Lefty site ThinkProgress has added to the scrum of speculation about a Paul/Romney alliance with a chart--a chart!!--that "proves" (without giving a single example of what they count as an attack) that Ron Paul in the debates had never attacked Mitt Romney.
As I've written before, I certainly think these examples of Paul specifically criticizing specific things Romney said--on Afghanistan and the NDAA and military "spending cuts"--might qualify as "attacks" but again I have no idea what ThinkProgress's criteria are, so there's not much more I can say about that. Specific attacks on his opponents out of his own mouth, unless he's asked or is directly responding to a dumb thing his opponents just said, isn't a dominant part of Paul's style regardless.
I wrote at length about the lack of meat behind these alliance accusations here and here.
Here is the graphic for the Romney-attacking Moneybomb I wrote of in the first link above:
Jack Hunter at the Paul campaign web site quotes Rand Paul on his part in fanning people's suspicions about this "alliance":
The media speculation about some supposed cooperation between the Ron Paul campaign and Mitt Romney has gotten completely out of hand.…During a radio interview this morning in Chicago, Sen. Paul said:
"If there's a secret deal they're keeping it secret from me, I think that's mostly internet chatter and fun for people to speculate on…"…
I think the story kind of got misrepresented, because you know when I was asked, every time I'm asked these kind of questions, these are hypothetical questions, I always say you know what? I still have my first choice in the race and that's Ron Paul. My first choice would be a Ron Paul presidency and my first choice for a position would be an unofficial adviser to a Ron Paul presidency…
But when they push and push and push, and say 'What about Romney? Would you do it?' I mentioned that it would be an honor, and what I meant by that is sort of like if you were nominated for an academy award, what's your response? You'd say "It's be an honor to be nominated' and so I think it would be silly for me not to say that if anybody considered me that I'd be honored by it, but I think it was somewhat overblown, it sort of fits into this sort of cabal that people write about…
That there's this big strategy between Ron Paul and Romney, really the Ron Paul strategy as far as I'm aware of it is to gather delegates and to try to win, and one of the unwritten stories really is that Ron Paul may have already won a couple of states but people haven't realized it because the delegates haven't been allotted in Iowa yet, and we still think there's an reasonable chance we can win Iowa we they count the delegates, we think there's a reasonable chance we can win Maine when they count the delegates…
The world is full of dark mysteries and sneaky tricks, and it's possible Ron Paul's campaign is in secret alliance with Mitt Romney, the Axis Powers, Victor von Doom, and the Reptilians. Let's just say that the supposed evidence presented for it by his other opponents and press speculators doesn't prove their case.
Bonus Paulian: Paul "amuses" Momma, a tough crowd if ever there was one:
While "Momma" is not mentioned, you still might appreciate my forthcoming book, Ron Paul's Revolution.
Start your day with Reason. Get a daily brief of the most important stories and trends every weekday morning when you subscribe to Reason Roundup.
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.
Brian, you're never going to be taken seriously as a journalist if you let little things like facts and clear definitions get in the way of the narrative that Ron Paul is a senile anarcho-fascist racist homophobe whose will destroy the entire country because his ideas only appeal to marginal nutjobs.
I am bi, i want to seek a bilover. I am 23 years old,slender,sexy,and beautiful. I am a member of __D a t e b i.c/0/M. there are hundreds of thousands of open-minded singles & couples looking to explore their bisexuality. I am also a member here, I think u will be the most attractive one there, lol~ just check it out, nothing lose if you don't like. Best wishes.
I want to be the first to postulate the possibility of a Gingrich-Santorum super secret alliance. They've never outright attacked each other physically.
I'm going to stick with a previous premise - Romney does not attack Paul because he sees a smart guy whose ideas have reached a number of folks whose support Romney may need. Paul does not attack Romney because Mitt is the only Repub in the race who treats Ron with respect.
Give me a break...Newt calls Paul dangerous and Ricky from PA wants to banish the libertarians along with the gays to Noot's moon colony. Romney does not insult him, and Paul is trying to rack up delegates.
It's more logical for Paul to attack anti-libertarian ideologues than to attack anti-libertarian non-ideologues. Romney will say what it takes to win. He's never bashed libertarianism to my knowledge like Newt or Santorum have publicly and vigorously. In fact, he's so ideologically amorphous, he'd probably be a libertarian if that was the best means to win.
Paul's running as much for the cause of liberty as he is for his own political advancement, so it makes sense he'd try to marginalize rabid statists trying to fool pro-limited government voters. At least Romney admits he's not an ideologue.
Santorum is using this to attack Paul. It is difficult for Paul fanatics to see this, and maybe even for all libertarians.
