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A Purge Too Far?
GOP blogger guru Patrick Ruffini wants to boot Ron Paul from Congress.
Chris Peden is a traditional conservative Republican candidate for Congress in Texas’s 14th Congressional district...
Here’s what Ron Paul says about TX-14: “If I were to lose the primary for my congressional seat, all our opponents would react with glee.”
Give what you can. Ron Paul is running scared — using his Presidential campaign’s donors’ money to subsidize a desperate last-minute attempt to save his Congressional seat.
The source for that claim is a paraphrase of Mark Elam... I'm going to assume the campaign isn't actually defying federal law and is using its new, rEVOLution-enhanced donor list to raise TX-14 money. UPDATE: Patrick Semmens from the Paul campaign responds:
Patrick Ruffini is wrong, as no money from the presidential campaign is has been transferred to the congressional campaign. As you correctly note, doing so would be a violation of federal law.
The only way funds from the presidential campaign could go towards Dr. Paul's congressional race would be for Paul to end the presidential run and close the committee. He has made it very clear that he has no plans to do that.
I've e-mailed Ruffini for a response.
This isn't Ruffini's first call to support a GOP insurgent. Last year he rattled the tin cup for Jim Ogonowski, an underfunded Republican who made a manful effort in an open Massachusetts House seat. (Sadly, Ogonowski passed on another run in favor of a nine-month beatdown by John Kerry.) Maybe a depressed GOP online base will overcome the McCain malady by chucking coins at Chris Peden. Peden could use it: He could sleep a little easier about the $150,000 loan he's given his own campaign. And he could use it to overcome the $315,000 Paul's raised since the start of the quarter.
If the campaign gets close, though, it won't be because of money. It's all about the war—and that makes me skeptical of the purge. Peden isn't sending around flyers about Paul's newsletters or his have-cake-and-eat-it-too earmark policy. He's claiming Paul "blames America for 9/11" and "votes against our troops." (He is attacking Paul on his votes against free trade agreements, so, partial credit.) That's the oxygen for his campaign.
One problem with this campaign that I don't think the joiners have thought through... what does Ron Paul do the day after he loses a congressional primary? His only firm, titanium-strength committment not to run third party came when he... was appealing to donors to save him in TX-14. If the Libertarian Party calls a defeated Rep. Ron Paul on March 5 and offers him its nomination on a silk pillow, does anyone think he tells them to go away?
Bingo|2.15.08 @ 2:30PM|#
The idiots in the Republican establishment do not understand the difference between criticizing policy (in this case, foreign policy) and criticizing the United States of America as a whole. Obviously, if you dissent you hate freedom and must be eradicated.
Colin|2.15.08 @ 2:32PM|#
Cato gave Paul relatively poor marks in their new free trade
matrix. Even McCain did better.
http://www.freetrade.org/congress
Scooby|2.15.08 @ 2:34PM|#
Jim Ogonowski- looking at his Senate campaign site makes me sick. He's wearing his AF uniform to campaign for office. Not that I'm against retired/ former military (quite the contrary), but he's sullying the uniform by using it as a campaign costume.
tarran|2.15.08 @ 2:35PM|#
Congressman Ron Paul is a thorn in the side of
Republicans who want to behave like socialists while paying lip
service to pseudo-libertarian mercantilist ideals.
LP Presidential Nominee Ron Paul is irrelevant.
The pseudo-socialists now running the Republican party would find
their looting of hard-working Americans made a little easier if Ron
Paul were to be kicked out of Congress.
In addition, I think most of them know that they will be losing the
presidency in 10 months. If they lose it in a two man race, then
they have no scapegoat to blame. but if they lose with Ron Paul
pulling in 5% of the vote, oh yes
they'll be blaming libertarians for their own
shortcomings.
Fluffy|2.15.08 @ 2:35PM|#
Ruffini doesn't care about accuracy because he is now and always
has been a lying scumbag and GOP shill.
