It’s time to just stop coddling the screaming children and just say it. Ron Paul supporters are a scourge.
(Before going any further, the following comments by his army of message board astroturfers will be immediately deleted:
A) Ron Paul 2012!
That does not say anything. It is like “Girl Power!” or “Yes we can!”
B) Anything with the word “revolution.”
C) Anything implying that he is the “only one” who can save us. That borders on lunacy that would make David Koresh followers proud. No one is indispensable, even Ron Paul.
D) Anything screaming that he is the only candidate who cares about the Constitution.
E) Anything anti-Semitic.
F) Anything in big bold capital letters with lots of punctuation marks.
G) Any personal attacks or profanity.
For those wanting to offer intelligent, lucid, coherent commentary, please do so.)
Ron Paul supporters claim that they love liberty. Yet any criticism of their demigod triggers a reaction that is anything but tolerant. Disagreement with him is not allowed. Below is a typical conversation.
Paulbot: I support Ron Paul.
Me: I am supporting somebody else.
Paulbot: Don’t you care about the Constitution!!!????!!!
This does not leave much room for dialogue.
I have nothing against Dr. Paul personally. On economic policy much of what he advocates is sensible. I simply disagree with him on foreign policy. Let this be said for his supporters who take everything personally. This is America. I have the right to disagree with him.
The reason Dr. Paul and his supporters are a scourge to the Republican Party is because they are not Republicans. They are trying to remake an entire political party in Dr. Paul’s image and have trouble accepting that 90-95% of the party feel it is fine just the way it is. Most voters are evolutionary, not revolutionary. They like incrementalism, not radical change. One leader with funny ears and a defeatist foreign policy is enough. A second one is not necessary.
This is not just about policy. It is about loyalty. In 2008, the candidates were all asked if they would support the eventual nominee if they did not win. Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Fred Thompson, and Mitt Romney all took the loyalty oath without hesitation. When McCain won the nomination, Giuliani and Thompson gave superb speeches at the 2008 Convention for him.
Tom Tancredo and Ron Paul would not promise to support the nominee. Mr. Tancredo even bolted from the GOP and ran for Governor of Colorado as an independent. Dr. Paul has not ruled out a third party run.
Imagine if Ron Paul won (shudder) the GOP nomination and supporters of all of the other Republican candidates withheld support. The Paulbots would angrily claim that they won the nomination fair and square, and that the vote should be respected. They would be right. Yet if Ron Paul does not win, many of his lemmings are threatening to go third party or stay home. The reason for this is simple. Again, they are not Republicans.
Dr. Paul has every right to run for the highest office in the land. While I disagree with his positions on foreign policy, he has started a conversation worth having. Yet once the primaries end, the discussion has to end so a different discussion between one Republican and Barack Obama can take place. Ron Paul supporters never let the conversation end. As a general rule, when somebody (me) says, “Thank you, but I am not interested in discussing this,” that should be the end of it. Does anybody think that having to have Ron Paul’s views rammed down my throat is going to soften my stance? It has the reverse effect.
Ron Paul supporters claim to be conservatives, but their behavior is every bit as aggravating as that of liberals. Anybody who disagrees with Ron Paul is either “uninformed,” or “unsupportive of the Constitution.” The idea that somebody could disagree with them is lost on them. They cannot disagree in a calm manner.
Dr. Ron Paul is an intelligent man. He has some sensible economic ideas and is certainly a credible individual on medical issues. Yet unless he is willing to publicly commit loyalty to the GOP, there is no reason for him to be running in GOP primaries. Pat Buchanan threatened to take his “peasants with pitchforks” all over America, and soon found out that his army was much smaller than he had ever imagined.
Dr. Paul also has a loyal army. They are also a mile deep and an inch wide. They cannot and will not admit that they keep talking to each other but that their support is overstated. A recent straw poll had Dr. Paul winning 82% of the vote with the current frontrunners winning 1%. Does anybody really think Dr. Paul will crush the frontrunners by 81 percentage points? Can honest people at least admit that these straw polls are not scientific? How can people arguing about honesty in government continually manipulate numbers to suit their own purposes?
So if Ron Paul supporters promise to vote Republican, then good luck to Dr. Paul and may the best Republican win.
If Ron Paul supporters will vote for Ron Paul and nobody else, then get lost. Nobody needs you. Your candidate is the fringe, and you remain a scourge.
eric