The Paul/Romney Alliance?
The Washington Post writes a story pushing the idea of a Paul and Romney alliance; there is some truth to this, though the story exaggerates it.
The remaining candidates in the winnowed Republican presidential field are attacking one another with abandon, each day bringing fresh headlines of accusations and outrage.
But Mitt Romney and Ron Paul haven't laid a hand on each other.
They never do.
It is factually incorrect that "they never do"–an early Ron Paul moneybomb was specifically framed around combatting Romney, Paul's campaign paid for and aired anti-Romney radio ads in Iowa leading up to the caucusues there. But it is true that Paul had spent less money and effort at specifically attacking the front-runner, so far, compared to how he's gone after Santorum and Gingrich
While covering the Paul campaign for my forthcoming book, Ron Paul's Revolution, I picked up off-record hints that there was communication between the two camps and a likely realization that for both of them, clearing the field of the other competitors was more important than taking each other on directly, and that they both might need things from each other in a downfield race likely to be all about Romney v. Paul, along the lines of this from the Post story:
Romney's aides are "quietly in touch with Ron Paul," according to a Republican adviser who is in contact with the Romney campaign and spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss its internal thinking. The two campaigns have coordinated on minor things, the adviser said — even small details, such as staggering the timing of each candidate's appearance on television the night of the New Hampshire primary for maximum effect.
Romney obviously gets to try to hold on to a portion of Paul's fan base in the general, if he wins the nomination, by not deliberately alienating Paul and his people. What might Paul get from not alienating Romney?
"Ron Paul wants a presence at the convention," the adviser said — and Romney, if he is the nominee, would grant it.
What Paul and his supporters would demand, and what Romney would offer, are subjects of some speculation. One Paul adviser, speaking on the condition of anonymity to talk freely, said prime-time speaking slots for Paul and his son Rand, the junior senator from Kentucky, are obvious goals. On the policy front, Ron Paul's priorities are reforming the Federal Reserve and reducing federal spending. So promises to audit the Fed and to tackle deficit reduction seriously could appease the congressman and his supporters, the adviser said.
The story is also good on explaining some of the specifics of Paul's fans strategy behind the scenes of wracking up big primary vote numbers:
To ensure that they are heard — not just now but after Election Day, too — Paul and his followers are working to gain a permanent foothold in the Republican Party nationwide. One state at a time, Paul's supporters are seating themselves at county committee meetings, and standing for election as state officers and convention delegates, to make sure their candidate's libertarian vision is taken into account….
In Reno, regional coordinator Wayne Terhune used a slide show on a recent weeknight to teach volunteers how to participate in a Republican precinct meeting to help Paul win delegates in the state's caucuses on Saturday. He has tutored packed rooms at Denny's as well as smaller crowds in the campaign's Reno headquarters, located in a low-slung office building alongside the airport.
In a tiny conference room with a water cooler and two dogs on the floor, Terhune told the volunteers not to allow paper ballots out of their sight once votes take place — and to dress neatly and inconspicuously, so fellow Republicans won't be disinclined to elect them as caucus delegates….
"You'll nominate yourself," Terhune told the room. "They'll probably have you give your speech. Have a meeting a day ahead so all the Ron Paul people know who the other Ron Paul people are, so you can vote for them. Then you give a generic speech, and the non-Ron Paul people say, 'Oh, he's solid, I can vote for him.'?"
Terhune also urged the volunteers to pull out their iPhones and record the proceedings on caucus night if party officials "don't play by the rules."
I discussed the friendly rivals joshing about whether it was going to be Romney-Paul or Paul-Romney last month in my after-New Hampshire wrap-up article.
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post comments
Rand speaking at the 2012 GOP convention could be analogous to Obama’s speech at the 2004 Democratic convention, cementing his claim to being the up-and-coming future of the party, except, you know, worth a shit.
If Kerry had won in 2004, BO would still be in the Senate.
If some state senator never had fraudulent signatures on a petition, Barry would never have been state senator, and therefore never U.S. senator.