He knows that what he's posting is false and doesn't care.
shecky|2.15.08 @ 2:38PM|#
Every time I gear up to jump on a Democratic hate fest, the Republicans interrupt me.
Dodsworth|2.15.08 @ 2:41PM|#
Colin:
Ron Paul only got "poor marks" because he advocates uniliteral free
trade (the most radical anti-tariff position in Congress). IN this
respect, he in the tradition of Cobden and Bright who said cut
tariffs across the board regardless of what others do.
Naturally, that position loses Paul him some points who those who
favor highly politicized selective "free trade" agreements like
NAFTA.
Paul's uniliteral approach may be right or wrong in achieving the
goal but it is part of a perfectly respectable tradition. It
ludicrous to depict him as an emeny of free trade.
|2.15.08 @ 2:42PM|#
Thank goodness we can finally get someone in there who is in
favor of the free trade agreements.
On a unrelated note, only a wacko isolationist would be in favor
with ending the trae embargo with Cuba. We need to attack Ron Paul
about this. If we are ever going to get rid of castro we need to
literally isolate the common cuban women and children from all
things amercian...make them totally dependent on Cuban movies and
goods...if they keep getting food we need to get our CIA agents
back down there to put more cement powder in the infant milk
formula...the general discontent they have will definitely cause
them to overthrow their rulers and ask start paying taxes to the
US. I know we tried this strategy once before, but I think we just
pansied out to quickly, we need to be a little more persistent so
we can end this Cuba thing with some dignity.
tarran|2.15.08 @ 2:42PM|#
Cato gave Paul relatively poor marks in their new free trade matrix. Even McCain did better.
I take these Cato policy prescriptions with a grain of salt: they
supported George Bush's social security "privatization" which would
have obviously and inevitably effectively nationalize a significant
portion of the publicly traded companies in the U.S over the course
of two decades.
PC|2.15.08 @ 2:44PM|#
"The idiots in the Republican establishment do not understand
the difference between criticizing policy (in this case, foreign
policy) and criticizing the United States of America as a
whole."
Yes they do understand the difference, but they don't want anyone
else to.
This isn't anything new, look at what has happened to Gilchrest for
being against the war, Weldon for bringing up Able Danger, and
McKinney to name a few. When you lie for a living, knocking out the
truth tellers makes your job easier.
stephen the goldberger|2.15.08 @ 2:45PM|#
If the Libertarian Party calls a defeated Rep. Ron Paul on
March 5 and offers him its nomination on a silk pillow, does anyone
think he tells them to go away?
For president or for TX-14? I don't think he would bother 3rd party
run for president and I don't think its in the LP's best interest
to have him run. But for TX-14 I think it would be an intriguing
option. Then perhaps the LP could get a congressman finally.
kinnath|2.15.08 @ 2:45PM|#
I received an email requesting a contribution to his
congressional campaign that noted Ron cannot use the funds from the
presidential campaign so long as he is still running for
president.
So they are looking to past donors to the presidential bid to send
money to the congressional bid.
robc|2.15.08 @ 2:46PM|#
He is attacking Paul on his votes against free trade
agreements, so, partial credit.
Maybe someone (especially you, David Weigel) can explain to me why
me and Juan in Guatemala need our countries to reach an agreement
before we can trade?
We dont need agreements to trade freely. Just get the hell out of
our way.
|2.15.08 @ 2:46PM|#
1) Paul's newsletters was used against him in 1996, it didn't
work.
2) Have-the-cake-and-eat-it earmark policy? I don't understand why
people don't understand his position. The money will be spent,
either in the Department of X,Y, or Z or through their
represnetitives. He doesn't like it, hence he votes against it. But
when people ask him to put it in, he does. The whole thing needs a
reform.
3) NAFTA and CAFTA are not free trade. True free trade is free
trade, that's managed trade.
When he LOSES? What the hell?
