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JTylerBallance - body
- The Paulistinians whom I have met are very well read, in large part, because they no longer rely on the sound-bite media propaganda for their information.
Ron Paul has explained his positions in far greater detail than any of the other candidates, all of whom seem only capable of blurting out sound bites fed to them by their consultants.
The reason for the Paul campaign's difficulty in gaining widespread appeal so far, resides in the inability of the, short attention span, modern Americans, to understand even the most basic issues.
Certainly it is the responsibility of the Paulistinians to communicate their ideas to the voters, but how could anyone accomplish this feat when faced with a nation of mental midgets and drug addicts? How can any candidate break through the millions of minds fogged by Prozac, Zoloft, alcohol and other drugs to present ideas that require even a slight modicum of analytical thought?
The Romney, McCain, Obama and Clinton Jr. campaigns know that the eight second sound bite rules America. They know that Joe Sixpack and Sally Soccermom, only want to hear "feel good" platitudes.
Ron Paul is faced with the enormous challenge of trying to explain topics like the the Austrian economic model to a population whose attention is firmly captured somewhere between NASCAR and the NFL.
In fact, the 10% range of support for Ron Paul so far, correlates to the number of people who are still paying attention (like the readers of this blog) and trying to participate in this supposed, self governing Republic.
The rest of America is either on some form of mood altering drug or is fixated on the stupor bowl to the exclusion of any time for thought about economic, social or foreign policy.
The lethargy of the American citizens has left our Republic in peril. We are now on the precipice of an age of rule by despots who ignore the Constitution and who will eventually destroy this nation.
- comment Shaun Kenney
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- All the more reason why Paul should have (could have?) proposed just one "great idea" that encapsulated the ideas of Austrian economics, self-government, and individual liberty all in one shot.
I'm not looking for "No Car Tax", but I am looking for a H-bomb of an idea that people can easily grasp.
The libertarians have such ideas, but no one seems ready or willing to field the artillery.
- comment Eric Dondero
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- "5 or 6% range"?
Hardly. Paul is more in the 3% range. He got 3.6% in SC, and 3.1% in Florida.
Amazing how Bloggers and the MSM always rounds Paul's totals up, while rounding Romney's down, and downplaying Romney's huge wins.
- comment Anthony
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- As a career military officer, I see Ron Paul as very clearly having a "one great idea"; a "brass ring": OBEY THE CONSTITUTION. It gives me hope that (1) he is exciting so many young people who will now, God willing, stay in tune with this movement into the next Congressional elections and (2) he is the candidate receiving the most support from military members. On the other hand, it worries me that his OBEY THE CONSTITUTION idea is not seen as a "brass ring" , but only "idylistic rhetoric". It is not, to me, just rhetoric.
The two greatest threats to the Ron Paul zeitgeist are, (1) inertia, apathy, lethargy and fear on the part of the populace and (2) (and this one really worries me because I just went to a rally in Spokane and saw evidence of it) radical conspiracy fears manifested in skewed films such as _Freedom to Fascism_. If that overtly paranoid movement comes to be too much of the RP movement, the movement will never be digestible to the populace who will write off RP and his followers as nut-jobs. RP followers should listen to RP himself who has made it clear that he is fighting a philosophy, not personalities.
- comment Shaun Kenney
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- Well, two immediate thoughts:
(1) Obey the Constitution is a nice soundbite (something JTB just railed against), but Obey the Constitution *how* -- that's the kicker. Paul needed a pragmatic, actionable "brass ring" item to run on that shows how libertarian thought applies... and it just never materialized.
(2) It really is the nutty conspiracy faction of the RP movement that is ruining this from going mainstream...
In the end, there's a lot of which the RP campaign can be proud, but for lack of practical applications, the effort is floundering.
The good news is that many libertarians have now discovered two things: They are not politically irrelevant, and they are not alone. That's muscle; I hope it's used well rather than allowed to atrophy (through infighting or lack of use).
- comment George J. Dance
- body
- Funny how, two months ago, Paul was 'flatlining' at 2-3%, and now he's 'flatlining' at 5-6%.
Doubling one's support in two months isn't exactly 'flatlining.'
6 Comments:
Ron Paul has explained his positions in far greater detail than any of the other candidates, all of whom seem only capable of blurting out sound bites fed to them by their consultants.
The reason for the Paul campaign's difficulty in gaining widespread appeal so far, resides in the inability of the, short attention span, modern Americans, to understand even the most basic issues.
Certainly it is the responsibility of the Paulistinians to communicate their ideas to the voters, but how could anyone accomplish this feat when faced with a nation of mental midgets and drug addicts? How can any candidate break through the millions of minds fogged by Prozac, Zoloft, alcohol and other drugs to present ideas that require even a slight modicum of analytical thought?
The Romney, McCain, Obama and Clinton Jr. campaigns know that the eight second sound bite rules America. They know that Joe Sixpack and Sally Soccermom, only want to hear "feel good" platitudes.
Ron Paul is faced with the enormous challenge of trying to explain topics like the the Austrian economic model to a population whose attention is firmly captured somewhere between NASCAR and the NFL.
In fact, the 10% range of support for Ron Paul so far, correlates to the number of people who are still paying attention (like the readers of this blog) and trying to participate in this supposed, self governing Republic.
The rest of America is either on some form of mood altering drug or is fixated on the stupor bowl to the exclusion of any time for thought about economic, social or foreign policy.
The lethargy of the American citizens has left our Republic in peril. We are now on the precipice of an age of rule by despots who ignore the Constitution and who will eventually destroy this nation.
I'm not looking for "No Car Tax", but I am looking for a H-bomb of an idea that people can easily grasp.
The libertarians have such ideas, but no one seems ready or willing to field the artillery.
Hardly. Paul is more in the 3% range. He got 3.6% in SC, and 3.1% in Florida.
Amazing how Bloggers and the MSM always rounds Paul's totals up, while rounding Romney's down, and downplaying Romney's huge wins.
The two greatest threats to the Ron Paul zeitgeist are, (1) inertia, apathy, lethargy and fear on the part of the populace and (2) (and this one really worries me because I just went to a rally in Spokane and saw evidence of it) radical conspiracy fears manifested in skewed films such as _Freedom to Fascism_. If that overtly paranoid movement comes to be too much of the RP movement, the movement will never be digestible to the populace who will write off RP and his followers as nut-jobs. RP followers should listen to RP himself who has made it clear that he is fighting a philosophy, not personalities.
(1) Obey the Constitution is a nice soundbite (something JTB just railed against), but Obey the Constitution *how* -- that's the kicker. Paul needed a pragmatic, actionable "brass ring" item to run on that shows how libertarian thought applies... and it just never materialized.
(2) It really is the nutty conspiracy faction of the RP movement that is ruining this from going mainstream...
In the end, there's a lot of which the RP campaign can be proud, but for lack of practical applications, the effort is floundering.
The good news is that many libertarians have now discovered two things: They are not politically irrelevant, and they are not alone. That's muscle; I hope it's used well rather than allowed to atrophy (through infighting or lack of use).
Doubling one's support in two months isn't exactly 'flatlining.'
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