Yeah, well, except for photogenic Paul Ryan or Marco Rubio, they make the NeoCons swoon.
I’d vote for Obama before I would vote for Ron Paul” – said Barry Young on KFYI right-wing radio. Yet in the same breathe said, “we need those young energetic Ron Paul supporters to come into the fold and support our nominee”.
Such SHORT TERM thinking means that they have OPENED THE DOOR to the Republican Party APPARATUS. Positions of Power are there for the taking. Its a 4 year TAKE OVER that is open to us. They will be swallowing the poison pill today to get our votes on the mistaken assumption that we will be the ones who “change” over time.
The article is right on the money. It says;
“To ensure that they are heard ? not just now but after Election Day, too ? Paul and his followers are working to gain a permanent foothold in the Republican Party nationwide. One state at a time, Paul’s supporters are seating themselves at county committee meetings, and standing for election as state officers and convention delegates, to make sure their candidate’s libertarian vision is taken into account. The goal is a lasting voice for an army of outsiders that has long felt ignored and sees the nation headed toward ruin if things don’t change.”
But let me tell you Ron Paul Patriots – DO NOT BE SATISFIED WITH A ‘Foothold’, climb inside their GOP apparatus, get access to their voter Database – THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THEY HAVE – and take over REAL positions of power.
Go inside like a new employee, learn the ropes, but keep your integrity, know your long term goals and directions. We will reshape the party. There are MORE of them, so be quiet, be humble, but be very very persistent. Their quest will be for personal power and aggrandizement, yours is for the Movement. The R3VOLution will be on the outside, the RP bots will infiltrate and take over control.
There will be times that you will be pressed for your personal choice, I suggest you keep Ron Paul out of it. If you feel you owe it to others to tell them, then tell them. If you feel they are being honest with who they like, I suggest you look deeper and watch over time. I have seen McCain supporters fake their love for others, just to see who they are dealing with. Information is power in this game. Your facebook page will be looked at. Your bumper stickers too. So you have a big choice to make, be an open RP supporter working your way up the GOP establishment, or be an undercover one, a RP Bot acting as a virus to the GOP machine.
The RP virus bot route;
If you feel that you need to disguise yourself while inside the GOP, know that someone will ALWAYS ASKS, “who do you like?”, and they will TALK to their republican friends about you. Trust me on that one. Then, to stay undercover, I highly suggest that Ron Paul bots should say: “I confess I liked Herman Cain, we certainly need more black conservatives, but now I have no preference, I just believe in freedom and want to beat those evil democrats.” Those who buy that line will open up and tell you about who they really like, and then tell you why you should like their choice too. Stay publicly “undecided”, privately for the R3VOLution. The fastest ones to do that will ironically and naively be Ron Paul supporters. But its best to be “undecided and not so sure yet”. That is where the power is. When you run into higher party officials, your undecided but gun ho against Democrats position will get better treatment than if you are a KNOWN “Huckabee man”, or “Santorum man” or “Newt man” or “Romney man”. “So who did you vote for?” will be the final question that tells people where you stand, but also in these meetings people watch what statements you applaud, nod your head, and give verbal support to. Your answer is “I always vote for the republican on the ticket, and you?” That is my best advice on deflection.
Btw Ron Paul undercover virus bots, not all openly Ron Paul PC’s are indeed, Ron Paul patriots. Word to the wise. They may be simply people who have fallen in love with the man, not the principles. This is very common when some politician gets popular. Accept it and realize that such fan-worship in politics is crucial to building “the right candidate”. Only 1% of the electric is ideologically “pure”, and out of that, only 5% go viral, the rest just read their ‘pure’ books, pining for “the revolution” that never comes.