Jay D|2.15.08 @ 2:49PM|#
He is attacking Paul on his votes against
free "free" trade agreements, so, partial
credit.
Fixed it.
Fluffy|2.15.08 @ 2:50PM|#
Brent, I don't read that as a prediction of a loss.
I read that as a warning to Ruffini to be careful what he wishes
for, because if Paul were somehow to lose he'd be more dangerous to
the national party than if he just quietly resumes holding his
Congressional seat.
|2.15.08 @ 2:52PM|#
I'm assuming Paul is running presidential campaign commercials
in Texas. Perhaps in the 14th District. Perhaps stating his
conservative Congressional record. Perhaps stating policy positions
that a Congressmen of the 14th District might vote on in the next
couple years.
He doesn't need to break federal law to use that money to help
himself in the Congressional race. I donated to the campaign (early
on, before he started pandering about immigration and the extent of
the newsletters became apparent) and I fully expected this. I still
don't have a problem with it. Are they any donors who would?
|2.15.08 @ 2:54PM|#
I can't believe the paultards are tryign to defend those earmarks. Everyone knows that when the money isn't designated for a particular project it goes to a general fund where the President and Vice President(who are more experienced and have higher morals than any stupid congressman), can send the money out to be used to better help us in the severely underfunded federal programs. The worst part is that Ron Paul is such a wack job he doesn't even vote for the 3 trillion dolalr budgets, he thinks we are supposed to fight islamo facists and drug traffickers with pixie dust. We'd all be dead in a week if we didn't get that money to the right place.
lunchstealer|2.15.08 @ 2:55PM|#
Seriously, I'd expect Paul's newsletters to be an asset in the TX-14 primary.
PC|2.15.08 @ 3:03PM|#
It is simply symbolic and its lose lose for the neocons. If you overthrow Paul in Congress there will just be bigger demand across the country for Ron Paul Republicans. You knock of Paul and three or four will pop up in his place with more to come. The Republicans can't even fund their campaigns anymore, that is why people like Ruffini have to beg like panhandlers.
Fluffy|2.15.08 @ 3:04PM|#
Oh, and in case anyone thinks that my denunciation of Ruffini as
a known liar is excessive or unfair, last year prior to the Ames
Straw Poll Ruffini posted an "analysis" where he claimed that it
was possible Paul would come in second or third in the Ames poll,
or even win it.
After that didn't happen, he chortled on his blog about how he
never thought Paul had any chance to do well, but had pretended to
think so in his analysis to "fuck with" Paul supporters and to set
up unrealistic expectations among other members of the web
community and political media.
Since Ruffini has, therefore, openly admitted on his blog that he
deliberately lies in order to attain political goals, we are
entitled to view every word he says or writes as a potential lie,
including "and", "but", and "the".
|2.15.08 @ 3:06PM|#
"I think most of them know that they will be losing the
presidency in 10 months. If they lose it in a two man race, then
they have no scapegoat to blame."
They'll find some excuse to blame their loss on. They have such a
lust for war that they'll never be willing to accept that the
public is sick of war.
|2.15.08 @ 3:07PM|#
We all know that CATO is as free market as it gets. If they say McCain is more free trade than Ron Paul then what kind of backwards unthinking loon would disagree? Every time Reason puts up a good article explaining the facts about Ron Pauls isolationism a bunch of Paultards show up to spin their conspiracy theories about NAFTA being some complicated document....listen naive dumbos...if Al Gore knows NAFTA and GATT are all about free trade and if you are told it is about free trade then you you better believe it. I hope some of these people asking long detailed questions about text in the NAFTA documents and who they favor and the motivation behind the enforcement mechanisms get tasered. Free trade is good...I thought those paultards were supposed to know some economics.
Rimfax|2.15.08 @ 3:12PM|#
Regardless of his rock-star status, I would not vote to make Ron
Paul the LP presidential nominee. He is the most libertarian
presidential, almost viable, candidate for a major party, probably
ever, but that doesn't make him a good Libertarian nominee.