Santorum wants to create the impression that if voters choose Romney they are somehow endorsing Paul. Obviously, both Gingrich and Santorum are all about getting conservative Republicans to vote with their hearts and not their minds.
Why does Paul attack Santorum and Gingrich. His campaign strategy involves him claiming that he is the "real conservative" just like them.
Ron Paul has disclaimed the alliance already. This topic is over.
He did attack Romney in Flop Flopper ad before.
Do not fall into Ricky;s trap.
Go Ron Paul!
There has been a lot of talk about an alliance between Paul and Romney. I say that we put this to the test. I think that a debate between Romney and Paul should take place, and I believe that the great state of Virginia would be a great place for this debate. Since only Paul and Romney are the only candidates on the ballet, I think that an hr long debate with more than 1 minute for each answer is NOT an unreasonable request. (Lets say 2 minutes) The American people should be able to hear the answers and not just here catch phases jammed in 60 seconds or less. (They are running to be PRESIDENT of the UNITED STATES) So what do you say Romney, are you in ??? or I'll bet is your shedule not allow it.
Brian, you're never going to be taken seriously as a journalist if you let little things like facts and clear definitions get in the way of the narrative that Ron Paul is a senile anarcho-fascist racist homophobe whose will destroy the entire country because his ideas only appeal to marginal nutjobs.
no, that's my job. The destroying the country part, anyway. I don't much care about anarcho-fascism or whatever. You got a light?
I am bi, i want to seek a bilover. I am 23 years old,slender,sexy,and beautiful. I am a member of __D a t e b i.c/0/M. there are hundreds of thousands of open-minded singles & couples looking to explore their bisexuality. I am also a member here, I think u will be the most attractive one there, lol~ just check it out, nothing lose if you don't like. Best wishes.
Don't forget the Sontarans.
I want to be the first to postulate the possibility of a Gingrich-Santorum super secret alliance. They've never outright attacked each other physically.
It depends on how you define "attack." Some would say that any penetrative intercourse counts as rape.
Obviously I'm not going anywhere near that link.
Don't fret, Brian - NOBODY knows under what criteria those folks think, or do things.
I mean, just take the logic behind the article - just what the fuck are they trying to prove, and for what possible purpose?
"Am I frothy, like Santorum?"
So the media is baffled that the person in first and the person in third would rather target their efforts on the person in second? The mind boggles.
I'm going to stick with a previous premise - Romney does not attack Paul because he sees a smart guy whose ideas have reached a number of folks whose support Romney may need. Paul does not attack Romney because Mitt is the only Repub in the race who treats Ron with respect.
Give me a break...Newt calls Paul dangerous and Ricky from PA wants to banish the libertarians along with the gays to Noot's moon colony. Romney does not insult him, and Paul is trying to rack up delegates.
It's more logical for Paul to attack anti-libertarian ideologues than to attack anti-libertarian non-ideologues. Romney will say what it takes to win. He's never bashed libertarianism to my knowledge like Newt or Santorum have publicly and vigorously. In fact, he's so ideologically amorphous, he'd probably be a libertarian if that was the best means to win.
Paul's running as much for the cause of liberty as he is for his own political advancement, so it makes sense he'd try to marginalize rabid statists trying to fool pro-limited government voters. At least Romney admits he's not an ideologue.
Santorum is using this to attack Paul. It is difficult for Paul fanatics to see this, and maybe even for all libertarians.
Santorum wants to create the impression that if voters choose Romney they are somehow endorsing Paul. Obviously, both Gingrich and Santorum are all about getting conservative Republicans to vote with their hearts and not their minds.
Why does Paul attack Santorum and Gingrich. His campaign strategy involves him claiming that he is the "real conservative" just like them.
Ron Paul has disclaimed the alliance already. This topic is over.
He did attack Romney in Flop Flopper ad before.
Do not fall into Ricky;s trap.
Go Ron Paul!
Good buy.
Momma by Mel is still around. It still looks like it did back in the 70's. Francis is still wearing bellbottoms.
So, seeing that Moneybomb graphic, now I'm wondering what Ron Paul's fatality move in Mortal Kombat would be....
There has been a lot of talk about an alliance between Paul and Romney. I say that we put this to the test. I think that a debate between Romney and Paul should take place, and I believe that the great state of Virginia would be a great place for this debate. Since only Paul and Romney are the only candidates on the ballet, I think that an hr long debate with more than 1 minute for each answer is NOT an unreasonable request. (Lets say 2 minutes) The American people should be able to hear the answers and not just here catch phases jammed in 60 seconds or less. (They are running to be PRESIDENT of the UNITED STATES) So what do you say Romney, are you in ??? or I'll bet is your shedule not allow it.
It's how I get bait.QBStimPL4