It is becoming clearer that Ron Paul's campaign goal is not to win the presidency but to change the Republican Party. This is a 16 year strategy to elect William Paul president.
This Goldwaterian strategy may have merit but it begs the question: Do we have 16 years to fix America?
Let us suppose we do, maybe even make it a 20 years strategy so Rand's son will be in his 40s rather than his 30s when he is elected president. Does this mean Ron Paul needs to give up on being in the general election now? Let's be clear: continuing to pursue the current strategy is a declaration of electoral defeat. Ron Paul will not be nominated and if he really wants to have an IOU from the GOP, he will have to endorse Romney this year. In the least, he needs to refrain from running in the general election and from endorsing Gary Johnson this year.
In other words, his campaign has set a trap and Ron Paul is the bait. Allow Ron Paul to die a permanent political death by endorsing Romney or at least not running himself or endorsing anyone else so that Romney might become president. It then becomes crystal clear that the youth libertarian vote is the future of the Republican party because they will be the ones who bite into Obama's base and defeat him. More libertarians in the GOP apparatus and eventually you get a growing number of libertarians nominated by the GOP at all levels.
Admittedly, this may in the end turn out to be a great strategy. The cost, of course, is 20 years of corporate control of our government and economy.
I and a number of other Ron Paul supporters are saying, "To heck with procrastination disguised as patience!" Corporatocracy will only grow more deeply entrenched through sponsorship, patronage, marketing and surveillance. Who will dare oppose an omniscient corporate government? If not a coup now, then probably never.
Some within the immediate coup community believe that Ron Paul should run a concurrent campaign as both a Republican and a Libertarian. I am not sure that is even possible. Others think he ought just drop out of the race now and seek the LP's nomination and make Gary Johnson his running mate.
You might guess why I oppose this tactic. It narrows Ron Paul's appeal. Early on this blog I advocated Paul running a coalition candidacy all the way to the convention where, after becoming a martyr, he could announce a third party candidacy with a progressive running mate. I was right about the coalition strategy. I was wrong about going all the way to the convention.
Why was I wrong? I failed to check the calendar. Nearly all states have pre-convention deadlines for filing as a third party or independent presidential candidate. I now advocate him running independent immediately and if he can do this concurrently as a Republican candidate, then by all means do so.
In the likely circumstance that the GOP will not allow Paul to continue as a candidate for their nomination should he declare his independent candidacy, what needs to happen is that the campaign continue to encourage his supporters to run for delegate and party positions so as to continue the long term coup attempt. Since the official campaign's coup strategy is long term, it should not matter as much that Ron Paul does not get prime time speech in Tampa. Yes...it matters a little but the main key to taking over the GOP is not a personality but an ongoing recruitment of ideological soldiers to gradually capture the reigns of power.
However, this actuarial coup strategy need not prevent an immediate full scale electoral war in the general election. Can the idea of a Libertarian or Constitution party endorsement now! It not only narrows his appeal, it imposes a shorter window of opportunity to garner the supporters he needs at their conventions and takes these supporters out of the actuarial struggle.
It is far better for him to gather requisite signatures to get him on the ballot as an independent where he can develop the coalition strategy that he needs to win the election while continuing the long term project of reforming the GOP.
I know the same old sectarian heads will come against this idea. To which I say, you belong in the camp of the current strategy. If Ron Paul is going to run outside of the GOP, he should run to win, not to make a statement. He wins only in coalition with progressives. No one has or can challenged this observation: No coalition, no victory in November. And with all due deference to Robin Koerner, by coalition I do not mean libertarian hospitality, as nice and as helpful as that may be.
Here it is in a nutshell: Keep the quest for delegates and an actuarial coup up with or without Ron Paul and in the mean time....DR. PAUL, DO THE ONLY THING YOU CAN TO WIN THIS ELECTION: FORM AN INDEPENDENT COALITION CANDIDACY WITH PROGRESSIVES NOW!!!
This Goldwaterian strategy may have merit but it begs the question: Do we have 16 years to fix America?
Let us suppose we do, maybe even make it a 20 years strategy so Rand's son will be in his 40s rather than his 30s when he is elected president. Does this mean Ron Paul needs to give up on being in the general election now? Let's be clear: continuing to pursue the current strategy is a declaration of electoral defeat. Ron Paul will not be nominated and if he really wants to have an IOU from the GOP, he will have to endorse Romney this year. In the least, he needs to refrain from running in the general election and from endorsing Gary Johnson this year.
In other words, his campaign has set a trap and Ron Paul is the bait. Allow Ron Paul to die a permanent political death by endorsing Romney or at least not running himself or endorsing anyone else so that Romney might become president. It then becomes crystal clear that the youth libertarian vote is the future of the Republican party because they will be the ones who bite into Obama's base and defeat him. More libertarians in the GOP apparatus and eventually you get a growing number of libertarians nominated by the GOP at all levels.
Admittedly, this may in the end turn out to be a great strategy. The cost, of course, is 20 years of corporate control of our government and economy.
I and a number of other Ron Paul supporters are saying, "To heck with procrastination disguised as patience!" Corporatocracy will only grow more deeply entrenched through sponsorship, patronage, marketing and surveillance. Who will dare oppose an omniscient corporate government? If not a coup now, then probably never.
Some within the immediate coup community believe that Ron Paul should run a concurrent campaign as both a Republican and a Libertarian. I am not sure that is even possible. Others think he ought just drop out of the race now and seek the LP's nomination and make Gary Johnson his running mate.
You might guess why I oppose this tactic. It narrows Ron Paul's appeal. Early on this blog I advocated Paul running a coalition candidacy all the way to the convention where, after becoming a martyr, he could announce a third party candidacy with a progressive running mate. I was right about the coalition strategy. I was wrong about going all the way to the convention.
Why was I wrong? I failed to check the calendar. Nearly all states have pre-convention deadlines for filing as a third party or independent presidential candidate. I now advocate him running independent immediately and if he can do this concurrently as a Republican candidate, then by all means do so.
In the likely circumstance that the GOP will not allow Paul to continue as a candidate for their nomination should he declare his independent candidacy, what needs to happen is that the campaign continue to encourage his supporters to run for delegate and party positions so as to continue the long term coup attempt. Since the official campaign's coup strategy is long term, it should not matter as much that Ron Paul does not get prime time speech in Tampa. Yes...it matters a little but the main key to taking over the GOP is not a personality but an ongoing recruitment of ideological soldiers to gradually capture the reigns of power.
However, this actuarial coup strategy need not prevent an immediate full scale electoral war in the general election. Can the idea of a Libertarian or Constitution party endorsement now! It not only narrows his appeal, it imposes a shorter window of opportunity to garner the supporters he needs at their conventions and takes these supporters out of the actuarial struggle.
It is far better for him to gather requisite signatures to get him on the ballot as an independent where he can develop the coalition strategy that he needs to win the election while continuing the long term project of reforming the GOP.
I know the same old sectarian heads will come against this idea. To which I say, you belong in the camp of the current strategy. If Ron Paul is going to run outside of the GOP, he should run to win, not to make a statement. He wins only in coalition with progressives. No one has or can challenged this observation: No coalition, no victory in November. And with all due deference to Robin Koerner, by coalition I do not mean libertarian hospitality, as nice and as helpful as that may be.
Here it is in a nutshell: Keep the quest for delegates and an actuarial coup up with or without Ron Paul and in the mean time....DR. PAUL, DO THE ONLY THING YOU CAN TO WIN THIS ELECTION: FORM AN INDEPENDENT COALITION CANDIDACY WITH PROGRESSIVES NOW!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment