FYI - I agree! As more and more young people get involved in the political process, I truly believe that the debate within the Republican party will be between libertarians and conservatives.
FYI - From RonPaul2012.com
-ADY "A Regular Guy On The Issues"
“WE WILL BE LIVING IN THE AGE OF RON PAUL FOR MANY YEARS TO COME”
Many have enjoyed and shared Juan Williams excellent column today at The Hillabout Ron Paul’s influence and legacy. Two highlights from Williams about how Dr. Paul has changed the debate:
But Paul is a persistent politician.
Before the House adjourned for the August recess, Paul won a vote to have an audit of the Federal Reserve.
(T)hat was a revolutionary act against Wall Street, the nation’s banking establishment and the Washington politicians they bankroll.
Every House Republican, except for one, voted for the bill. Eighty-nine Democrats broke with their party’s leadership and voted for it.
Paul has long argued that the Federal Reserve’s role in monetary policy is at the heart of the nation’s economic problems.
He made this a central part of his presidential campaign in 2008, and in 2012. He even authored a book called “End the Fed” in 2009…
Just as he took on the powers at the Federal Reserve, Paul has taken on the powerful and the rich who support unquestioned spending on the military budget.
Cutting the Pentagon’s budget was once dismissed as a lunacy by the political establishment, and especially Republicans. But it has become an increasingly popular position in Congress during Paul’s tenure.
A July survey from the Center for Public Integrity revealed that 80 percent of voters in congressional districts represented by Democrats favor lowering defense spending.
And in a tribute to the power of Ron Paul, 74 percent of voters in districts with Republican representatives now also say they want to lower the defense budget.
Paul’s colleagues in the House are reflecting this new attitude about defense spending. In a surprise move, the GOP-controlled House passed a defense appropriations bill in July that contained an amendment to reduce the military budget by $1.1 billion.
The amendment passed by a substantial majority, 247-167. Eighty-nine Republicans joined 158 Democrats voting in favor of it.
One of the amendment’s authors, Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.), even credits Paul with helping to shift the debate so that the amendment could be passed.
As he leaves the political scene, there is no doubt that cranky Ron Paul has made his mark on American politics.
We will be living in the age of Ron Paul for many years to come.
Indeed, we will Mr. Williams. How significantly Ron Paul has changed the debate on just issues like the Fed and Pentagon spending is really something to behold. But these two issues are only the beginning.
As five more states take to the polls to try selecting their choice for the Republican Party nomination today, various interesting things have been happening in the world of Ron Paul's march through the caucus states, whose straw poll results often don't bind delegate allocation meaningfully.
Six of the new Iowa GOP state central committee members elected at district conventions Saturday have publicly expressed support for Paul, a libertarian-leaning presidential candidate: Dave Cushman, John Kabitzke, Joel Kurtinitis, Marcus Fedler, Jeff Shipley and Kris Thiessen....
Two more new central committee members have close ties to Paul. Tony Krebsbach was a county coordinator for Campaign for Liberty, a group Paul founded. And when Chad Steenhoek was running for the Iowa House in 2010, the Campaign for Liberty PAC gave him a donation and Paul spoke on his behalf. Steenhoek said Saturday he caucused for Gingrich. Steenhoek said he doesn’t subscribe to a Ron Paul philosophy so much as a Republican philosophy of limited government and individual rights.
The growing Paul faction in leadership positions at the Republican Party of Iowa — including the new chairman, A.J. Spiker, who was the Paul campaign’s Iowa vice chairman and can break ties in central committee votes — has created tension with Iowa Republicans who do not share their affection for the Texas congressman or subscribe to some of his views....
This can all be very important for what is able to happen for Paul in Tampa in August:
For some, Saturday’s push wasn’t as much about Iowa as it was about the national effort for Paul.
Several Paul loyalists said they harbor hope for getting Paul nominated at the national convention in Tampa, Fla., in late August. In order to do that, Paul must have a majority of support from at least five state delegations. With states like North Dakota, Minnesota, and others on track, his supporters could then attempt to nominate him from the floor.
Iowa’s 28 delegates are all “unbound,” meaning they can individually decide which presidential candidate to support. To stop Paul supporters from controlling the Iowa delegation, Romney backers in Iowa said they will likely focus on teaming up with Christian conservatives here.
