Forget Sarah Palin: It's Rand Paul's moment and Ron Paul's opportunity

The Hill, Washington, DC ^ | 2010-05-17 | Brent Budowsky

[rabscuttle385]

Behind the scenes the insider Republican establishment is now in an uproar as the odds are high that Rand Paul wins the Republican nomination for senator from Kentucky. This would be a major embarrassment to Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and raises a big question about 2012: Why is Sarah Palin getting so much attention, and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) so little, from the national media and pundit classes?

Certain pundits appear strangely infatuated with Palin, but it seems to me that if Ron Paul runs for president in 2012, he could win a plurality of delegates in a multi-candidate field. My guess is that Ron Paul does run for president and Sarah Palin does not, but who knows? Why is it that major media are so unwilling to take a close and serious look at Ron Paul as a potential candidate for president, while they pant with excitement at every breath Palin takes?

If Rand Paul wins, it sends cold chills up the spines of Washington Republicans, and it may well force the media to take a close look at what happens if Ron Paul runs for president.

Do the math, folks. If there are three, four, five or more Republicans running for the nomination in 2012, Ron Paul suddenly has a shot at doing very well in the delegate count, possibly winning a plurality of delegates, depending on how many Republicans run and who they are.

If Republican power brokers try to lock him out, what happens if Paul runs as an Independent?

And why don't Republican or Democratic pundits give Ron Paul his due? After Election Day, they just might have no choice, right?

[mrmeyer]

"... gets to the point the government can literally snatch people off the street, we are truly in deep."

If things ever come to that, the law of unintended consequences won't be pretty.

[JohnLongIsland]

All my posts were meant for sarcastic purposes, I just wanted to see which direction the Kool-Aid was flowing.

[Krodg]

puke

[streetpreacher]

LOL. No one got your joke.

[gunsequalfreedom]

Closer

[ansel12]

As a career politician, hasn’t Paul been at this for about 36 years?

Why is it that he could never rise above small time cult figure, and could never win an election outside of his safe congressional district?

Ron Paul could never win a statewide office like Senator, or Governor, he is sure not ever going to be President, he doesn’t have the right stuff, and lacks credibility.

[gunsequalfreedom]

We already have one too many Pauls in the government. God forbid Rand gets in, and his daddy becomes president.

Yea, the last thing we need is someone that is going to push the envelope towards freedom. Much better to have the go-along-get-along Republicans that have served us so well.

[DallasDeb]

If 5 candidates run, then we have a big problem because no one has fixed the primary cross-over vote, where Democrats can vote in many Republican primaries and select the one closest to their belief system—as they did in 2008, voting for McCain who we were then stuck with.

[keepitreal]

Ron Paul will be pushing 80 on Inaugural Day, 2013. He’s too old.

[Bokababe]

Ron Paul’s son may be good Presidential Timber. Ron Paul has some ideas - BUT - he’s TOO OLD!!!

Exactly. Have the utmost respect for Ron Paul for having stood up against the statists and those who wish to ignore the Constitution for many years, at a time when no one else was talking about these issues. I believe that Ron Paul is a great patriot, but he will be too old by 2012 to be a viable candidate. I've watched him slow down in the last two years. Can only imagine what two more years will bring.

Rand Paul, if he gets the Senate seat, may just have enough time to distinguish himself and show himself to be a viable presidential candidate.

[Josh Painter]

Budowsky is such a tool.

- JP

[Cicero]

An earlier column by Brent Budowsky in the Huffington Post (2007) was entitled:

“American Dream Team: Draft Gore-Obama”

Yeah, sure, Brent. Thanks for all your advice.

[Crim]

Norfolk & Wiegh.

[PhiKapMom]

Palin gave money to Rand Paul but I don’t remember her campaigning for him and she always said giving money was not an endorsement. This is Rand Paul’s moment and no one else’s as he ran a really good campaign.

[Bokababe]

"As a career politician, hasn’t Paul been at this for about 36 years? Why is it that he could never rise above small time cult figure, and could never win an election outside of his safe congressional district?"

Timing. Like most things in life, timing is everything.

Ron Paul planted the seeds of idea that we must reclaim our government from the elite political class and now those ideas are ready to bear fruit, as people are finally ready to hear that message. But even he knew that the fight for the Constitution and Liberty in this country could not depend on one man, which is why the Campaign for Liberty and Liberty Republican organizations were formed -- to field and back new candidates in multiple races.

Ron Paul is the Patrick Henry or the Barry Goldwater, not the Thomas Jefferson, George Washington or Ronald Reagan, of this movement. He's brought youth and life back to a dying Party, even as he becomes too old to capture the presidency for himself.

[Patton@Bastogne]

copy that houston !

[ansel12]

Palin gave money to Rand Paul but I don’t remember her campaigning for him and she always said giving money was not an endorsement.

Palin formally and enthusiastically endorsed Rand Paul almost 4 months ago, and defended that endorsement on national television.

[Vigilantcitizen]

I just spewed beer all over my laptop. Thanks man. ;^)>

[sjmjax]

I largely agree with your assessment of Ron and the historic relevance of his political contribution.

I hope Rand Paul pulls this off. The Republican Mortuary desperately needs more young fresh talent and ideas.

[DakotaRed]

With all of the bruhaha over Blumenthal’s flase claims of Viet Nam Service, Ron Paul’ssupporters might want to look at their own claims for Paul during the 2008 election.

“He is a Vietnam veteran - he is a doctor who served as flight surgeon in the Vietnam war - not like some of these phony veterans that you see prancing around Washington D.C. on the news all the time.”

http://www.rense.com/general75/paul.htm

“I’m voting for former Vietnam Combat Flight
Surgeon, and Leader of Ronald Reagan’s
Electoral Delegation from Texas: In 2008,
I’m Voting for RON PAUL!”

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-rlc/1918211/posts

“He went on to serve as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force between 1963 and 1968. As a result of this experience in the Vietnam War, Dr. Paul is a staunch advocate of getting the troops out of Iraq. (5th paragragh)

http://us-elections.suite101.com/article.cfm/presidential_candidate_ron_paul

These are but a few of the claims. One Paul supporter on FreeRepublic in 2007 challenged me over stating Paul was not a Viet Nam Veteran by claiming that since he served during the time of Viet Nam, he indeed was a Viet Nam Veteran, just as all who served during World War Two were WW2 Vets.

Paul has never publicly corrected those who made such bogus claims in 2007 & 2008.

I know his campaign was aware of them as I emailed them to his campaign personally and received acknowledgment of reciept of the email, and never another word.