His anti-abortion stance is tough to swallow, but his stance on
immigration is a show-stopper as far as I'm concerned.
Dave Weigel|2.15.08 @ 3:19PM|#
I'm not saying Paul WILL lose, I'm speculating on the scene at casa de Paul the day after a potential loss.
highnumber|2.15.08 @ 3:20PM|#
Dodsworth,
I don't think Cato's free trade site depicts Rep Paul as an enemy
of free trade. Did you check it out for yourself?
Bingo|2.15.08 @ 3:23PM|#
Chris Peden has a comparison page of him and Ron Paul...
http://www.chrispeden.org/compare.html
Scathing!
|2.15.08 @ 3:30PM|#
Listen, Ron Paul is slightly more honest than your average
politician(I have to give him that) but when are the Paultards
going to understand that some people really aren't interested in
voting for racists for president. Reason's writers did
libertarianism a huge favor when they helped make us aware of his
buddies with kkk connections.
John McCain is the only conservative without any blemishes in this
regard. Conspiracy theories comments aside, the man is colorblind
and doesn't even see race when he looks at someone.
On a unrelated not, are any other folsk here wondering how we can
ramp up this stop loss program the army has? I mean these
ungrateful kids in the inner city are given free fod and shelter,
getting the education of the lifetime and for the first time they
are getting some real discipline in their life ...if they weren't
in Iraq they'd probably just be smoking their weed and "chilling"
around with the homies...Frankly, we'd be doing them a favor if we
stop lossed more of them. We only stop lossed "tens of thousands"
of these guys in the army!? and now the isolationist want to end
the entire program! I know some of you don't care about spreading
freedom like me, but come on freedom isn't free, we have to make
somebody pay.
|2.15.08 @ 3:30PM|#
C.O.
I hope you understand that my offer - on one of these threads
yesterday - to accept you as my new overlord applied only to
me...
You'll have to work the crowd to get the rest of the votes for
overlord...
robc|2.15.08 @ 3:30PM|#
Bingo,
Why do I think Peden attacking Paul for not protecting the unborn
isnt going to fly in TX-14?
Man, what a tool. There are areas to criticize Paul, but attacking
him on abortion or gay marriage seems stupid (from the perspective
of him not being anti enough).
|2.15.08 @ 3:32PM|#
Yay! Let's elect another mainstream Republican who will be just
like everyone else in Congress!
what a putz.
the innominate one|2.15.08 @ 3:39PM|#
Cosmotarian Overlord is Gabe Harris, who is a troll and a colostomy bag. Apparently, he's a bit bitter about reason's coverage of Ron Paul. Stop reporting the truth, reason!
|2.15.08 @ 3:40PM|#
Bingo,
Peden's outrageous lies in that comparison page prompted me to
donate immediately to the congressional campaign. Hope it does the
same thing to others.
|2.15.08 @ 3:49PM|#
damn it, innominate. stop dising my overload. you're just angry he pwned you in the alcohol interlock debate.
|2.15.08 @ 3:51PM|#
Calling all Paultards,
Paul's xenophobic immigration policy is insane. Sure he acts like
we can't afford to pay social security, welfare, medicare and
prescription drugs for 6 billion people, but that is just rhetoric.
All educated economist know that the SS program is not in as bad a
shape as some try to make it out to be. The US budget deficit is
really very small when compared to the GDP, that is why our dollar
is holding up so well in spite of what the goldbug chicken-littles
were saying.
I agree with McCain that we are very very very very very lucky no
islamo-extremist-terrorist has snuck across the mexican border and
set off a nuclear bomb...but that is primarily because the tens of
thousands of terrorist just don't know how to walk very well and it
is unlikely that the millions of Al Quada members aroudn the world
will every figure out how to get through the relatively good
security on our borders so it does make sense to keep all of our
military spread out evenly around the world.
In reality the only reason Dr. Ron Paul doesn't want open borders
is his ignorant biggoted uneducated hatred of mexicans. Seeing as
how Ron Paul went to Duke it isn't too surprising that he is a
racist...everyone knows about the racist duke jocks.
John McCain is the only person in the election who loves ALL the
people in the world regardless of race OR religion and that is why
he never uses ethnic slurs and never advocates bombing anyone
peoples unless Americans are being attacked.
|2.15.08 @ 3:55PM|#
I'm looking forward to the big pay-per-view Cosmotarian vs. Urkobold overlord cage match.
Click \'n\' Learn|2.15.08 @ 3:57PM|#
I didn't read the article or the comments, but:
1. Ruffini doesn't know how to ask
questions.
2. He thought PuertoRicans were
"immigrants". And, no, he wasn't referring to CRans.
Taktix®|2.15.08 @ 4:00PM|#
Cosmotarian Overlord is Gabe Harris, who is a troll and a
colostomy bag.
Overlord's comments strike me as sarcasm. What is going on
here?
Bingo|2.15.08 @ 4:01PM|#
Cosmotarian Overlord is sort of a meta-parody and I'm not sure who exactly he is supposed to be poking fun at.
the innominate one|2.15.08 @ 4:09PM|#
Citizen Nothing, if the definition of "pwned" is "didn't make any arguments, coherent or otherwise, stating his view of things", then I guess you're right, he totally pwned.
|2.15.08 @ 4:15PM|#
innominate - the thing you need to understand about overlords is
that they tend to operate with the same straightforward logic as a
David Lynch movie.
It's quite a beautiful thing to behold, if you're in the right
frame of mind.
Jacob|2.15.08 @ 4:17PM|#
Peden's outrageous lies in that comparison page prompted me
to donate immediately to the congressional campaign. Hope it does
the same thing to others.
Peden's or Paul's? I for one am entertained by outrageous lies and
consider them a public service.
Urkobold™|2.15.08 @ 4:45PM|#
MEH.
NO CAGE MATCH.
ANYONE CALLING HIMSELF "Cosmotarian Overlord" TENDS TO SMELL LIKE
CAT PEE.
|2.15.08 @ 4:59PM|#
"If the Libertarian Party calls a defeated Rep. Ron Paul on
March 5 and offers him its nomination on a silk pillow, does anyone
think he tells them to go away? "
Once the delusional old kookster realizes he can't win the GOP
nomination and Peden teaches him a thing or two about real
conservative/libertarian values I'm sure he'll come begging the LP
for a chance to be put in the national spotlight. The guy is
obviously a political whore(he even makes Hillary look relatively
trustworthy).
I'm sure the fair and balanced commission on presidential debates
would love to have him add some crazy to the show. The CPD
http://www.debates.org/ is a great organization.
Before all the paultard conspircay nuts reply, I already did the
research and the organization is non-profit, bipartisian and a
great part of our democracy. Anyone who can think of reasons that
Budweiser, AARP, the Ford Foundation, the RNC and DNC would want to
limit discussion of certain issues spends too much time reading
conspiracy theories in their parents' basement and not enough time
watching real news like Anderson Cooper 360.
The CPD did increase the polling citeria to 15% a few years ago,
but I bet they would make an exception if there was someone
interesting who was getting a lot of grassroots support.
alan|2.15.08 @ 5:11PM|#
Just to be helpful,
(He is attacking Paul on his votes against free trade
agreements, so, partial credit.)
He is attacking Paul on his votes against managed trade agreements,
trade blocks created as an answer to the EU trade block, so the
credit is indeed mixed (I wont deny Nafta isn't better than what it
replaced though an extremely low excise tax applying equally to all
traders irrespective of their nations of origin to pay for the
maintenance of harbors and other trade related infrastructure would
be more ideal).