Paul loyalists did well in getting their supporters onto the GOP’s “state nomination committee,” which will nominate Iowa’s 13 at-large national delegates. Another 12 delegates will be selected June 15. The GOP chairman and Iowa’s two Republican National Committee members are also delegates.
There was a bit of a ruckus between the Romney campaign and three top Iowa party activists at the Republican National Committee meeting Friday when the Iowans declined to sign a “delegate pledge form” in order to get their photos taken.
The three — Republican Party of Iowa Chairman A.J. Spiker and Iowa’s two RNC members, Steve Scheffler and Kim Lehman — later said it was an innocent dustup. They were waiting in line for a group photo with Mitt Romney at the meeting in Arizona, and intend to support the eventual GOP presidential nominee, Spiker said in a telephone interview.
CNN’s Peter Hamby reported that Romney had a private reception during which RNC members and state GOP chairs could get their pictures taken with the presumptive nominee.
But reception guests apparently needed to first sign a pledge promising to support Romney as a delegate to the GOP’s national convention. CNN reported that the Iowans refused to sign and “the dispute became heated.”
The Iowa Republican, meanwhile, fears that this sort of independent-mindedness from the Iowa GOP against the national masters could lost Iowa its first-in-nation caucus status. The writer thinks it's likely--though remember, we won't know until June 15--that after first Romney and then Santorum were the announced "winners" of Iowa, that it is likely Ron Paul actually will have the majority of the state's delegates:
If Saturday’s district conventions are any indication, in 54-days the Republican Party of Iowa will announce that Ron Paul, the third place finisher in the caucuses, will emerge with a majority of the delegates selected to go to the Republican national convention in Tampa.
*As The Hill notes, Ron Paul--exactly as he predicted the night of the Minnesota straw poll--looks like he's won the majority of delegates in that state:
Paul took home 20 of the 24 possible delegates and nearly all the alternative delegates Saturday during the Minnesota congressional district conventions....
Thirteen more at-large delegates will be chosen at the Minnesota state convention, but the delegation demographics there will be very similar to those in the congressional districts, and Paul appears poised to come away with even more delegates after the May 4 convention.....
“Ron Paul’s victories today declare his delegate-attainment strategy to be a success and they demonstrate that the media and Washington pundits are undercounting his delegates to the Republican National Convention in Tampa," said Paul campaign manager John Tate in a statement.
Paul, who has nearly $1.8 million cash on hand and no campaign debt, has repeatedly stated he would stay in the race until the very end, and hopes his victory in Minnesota will carry over into other states...
[Paul advisor Doug] Wead wrote on his blog that GOP presidential front-runner Mitt Romney is an a “panic” after the Paul landslide. Similar efforts to bolster the Texas congressman’s delegate count are underway in Iowa, Colorado, Maine and other states.
“[A] number of Romney Hawks are now deeply concerned that Ron Paul has already laid the groundwork for similar success in six more caucus states,” Wead wrote.
Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul declined to comment on the record about whether or not Romney is indeed in a panic....
The Paul campaign is being mum about the prospect of other delegate coups. The libertarian-leaning candidate’s spokesman and campaign manager did not respond when asked if surprising landslides are anticipated in other states.
Paul advisor Wead also notes in the same article the Caller was quoting the New York Timesofficial delegate counts aren't keeping up with facts on the ground in caucus states such as Iowa and Minnesota.
*A Paul delegate from Washington's Jefferson County, John Connolly, has his own personal take on the Paul delegate process, from last month but just came to my attention. Highlights:
Here is the data from Jefferson County – my county.
Of the 115 precinct delegates selected only 31 chose to put their name in the hat to become County Delegates for the State Convention which happens May 30th through June 2nd. Why so few people? Because many can’t make it on those days or do not have the funds to travel. Interesting that it can come to that level of sacrifice, which I have stated is the strength of the average Ron Paul supporter. It takes time and money to be at the state caucus and even more so at the national convention in Florida in August. I’m thinking the Ron Paul supporter is going to pull the underdog with his or her own cash more than any other supporter for any other candidate.
Breaking this 31 down here is what we have.