Btw way, biologically speaking, all virus work this way. When it approaches a cell, it chemically ‘looks like’ the cell wall, “I am you, you are me”, hence the cell wall does not “notice” it. Then after it puts on and wears the “C” cell label, it then pierces the cell membrane and inserts its bit of genetic code into the cell’s DNA. Sometimes some viruses “just do the piercing” and then let other viruses enter the cell. With the new virus code, the Cell then starts making copies of the virus, not the cell. In GOP and DNC politics, the “white cells” that look for “infected cells” are also hiding and undercover. They are looking to identify you and neutralize you in the lowest position of power, that of a PC, or worse, kick you back to “voter status only”.
The GOP is not “un-penetrable”. It has been penetrated and infiltrated many times. The last onslaught was from the 1980’s Moral Majority regulars. Yes the GOP caught a Moral Majority Cold, its been hacking that runny stuff out in fits ever since Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson lead their born-again flock into politics. Those MM inside the GOP still in power like Santorum. These are the ones giving Mitt Romney the hardest time, its all about Romney being “not christian” you see.
Back during the large Moral Majority onslaught, slipping in through the backdoor, was the Jacksonian Democrats or Warhawks from the radical Trotsky left, renamed NeoConservatives. Few in number, but still they knew right where they wanted to go, to the head of the GOP snake. Right to the Think Tanks and Conservative Media and of course to the top positions of the GOP, all supported via an alliance with the numerous Moral Majority GOP types who were too blind to see that their Moral issues would come in a far second to their neoCon goals.
Ron Paul Getting to Speak at the GOP convention is a good goal, but not THE goal. Same with getting Rand or my favorite, Judge Andrew Napolitano to speak, it is great and but NOT really a coup of sorts. But the real R3VOlution coup inside the GOP needs a new blueprint of policy positions inserted inside the GOP and then it needs the real key people to hold key positions of power to make sure our policies get EXPRESSED and others do not.
THis is how the NeoCons have literally taken over think tanks of both parties and the parties themselves. NeoCons simply do not have the numbers, or even OUR numbers. But they did execute a strategy in the 1970s that has paid off in the 1980s, 90’s and 2000s’. The NeoCons and the Progressives/Socialist, like Lawrence O’Donnell in the MSM, are our true enemies. Both the NeoCons and Progressive/Socialists are two sides of the same ideological coin. Neither is bothered by the other. If ever their could be a real war between these two, it would be to our RP bot advantage. With them busy fighting, we could undermine them and insert our code into the GOP and DNC body politic. That means we need Ron Paul democrats as well as Ron Paul republicans. The D and R labels, being just that, meaningless letters on a sweater, no more than name badges that allow one to enter Republican and Democrat building.
Treg
Nice plan. Might not want to publish it for the other side to read next time.
They would never make it through the whole thing.
Like anyone actually reads this blog.
This is, like, the worst chat room EVAR!
Do what now?
^
Needs moar [] {} and ().
AND CAPS.
But not ancaps.
what about hetero-brackets like [) and {]?
don’t discriminate
[^^THIS^^]
For a wall of text, that was pretty sane and well argued.
It was. Well done, except for the inherent conceding-defeat-with-46-states-to-go-ness.
I have not been following the primaries closely, but it has seemed like Romney has been missing opportunities to reach out to Tea Party types and libertarians.
This is true, but he’s also not mocking the Paulbots like Sanctomorum or Titties.
… whew, thank God! I was worried that it would take a little bit longer for us libertarians to sell ourselves out and take whatever the Republicans give us. Like we always do.
Thank God we won’t have to even attempt to think for ourselves anymore. Go Team Red!!!
“Us”? “We”?
Are “libertarians” officially a collective now?
Chat.
Facili Tater…One generally assumes that when a group of individuals assigns a “name”, such as Libertarian, to their movement of personal, political, and world beliefs that yes….to some degree it IS a collective, albeit a more agreeable one….remember the adage “there is power in numbers” ?
Don’t blame me, I’m voting for Johnson (or another likable LP nomination winner, then the list shrinks to anyone who isn’t Mitt Romney in order of coolest haircut).
threadjack (apologies)
the university of akron just hired jim tressel as a VP (not athletics).
tressel had spent some time at UA many years ago as a grad asst.
remember terry bowden is the new football coach and tressel is banned from football for 5 yrs
that is all
UA continues to throw money on the bonfire that is their football “program”. Meanwhile, their men’s soccer program actually gets shit done, like winning national titles and sending tons of guys to the pros and providing staff for the Olympic team and having one of the top GPAs of any school in any sport in DI and being in the top 3 in attendance in the nation despite extremely high ticket prices (compared to other programs and other “non-revenue” sports).
But of course that justifies the football team having eleventy thousand scholarships for a bunch of future used car salesmen and communications majors and the soccer team having only 9.9 maximum.
Meanwhile, their men’s soccer program . . . .
Aww. Isn’t that cute?
I love you too, sweetie.
The soccer program wins football titles and generates professional players? Oh, when you said “gets shit done” I assumed you meant shit in a good way that anyone cares about.
Relative to the jack-shit that the football program “accomplishes”, while burning orders of magnitude more money, yes, the soccer program gets more shit done, including graduating kids with marketable skills at a pretty high rate (when they don’t leave early for the pros – though some are both early pros AND incredibly intelligent and intent on finishing their degrees).
The soccer team also brings in a decent amount of money for a “non-revenue” sport. They probably lose less than the football program by quite a bit.
The football program accomplishes not being soccer.
I’ve never seen such a clever quip. One internet awarded to you, sir.
In other words, the University sets money on fire for the football program, and gets virtually zero benefit out of it. The soccer team has actually got the university some real recognition on a budget that is nowhere near as big.
The soccer team has actually got the university some real recognition for being a school that thinks soccer matters.
Question: why are you spending so much time and effort following my posts around by essentially saying that you don’t care?
I like soccer fine. I like football more, but that’s natural, being from the South.
We should fund a mission to send you to Mars so we can get your ridiculous soccerlust out of the country.
My last post was to Pro lib. Damn you threaded comments!
What, I can’t like soccer? It’s not on the top of my list, but I still like it.
Too faggy, apparently.
Really? Interesting! I thought he was going to some pro team for a FT job.
Ah well, whatever…
That’s what I would have thought. Shows how truly desperate UA is to justify the white elephant they built with the help of eminent domain of longtime businesses.
uh, who cares?
Terry Bowden is coaching football? I always figured he did something terrible that had to keep him out of football but also had to be secret. Why else no HC job with a major team? I don’t know if it was all his doing, but Auburn was very good while he was there.
The original Ron Paul strategy was to knock out the other conservative candidates (Cain, Gingrich, Santorum, Bachmann, Perry) to make it a Romney vs. Paul race, hoping Romney’s ceiling was lower than Ron Paul’s ceiling. Unfortunately Santorum came out of nowhere in Iowa, and Gingrich recovered from two losses (downplayed by the media) to win South Carolina.
Romney’s strategy has always been to win the nomination and beat Obama, but to do so, he needs at least some of Ron Paul’s voters to back him in the general. Playing nice also means avoiding the worst of the attack ads and debate shots from his best funded and best organized primary opponent.
Unless Ron Paul really rallies in the February caucus states, it is all about convention presence now. Some speculation was that Rand Paul might be in line for the VP slot for Romney, but it’s hard to see the establishment risking that, for obvious reasons.
The strange thing to me is that exit polls show Romney as the last choice of Ron Paul voters. To me, a guy who will change his positions on the issues with public opinion is far superior to a committed neocon or activist socon (and Santorum is both.)
If preemptive war and continued abuse of our liberties fall out of popularity with the voting public, Romney will change his stance in a heartbeat, while the others will continue to bluster about security and the sanctity of this or that.
yeah, I keep reading on RP forums about a potential VP slot for Paul. Ain’t gonna happen. Why waste the VP slot like that, when you can have the VA gov or someone more popular that will secure a battleground state for you? I like to think Paul supporters are a bit savvier after years of doing this, then I read their comments like he may be VP.
when you can have the VA gov or someone more popular that will secure a battleground state for you?
Rubio. Florida.
I don’t understand why Rubio would want it. The only way it helps you politically is if Romney wins this time and again in 2016. Otherwise you have the stink of loser on you.
Ron Paul is the best (of the Republicans, which is still rather horrid), but Ron Paul supporters are perhaps the least politically savvy bloc of them all, and I think they kinda prove it pretty much every time they do anything.
I think they don’t like Mitt because of his “flip-flopping”. Sometimes it seems Paul supporters care more about being ideologically pure than they care about what ideology you’re pure about.
Tulpa, I agree with your take. Lib. Purists are in control rather than more pragmatic Libs who have won election to public offices across America.
Neither ideological purity nor the stealth discussed in Treg4RonPaul’s post will, by themselves, get necessary votes to win National elections.
Voters have to understand how Libertarianism benefits them personally, as families, as community members , and as individuals who can elect a candidate capable of changing the way government does business; one who is also strong enough to kick Obama’s sorry ass out of the WH.
How do Libs.come to national power?
By not pushing ideas of drug legalization; and by stressing the Constitutional mandate our Federal government has to protect America and Americans from all enemies foreign and domestic; rather than Liberts. appearing as if they are engaged in either Isolationism or “Appeasement Politics”.
Still could happen. Neither Santorum nor Newt have much money or organization and RP can outlast both.
What if Paul beats Romney in Virginia, does he suddenly become the anti-Romney? How might the MSM and red-team media spin such a result?
Romney places strong second despite not campaigning in state. Voter turnout low due to uncompetitive national race.
Meaningless election held in Virginia. Moving on…
Libs won’t get Harry and Mary Homeowner’s votes by implying it may be easier for their “wasted” teenager to buy a dime bag.
Nor will the votes roll in when Lib. Purists refuse to accept as legitimate grave concerns Americans have about the presence of Sharia Law in our schools, Courts, and governments posing as acceptable alternatives to traditional freedoms citizens have enjoyed for generations.
Such fears must be addressed for citizens know how easily our own political parties have been infiltrated, co-opted by Marxists, Muslims, Greens (etc).
Americans know what damage has been done to our country.
To not address those fears as reasonable implies that voters have no right to act upon their sense of danger or self-preservation; and that additionally the Lib Party has its head in the sand regarding citizen weal and safety.
Reason alone is NOT what motivates voters; nor should it be.
Racist wins in former Confederate state.
Anybody planning to make a deal with the GOP (or the Dems for that matter) had better expect to have to supply their own lube unless they want to take it up the ass dry.
Quart bottle with a hand pump.
Too soon?
Brian needs to learn from the masters and include the *picture* of his book in every post
There is no picture of the book. It is forthcoming. It does not exist yet. And though an amazon page does exist, on which you can BUY the book, no cover image is associated with it yet. But rest assured when the time comes, you’ll be looking at that book cover…and how!
you learn well, my son.
It’s coming out in vaporback!
…to pull out their iPhones and record the proceedings…
What if I don’t have an iPhone? Can I use my Android instead?
Sorry… pet peeve.
Then you can take out your Kleenex and cry about it.
Disclosure: I own zero Apple products.
Its not like there isn’t a perfectly good word for it, after all, that doesn’t ooze hipster douche.
Does anyone else want to punch the “If you don’t have an iPhone…” commercial announcer square in the teeth?
Keep thinking happy thoughts.
Ridiculous and improbable conspiracy theory: Ron Paul will secretly trade his support to Romney in exchange for being recess-appointed to either Secretary of the Treasury or the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve (and from thence, Chairman). He will then enjoy his erstwhile retirment years wreaking havoc on the bureaucracy from within.
It worked so well for Greenspan.
Nah. He should be UN ambassador, or maybe ambassador to Israel.
is ron paul hurting the GOP by remaining in the race?
http://littlebiggy.org/3634467
Does anyone here give a shit?
Didn’t Ron Paul’s peole send Mormons to the camps, or was that Jehova’s Witnesses?
What’s Nevada’s deal? Paul did very well there in 2008, if I recall. Why the slump now?
Damn it. You “wrack” your brain, but you “rack” up points, etc. — “wracking up” is wrong. “Combatting” is British, not American (“combating”). Like I said, I’m available. My proofing service is called Proof Positive. With so much material churned out, you should consider it. Or I can just do it in the Comments section and you can make a list of what not to do anymore.
Romney is pure Mormon slime, pure and simple.
It’s kind of like when the Beatles and Rolling Stones would coordinate the release dates of their albums so not to conflict with each other.
The Beatles were Origional and a Enduring Band.
BUT
we Want to thank all of you, for your Powerfull stand against Oboma & His Corrupted political partners.
But there is so much more we can do. Being aggressive and focusing on the facts and truth is only the first step.
We musT follow Up with more details standing by our convictions and dont back down.
Oboma has NOT brought CHANGE, In fact ~! ~ THE ONLY real THING needing CHANGE !….Was Barack Hussein Obama II.
HIMSELF
Barack Hussein Obama II (
Who hates American Values ) who is A ” SELF PROCLAIMED Enemy” ~of responsible, Morally Conscious HARD WORKING Americans.
oBOMAS Irresponsible & DRUG MAFIA and reckless supporters KNOW~ that Barack Hussein Obama II, WILL FORCE YOU to paY THEM, out of your PockeT .{ FOR all of their UNCHECKED Vices and THRILLS/
{ All on YOU
| / At
your COST & Sacrifice.\ …This UN~CHANGABLE fraud, has done His VERY BEST to Inspire VIOLENCE.
THESE ARE OBAMAS OWN WORDS.. saying ……To his supporters.Saying “Get ready for hand-to-hand combat with your Fellow Americans” ? Obama has ALSO DECLARED to his Supporters. “I want all Americans to get in each others faces!? Obama Demands !
“You bring a knife to a fight pal, we’ll bring a gun” ?
THESE ARE OBAMAS OWN WORDS.. ANGER VIOLENCE And more taxes….. THIS IS OBAMAS Change for america /”Hit Back Twice As Hard”. He commands ! *Obama on the private sector: ~~ “We talk To these folks?~ / so I know whose a*$ to KICK.” OBOMA wants to KICK your a*$ /“`
Shouting THAT Republican victory would mean ~ “hand to hand combat” and HE IS EXPECTING people to be on Edge and ON BORDERLINE killing MODE, “ VIOLENT / and STAND and STOMP and MOB for their immoral CAUSES and THIS IS WHAT HE LIVES FOR ./ ./ ./ THESE ARE OBAMAS OWN WORDS.. !* Obama Tells democrats: ” I’m itching for a fight.” !
….PLEASE…. go to reXes NEW WebsiTe ~ ! Oboma *( Just like Adolf Hitler~~\oBOMA~~~ Demands ! — [ THE FINAL SOLUTION – for Un~Wanted Children
Barak Obama is A MURDERER .~Torturing UNWANTED babys on DEATH ROE.
CLICK HERE http://obomlnation.webstarts.com/index.html
OBAMA TAKES a little NEW BORN innocent child, BORN ALIVE sTabS it iN the head and SUCKs ITS BRAINS OUT.
This is just too wrong and horrible. Please stand for Loving Children and the USA.
Respectfully and Thankfully Thank you ALL for your Time.
To see HORRIBLE HONOR Killings~` HATE CRIMES ]`~ ! eXecuted by the CLINTON,RENO and ATF Media WHO COMMITTED H0NOR KILLINGs [
SLAUGHTERING }] 21 LITTLE Helpless Children at Waco.
Click Here http://obomlnation.webstarts.c…..dered.html
HI — this was totally a rumor started by the Wa Po. Enough said? I doubt Paul is in an alliance with Romney. Now jerks like Kincaid are trying to smear him with it. It never ends.