Overlord, you sound like a rambling nut job. Given that the nut
jobs are all supposed to only come from the paleo side of the
libertarian coin, I suspect you are a paleo engaging in obnoxious
rhetoric to tarnish the cosmo sterling silver.
Urkobold™|2.15.08 @ 5:22PM|#
alan,
"Cosmotarian Overlord" IS A POOR PARODY OF AN INDETERMINATE TARGET.
HE IS FIGHTING THE CATO INSTITUTE AND REASON THAT LIVE UNDER HIS
BED.
JParker|2.15.08 @ 5:25PM|#
Anyone who can think of reasons that Budweiser, AARP, the Ford
Foundation, the RNC and DNC would want to limit discussion of
certain issues spends too much time reading conspiracy theories in
their parents' basement and not enough time watching real news like
Anderson Cooper 360.
I think you missed a tag ;)
alan|2.15.08 @ 5:25PM|#
apologies Overlord,
You are indeed engaging in hyperbole to make the point I mentioned;
I only scanned your post earlier because they seemed a bit long
winded.
My apologies because I thought you were being a bit deceptive, but
that is not the case.
alan|2.15.08 @ 5:28PM|#
VMI, LewRockwell.com, Reason, Cato, can't we all just get along, and enjoy a shitkicking of Henry Waxman together?
|2.15.08 @ 5:38PM|#
Yeah, they may know they'll lose the White House in ten months anyway, but they'll lose a lot more of the marginal GOP congressional seats if the Paulistas get pissed and run independents. Don't forget that many libertarians dream about spoiling the GOP's election night. They won't start pandering to our issues until it hurts!
alan|2.15.08 @ 5:57PM|#
Cesar made a great point, yesterday. Encourage everyone to vote
third party to deny the donkyphant a 'mandate'.
If a third party pulled in only twenty percent of the vote, it
could force the frontrunner to win by only 41-42 percent of the
popular vote (oh, God, if someone took the popular vote and won
with a mere 38-39 percent range, it would be like political cocain
to me). Such a result would be historic.
Nolan|2.15.08 @ 6:10PM|#
I live in TX-14 (Lake Jackson) I see a ton of support for RP everywhere I look. Maybe because this is his hometown? I dunno, but regardless I'd hate to see him lose his seat to the d-bags running against him.
Scooby|2.15.08 @ 6:37PM|#
From Peden's endorsement page:
Rusty Shackleford, Galveston TX, August 24, 2007, Pest control manager says ...
" I support Chris Peden for congress. "
Isn't that Dale Gribble's nom de plume? I didn't know Arlen was actually Galveston.
|2.15.08 @ 6:45PM|#
Alan,
I really don't see us more urbane libertarians getting along with
the racists at Lewrockwell.com. Those guys are always talking about
states rights and dispersion of power when it is obviously just an
exucse to push their racist idealogy. Us more internationally aware
libertarians know that it is best to concentrate power in one
central location and that really a world government done correctly
would help bring about more peace in the world.
Anyone who thinks we need to go back to the 19th century and
implement the discredited gold standard is doing more harm to our
image than good. Seriosuly there is only a limited amount of
gold...with the amount of cash we have now, there simply isn't
enough gold to base a currency on. Sure it can be difficult to
figure out the exact right interest rate at all times, but when you
have men as smart as Ben bernanke and Alan Greenspan you have to
admit that they are right more than a stupid bar of gold.
Where would we get the funds for important public service projects
if we had a stable money supply? A greedy person could just hoard
all the gold, but with our current system the government will work
to fight the greedy self serving rich guy. The super elite are
helpess against the fed and the way they set interest rates to help
us up and comers. That is why Ben often calls up averge joes and
gives them private thoughts on how he is planning to deal with the
economy and that is why you'd never see some super rich guy giving
him advice about how to best secure future employment.