Ron Paul – 17
Mitt Romney – 8
Rick Santorum – 4
Newt Gingrich – 2
*Meanwhile in Washington's King County caucus this weekend, Ron Paul activists doing well prompted party insiders to just try to call the whole thing off at a GOP meeting, as reported inThe Examiner by Emilie Rensink:
After the caucus commenced at 9 a.m., there was a nomination from the floor to elect prominent policymaking activist and community leader Tamra Smilanich to be the permanent chair of the caucus. She won by a majority of the vote.
Shortly thereafter, King County Republican Party Chairwoman Lori Sotelo announced that the caucus was to be adjourned, claiming that Smilanich was an 'operative' of the Ron Paul campaign and that she had 'taken over' the caucus. The electing of Smilanich to be the permanent chair turned the event into a Ron Paul campaign meeting instead of an official GOP caucus, according to Sotelo.
The insurance that was purchased for the event, she claimed, was paid for and covered by the King County GOP only, not the Ron Paul campaign....
Supporters of Ron Paul and other candidates alike agreed that Smilanich, regardless of her presidential preference, was voted in according to Robert's Rules of Order and that her position was therefore legitimate.
Smilanich continued the business of the caucus, and delegate speeches were made. However, before the first round of voting could be finished, Sotelo again interjected and claimed that the premises must be vacated because Smilanich was acting on the part of the Ron Paul campaign....
....at approximately 12:30 p.m., Lori Sotelo announced that the space had been rented for only a limited amount of time and that the caucus could not continue. A motion was made to move the caucus proceedings to the basketball court outside on the grounds of the school, and this was agreed to by the body.
....a quorum was maintained, allowing the caucus to be completed....Many delegates present were concerned that the election of delegates for the caucus, although apparently done in accordance with official party rules and Robert's Rules of Order, would be invalidated somehow by the KCGOP.
Rachel Maddow getting excited about the possibility that Paul was the real victor, or at least tied for first, in delegate collection in both Iowa and Minnesota:
FYI - The Ron Paul Revolution is alive and well!
-ADY
"A Regular Guy On The Issues"
From RonPaul2012.com.
“THE REVOLUTION IS ALIVE AND WELL”
The movement Ron Paul has built is vast, growing and will continue to change American politics. While the media bombards us with Obama, Romney and Santorum, it is who Paul who has saturated the grassroots. These useless establishment candidates will one day be yesterday’s news, but Paul, his message and his movement will endure. Ron Paul spoke to thousands–5,000 in Chico, California, 6,000 in LA–this week, drawing crowds the other candidates could only dream of. There is something revolutionary going on at the grassroots level in the United States, whether the mainstream media notices it or not.
But in gauging this revolution, sometimes the best indicators are the smallest–bumper stickers, signs, flags, t-shirts–seen in public, randomly, and advertised proudly by Americans from all walks of life. Whether they advertise Ron Paul, the Constitution or other liberty-oriented messages, these small gestures, cumulatively, form the community we all belong to. And it is this community–especially the young people, the next generation–who will save this country from the frightening mess its in.
I believe that freedom is more popular than ever, and all this week, we've been telling you about the successes we're experiencing accumulating delegates throughout the country.
But the establishment is doing everything it can to stop us, and I simply will not be able to make it to the Republican National Convention unless I have the resources necessary to keep fighting back in as many places as possible.
So I hope you'll contribute as generously as you can to our "Give Me Liberty" Money Bomb today.
I recently shot the below video to fill you in on the current state of the campaign and give you an idea of where we go from here.
Hundreds of meetings will be held in the coming weeks and months to decide who goes to Tampa to choose the next Republican presidential nominee.
Make no mistake - I am in this race to win the White House and Restore America Now.
We've got a proven strategy to organize our supporters for these crucial meetings through phone calls, emails, trainings, and more.
But we will not be able to fully implement our program unless you stand with us today.
RON PAUL COMMENTS ON OBAMA/REID EX-IM BANK PROPOSAL
“NO ONE WHO TRULY SUPPORTS FREE MARKETS, LIMITED GOVERNMENT, AND THE TAXPAYERS CAN SUPPORT REAUTHORIZING EX-IM BANK”
LAKE JACKSON, Texas – Congressman and 2012 GOP Presidential candidate Ron Paul issued the following statement today regarding President Obama and Senator Reid’s scheme to renew the Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank) by attaching it to the bipartisan JOBS bill.
