Obama has taken away from you, Ron Paul wants to give you back. All the taxes Obama raised on you, Paul wants to do away with. All the wars Obama started, Paul wants to end them. Even their appearances are antithetical. It would be the clearest contrast between two presidential candidates we’ve seen since Reagan/Mondale.
This is the PERFECT time for us to have that contrast. Obama vs. Romney would be a cop out. If Obama were to win, I can already hear the conservative pundits bemoaning the lack of a “real” conservative in the race who’d have drawn a clearer distinction between the two sides. Wins by the president against Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum would be chalked up to superior campaign machinery and not an honest assessment by the electorate of each side’s policy. But Obama vs. Paul - everyone would have to pick a side.
So, I hereby endorse Ron Paul for president. Whatever cockamamie scheme his campaign has for gaming the ridiculous GOP caucus procedures, I endorse those, too. Let’s line up and find out which side wins. I have to be honest, I like our chances. But even if we lost, at least it would tell us something about what Americans really think about the BIG picture, about the BIG differences. We wouldn’t have to take someone’s word for how Americans feel about governemnt, we’d find out once and for all.
So Ron Paul for GOP Nominee! Let’s do this thing.