I know we all like free-markets, but lets not get ridiculous,
interest rates need to be managed by a person with some common
sense and the Fed is independent so they have no political
influences. With the advances in technology and computing power it
will soon be possible to manage other markets besides the interest
rate market and we could really be in for some great times.
Would you rather be riding a horse or a 2008 Camry?....obviously
the Camry is better and it is all because of the great monetary
system we now have. Before the federal reserve we just had a bunch
of horses.
|2.15.08 @ 6:51PM|#
Peden is about to experience blowback for attacking Ron Paul on foreign policy. He raised more money from active duty military in all quarters last year than all the candidates combined.
|2.15.08 @ 7:29PM|#
darn it...why do those pansy soldiers give money to such a loon? I know we have to get the soldiers form the lower class in the south so I guess it is understandable that so many of them are racist.
|2.15.08 @ 7:34PM|#
I wonder if the soldiers are just attracted to him because of all the media saturation about how great he is? If we could just get the liberal media love fest to calm down about Ron Paul. Or possibly McCain could give his famous "I hate the gooks and will always hate the gooks speach", then he might be able to sway some of the more racist military support away from Paul. Hell that white storm guy alone is probably worth a million dollars a quarter.
|2.15.08 @ 7:43PM|#
"The idiots in the Republican establishment do not
understand"
Yes, they do, but they hope that the voters don't. They know that
they're lying through their teeth.
-jcr
|2.15.08 @ 7:44PM|#
Cosmo,
Don't quit your day job. Rittberg is a hundred times funnier than
you, and he's not even trying to be.
-jcr
|2.15.08 @ 7:48PM|#
John,
I wouldn't be so sure about that. Max Boot says violence in Iraq is
down 80%...if people don't realize that and keep on fighting this
winning battle or if the american people let their guard down and
try to hold up the progress we are making on a real ID then I'm
afraid we are all gonna see some serious blowback in the form of a
suitcase nuke in America like Chertoff is warning about. We all
know that he is a serious good intentioned person and he would
never just make stuff up to try and get us to have some new
laws....so the threat must be legitimate.
|2.15.08 @ 8:42PM|#
"If I were to lose the primary for my congressional seat, all
our opponents would react with glee."
How is that any different than "the terrorists want you to vote for
Kerry?" I don't think it's running scared, i think it's standard
republican rhetoric.
Lev Strauss|2.15.08 @ 9:00PM|#
"If I were to lose the primary for my congressional seat, all
our opponents would react with glee."
He was talking to his supporters about the Neocons and the Talk
Radio Right I believe. They are opposing him and going after his
seat, people like Ruffini try to drum up support but many of their
readers are cheap. Besides Fredheads don't want legalization
because they are lazy enough without it. When Fred had his money
bomb that raised what Paul raises on an off day, they were debating
on Hotair whether to give up their last sixpack until payday.
That's all they got left because it gives them an outlet to shit on
someone else. McCain won. They are on a sharp decline, all the pols
that are getting out know it.
|2.15.08 @ 9:00PM|#
I hope the LP isn't so desperate that it goes to someone who is basically Pat Buchanan in drag and begs him to lead the LP into xenophobic immigrant bashing and demanding for constitutional amendments to ban abortion by defining life as begining as conception. Will the LP also then endorse the 700 mile wall on the border that Paul voted for -- including the billions in new taxes required to fund it along with the hundreds of eminent domain cases required to build it. The LP ought to offer a libertarian alternative to the Republicans and Democrats. Running a has-been Republican who pandered to the racist Right is not the way to do it.
Mr. Chartreuse|2.15.08 @ 9:54PM|#
[i]From Peden's endorsement page:
Rusty Shackleford, Galveston TX, August 24, 2007, Pest control
manager says ...
" I support Chris Peden for congress. "
Isn't that Dale Gribble's nom de plume? I didn't know Arlen was
actually Galveston.[/i]
Yep, good call on that one:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Gribble
|2.15.08 @ 11:11PM|#
I have it on good authority that Peden will lose, and lose
big.
Behold! The kiss of Death!
Eric Dondero, Angleton, August 14, 2007, Political Consultant says
...
" Chris,
I hereby enthusiastically endorse you for Congress. Your
pro-property rights/anti-tax views more closely represent the
values of our South Texas District, than Ron Paul. Our current
incumbent used to be more of a traditional limited government
conservative. But now he's gone way out on the fringe, particularly
on foreign policy issues.
I was going to run against my former boss. But why should I?
YourPro-Defense/Pro-Tax Cut/Pro-Individual Liberty views reflect
mine. I would be proud to have you represent me in Congress.
Eric Dondero, Fmr. Senior Aide
US Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX)
1997-2003
Lev Strauss|2.15.08 @ 11:23PM|#
Down goes Rudy!
Down goes Romney!
Down goes Peden!
Thank you Dondero.
Scooby|2.16.08 @ 12:15AM|#
Dondi's run would have been entertaining. You think Peden's
having fundraising problems? Imagine how few Bible Belt Republicans
in the Coastal Bend would be scratching out checks to support
someone who brags about all the poon he's paid for.
Peden's at least got the "Pastors for Peden" (all seem to be of the
"nutcase fundy pentecostal" variety). I don't think Ewik could
score that kind of backing.
Wait- I take that back. Jimmy Swaggart might have lent his support.
Maybe Jim Bakker, too.
|2.16.08 @ 12:22AM|#
Folks,
Rp will be GOP chairman, the way Dr. Dean is for Dems.
The war will be for Rp's new on-line donors list.
Rest is media's beauty contest, for Nov.
Sol Rosenberg|2.16.08 @ 1:46AM|#
NAFTA is 900 pages of regulations. Leave it to the DC policy wanker types at Cato and Reason to confuse 900 pages of regulations with free trade.
Nash|2.16.08 @ 1:56AM|#
"Seriously, I'd expect Paul's newsletters to be an asset in the
TX-14 primary."
I'd say the same thing about his earmarks and his views against
"free" trade.
|2.16.08 @ 9:11AM|#
Sol,
The reality of it is, managed trade is often what you get from
government versus pure free trade. Isn't some free trade better
then no free trade?
Between 1993 and 2005, U.S. manufacturing and agriculture exports
to Canada and Mexico grew by 133 percent and 55 percent,
respectively.
We all know that Mexico, Canada and the USA could have simply
wrote, "We here by eliminate all tariffs between all three
countries. period"
But in the real world, unfortunately, no countries write trade
agrements like that. Cato and Reason live and work within the
parameters of current reality.
However, I must say, Ron Paul has managed to get the best of both
world on this issue. He is a free trader but protectionists love
him.
|2.16.08 @ 4:22PM|#
"If Ron runs on a third party ticket and the Republicans lose,
they'll blame him . . . . "
Reality check: They're already accusing him of being a traitor to
his country and a terrorist sympathizer, and you're worried that
they'll accuse him of party disloyalty?
We need to stop worrying about what the neocons are going to say
about us and make them start worrying about what we're going to say
about them.
|2.16.08 @ 10:09PM|#
"We need to stop worrying about what the neocons are going to
say about us and make them start worrying about what we're going to
say about them."--Joe S.
Damn straight. It is the work of great men not to move towards the
center. As L. Neil Smith said, great men move the center.
|2.17.08 @ 1:32AM|#
I saw some news that around $164,000 out of $170,000+ of Peden's donations came from Peden.
ralphie|2.18.08 @ 5:54PM|#
You make me want to give more money to Paul.
Yes - I guess Ill have to rob Peden to pay Paul.
Nick|2.19.08 @ 3:19PM|#
"LP Presidential Nominee Ron Paul is irrelevant."
LP Presidential Nominee Ron Paul might lock the GOP out of the
White House.
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