See comments below:
“No one who truly supports free markets, limited government, and the taxpayers can support reauthorizing Ex-Im Bank. Ex-Im Bank is an unconstitutional corporate welfare program that takes money from American taxpayers and gives it to politically powerful corporations like Boeing and General Electric.
“I hope my fellow Republicans in Congress will join me in opposing any bill that renews Ex-Im Bank.
“Throughout my years in Congress, I have led the fight to shut down Ex-Im Bank. Unfortunately, neither Newt Gingrich nor Rick Santorum joined me in this cause when we served in Congress together. Governor Mitt Romney has been conspicuously silent about the issue. However, his past record suggests he likely supports corporate welfare boondoggles.
“I am the only candidate the taxpayers can trust to stop handing over their hard-earned money to big corporations through unconstitutional programs like Ex-Im Bank.”
FYI - From RevolutionPAC: Help deliver Ron Paul To Tampa!
-ADY "A Regular Guy On The Issues"
Dear Friends,
The race for the Republican nomination for president is far from decided.
With 75% of convention delegates yet to be determined and hundreds for Ron Paul in the pipeline to Tampa,NOW is the time to ramp up our operations!
While our opponents and the corporate media have hyped hollow beauty contest wins, Revolution PAC and its seasoned consultants have quietly developed a powerful post-Super Tuesday victory plan. This ambitious strategy is winnable, we’re certain, but only if funded robustly and immediately.
RevPAC is the only grassroots super PAC. Millionaire bankers won’t be found on our donor rolls.
Still, we’ve produced and aired in multiple states four unique T.V. commercials. These ads helped boost Revolution PAC to #1 in Google’s political action committee YouTube rankings. We beat all other super PACs combined!
At activists' request, Revolution PAC developed the groundbreaking Android PollWatcher application, deploying it using vetted exit polling volunteers in Arizona and Michigan.
And, our historic live broadcasts have provided a home for tens of thousands of liberty activists seeking complete election returns, pro-freedom analysis and newsmaker interviews . . . Join our fifth live webcast this Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. CST as Alabama, Mississippi, Hawaii and American Samoa head to the polls!
All of these initiatives and more were made possible by YOUR generosity. Are you in for taking this movement to the next level? If so, donate right now.
Our enemies are betting that we wither in disappointment. They surge, you know, when we shrink. Ready to call their bluff?
Gary Franchi Jr. Chairman, Revolution PAC
P.S. With victory in his sights, Ron Paul is fighting for every delegate in every state. Revolution PAC has a plan in place to shift the electorate in favor of freedom. Your immediate contribution sets the “black swan” strategy in motion! https://www.revolutionpac.com/donate/
Unlimited donations may be accepted from individuals, business and organizations. Thank you!
FYI - Ron Paul's Washington State post caucus speech!
....and.....
From John Avlon and The Daily Beast: Ron Paul's Slow and Steady Strategy.
-ADY "A Regular Guy On The Issues"
Ron Paul’s Slow-and-Steady Strategy
The feisty libertarian hasn’t produced any upsets yet, but John Avlon says his slow-and-steady perseverance may soon bear fruit—and the revolution will likely begin in Tampa.
Ron Paul describes his own supporters as “a tireless, irate minority.”
No less accurate are these observations: no supporters are more dedicated; no candidate more influential on the terms of debate; and no campaign less successful at racking up actual wins this primary season.
So far, the Paul team’s vaunted "caucus strategy" has failed to produce any upset victories. Every other candidate still in the race has won at least one state to date. The Paulites can boast only second-place finishes in New Hampshire, Maine, and Minnesota.
As Washington State's caucus count was coming in Saturday, Paul was again battling Rick Santorum for second place, even in this slacker-friendly state.
Paul's libertarian allies can explain his failure to win a state to date. "Ron Paul hasn't won a primary or a caucus for the simple reason that he is serious about cutting the size and scope of government," argues Nick Gillespie, editor-in-chief of the Reason. "Despite the GOP rhetoric of the past 30 years, the party faithful don't want to cut entitlement and defense spending or end the drug war or overseas adventurism." It is a fair point: no candidate, in either party, represents as fundamental a rejection of the Bush administration's governing philosophy.
But Super Tuesday totals could begin a shift from the Paul campaign’s caucus strategy to a delegate strategy.
