Random thoughts on Iowa: Ron Paul, etc.

[Jackpine Radical]

(Bring on the beer & travel money and many experiences)

Remember when the press was totally ignoring Paul? He was a media non-person. In the straw poll they wouldn't even mention that he came in second, behind Michele. Now here he is, a nose behind the 2 front-runners, in a virtual 3-way tie. I guess their efforts to ignore him in hopes that he would go away didn't work.

Now, with Bachman & probably Perry dropping out, a lot of the Republican Crazy vote is freed up--and where better for it to go than to Paul?

In coming primaries, I figger Sanctimonious Santorum and Paranoid Paul will divide the hard-core racist vote, but a lot of the crazies will flock to Paul, recognizing one of their own, possibly giving him the edge over Righteous Rick. Mittens, on the other hand, isn't really exciting anyone very much. Remember, even though he won Iowa, he did it in a 5-person race & got less than 25% of the vote, which is probably near the max he could get there under virtually any circumstances.

The Republican Establishment and their puppetmasters (Koch^2, Scaife, etc.) REALLY don't want Raving Ron. With his no-bailout, antiwar, anti-drug-war positions, he threatens all that they stand for. For the most part, he is "right" only on issues that they don't care about--abortion, civil rights, religious stuff. Only on corporate deregulation and destruction of social services do his views coincide with theirs.

A Paul Presidency would be worse for their interests than another Obama term. Santorum is more than sufficiently corrupt to serve their needs, but he is ultimately not electable, and everyone with a moderate grasp on reality knows it.

The Puppetmasters need Mitt, but their monstrous base, none of whom actually understand the stakes or the rules of the real game (which has to do with economic hegemony, not the War on Christmas) just aren't playing along properly. They want their rage fed. They want their bibles thumped. They want brimstone to rain down on anyone who doesn't look, think and act just like them. They want florid psychosis in their leader. Ranting Ron is promising to deliver on all that, and Mitt, no matter how hard he now tries to backtrack, just has too many episodes of rationality to ever pass muster with this crowd.

South Carolina is going to be very interesting. Paul could very possibly win it. Look for a major outpouring of Citizens United-type money down there in the next few weeks.

New Hampshire, of course, will belong to Mitt, but I don't necessarily see him doing well elsewhere, especially in the South.

[WI_DEM]

1. I'm thinking that SC could go to Santorum.

[ProSense]

2. I

...Only on corporate deregulation and destruction of social services do his views coincide with theirs.

A Paul Presidency would be worse for their interests than another Obama term.

...propose not electing any Republican/lunatic. I mean, that doesn't sound like it bout be good for our interests.

[Jackpine Radical]

5. I don't think I in any way advocated electing Paul.

Paul WOULD be worse for the interests of the 1%, but of course he would also be worse for the interests of every sentient person.

He would even be worse for the non-sentient ones, but of course they have no way of kn owing that, not being sentent and all.

[ProSense]

7. No

"I don't think I in any way advocated electing Paul. Paul WOULD be worse for the interests of the 1%, but of course he would also be worse for the interests of every sentient person."

...don't think you did. Still, I disagree that Paul would be worse for the one percent, for the reasons indicated here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002111290

Eliminating all regulations, lowering corporate taxes, refusing to end tax breaks, etc., would only help the top one percent.

Paul would not end the defense department, he'd simply make it more corrupt.

[Jackpine Radical]

10. It may be a little more nuanced than either of us is acknowledging--

i.e. he may be good for some of the 1%, e.g. the energy & extractive industries & bad for other parts--the MIC, for example.

And of couse, what they really want is someone who will follow the instructions of the people who put him in power, and Paul may be too contrary to buy into that, at least without some high-level pressure.

[KharmaTrain]

3. The Paulbots Will Continue To Irritate...

Firstly, by picking up some delegates last night, Paul's ticket is punched to the convention. I could see him picking up more delegates in the western states and become a real pain in the ass come convention time. Will he have his own convention like he did in '08?

The fun here is the longer this demolition derby goes the more hurt feelings it creates. The race is sure to get real personal in the next couple weeks; especially in South Carolina. There'll be an ABM...anyone but Mittens effort on the far right and no matter this could be a three way game through June. Let's hope so. The longer they eat each other alive the harder it will be for the eventual nominee to unite the party for November.

[Cognitive_Resonance]

4. In many respects Paul is the Lyndon LaRouche of the GOP. I don't think the base will bite.

His foreign policy views are incompatible with what has become mainstream Republican dogma. Ditto for relaxation of drug laws, DADT, etc. Santorum is now the last viable NotRomney, but he has virtually no national organization. If base is going to stop Romney it will require Santorum to run a guerilla campaign. I think the GOP race is about to become very, very ugly.

[Uncle Joe]

6. Under normal times I would agree with you but in our current economic doldrums and after

eight years of Cheney Bush corporate supremacy still fresh in their minds, I believe Paul's message will resonate with much of their base.

[Cognitive_Resonance]

8. Say Paul draws enough support to field a few hundred delegates at the convention. What does he do

with that capital? Would he be satisfied with having raised his profile within the GOP, or could it trigger a chain of events leading to formation of a third Party? 21st century Libertarian version of the Bull Moose Party?

[Uncle Joe]

9. That's a good question and I don't have all the answers but considering the grass roots movements

already taking place at the state level to decriminalize, legalize and medicalize cannabis, I believe that process would speed up as the Republicans would come to recognize there are more important fish to fry and the Democratic Party would not want the Republicans to get out in front of them on this civil rights issue.

So the legalization of cannabis would gain fresh momentum, the rest would depend on how many delegates Paul actually wins.

[MisterP]

11. just a little point: Paul is right-wing on abortion, civil rights, and religion

[Jackpine Radical]

12. Yes--didn't I pretty much imply that?

But these are issues of no relevance to the 1%; they are merely stinkbait that the Republicans use to keep the Far Righteous attracted to them.