It’s the day when Paul could start to adjust the narrative just a bit by creeping ahead of Newt Gingrich in total delegates. Right now, Gingrich is one delegate ahead of Paul in the totals—39 to 38. Mitt Romney’s organization, by comparison, has earned 182 delegates to date.
While Rick Santorum and Gingrich have some overlapping support from conservative populists looking for a red-meat alternative to Romney, Paul has the libertarian side of the conservative coalition all to himself. That creates an underlying logic for a long three-man race, likely between Romney, Santorum, and Paul.
In addition, as Ryan Prior reported on the Daily Beast’s Frum Blog, the Paul team is also trying to pack low-attendance, district conventions with sub rosa Paul supporters, with the intention of trying to wrest control of the nomination at the Tampa Convention.
Paul leaves his vehicle from a Detroit town-hall-style campaign event in late February. , Joe Raedle / Getty Images
Paul has on average doubled his 2008 totals in each state.
It’s clear that the 76-year-old candidate is not build for speed or power. He is one of the oldest major-party presidential candidates to endure in a primary fight. Instead, Paul’s strategy is slow and steady, quietly racking up delegates on the road to Tampa, buoyed by this year’s unusual proportional allocation in three quarters of the states.
Due to the tendency to boil down the race to the top two candidates and focus on one key state at a time (Ohio at the moment), we end up functionally ignoring what’s going on in the full field.
Only a fan could ignore the fact that the results for Paul have been disappointing to date. I thought he could be the surprise of Iowa, but instead that honor went to Santorum. In Nevada, his supporters have been organizing for four years, and I still haven’t heard a satisfactory answer for why in that low-turnout caucus contest, they were not able to stand out further from the pack. In Maine, a recount ended up still titling toward Romney, despite Paul’s almost exclusive focus on the state.
Nonetheless, Paul gets the most-improved award this time around.
Romney seems to be actually shedding supporters. After all, he won Minnesota four years ago, but this time he came in a distant third despite the endorsement of the state’s allegedly popular former governor Tim Pawlenty. Likewise, Romney’s narrow win in his home state of Michigan was a far cry from his 9-point victory over John McCain in 2008.
In contrast, Paul has on average doubled his 2008 totals in each state. He has successfully broadened his base. And while the Tea Party has notably failed to use its 2010 momentum to back a single candidate for president, Paul was the first contemporary political figure to use the Tea Party imagery back in 2008, and that movement borrowed extensively from his Revolutionary-era rhetoric to his focus on the generational theft of the deficit and the debt.
Likewise, while the rest of the GOP field seems content to play to a declining demographic of white-male social conservatives, the oldest white male in the race has shown the greatest ability to expand the appeal of the GOP. Paul has consistently done best among young voters and independent voters in open primary states.
In the run-up to Super Tuesday, the Paul campaign has been running ads in Washington and Vermont, two states where Paul should do well, though polls show him in third place. If he can’t surprise in a caucus in Nirvana and Phish’s home states, he might have a steeper road ahead than his supporters expect.
In Virginia, only Paul and Romney are on the ballot, due to failures by other campaigns to qualify. The exclusionary idiocy of ballot-access laws aside, it provides a chance to see not only Paul’s support (he got just 4.5 percent in 2008) but a way to gauge the depth of opposition to Romney in conservative circles.
Beyond the Super Tuesday election results, the Paul campaign’s caucus strategy is being supplanted by a district convention delegate strategy, which Prior explained this way: “A candidate who can successfully manipulate these lesser-known ‘behind-the-scenes’ processes can put himself in an advantageous position should the convention begin in August with some doubt about the identity of the nominee.”
After all, Gingrich could drop out of contention if he doesn’t win Georgia. But win, lose, or draw Paul isn’t going anywhere. He will keep quietly racking up delegates, in the hope that he and perhaps Santorum can combine to deny Romney the 1,144 delegates needed to clinch the nomination. And then the real Ron Paul Revolution will begin in Tampa.
Bottom line: this nomination fight isn’t ending any time soon. Pay attention to the delegate math more than simple percentage of the popular-vote wins. And unless Romney can clinch 1,144 delegates outright—do not ignore Paul. After all, the story of this year’s Republican primary fight has been the sideshow taking over the big tent.
us this weekend, Ron Paul activists doing well prompted party insiders to just try to call the whole thing off at a GOP meeting, as reported inThe Examiner by Emilie Rensink:
