Sunday, March 18, 2012

The Best Case Scenario Continues to Develop for Ron Paul

As I have noted, a brokered convention is the best outcome for Ron Paul.

And now, though Ron Paul is barely mentioned, this Sunday's NYT features, above the fold, on its frontpage the possibility of a brokered convention:
All Odds Aside, G.O.P. Girding for Floor Fight

For the first time in a generation, Republicans are preparing for the possibility that their presidential nomination could be decided at their national convention rather than on the campaign trail, a prospect that would upend one of the rituals of modern politics.

The race remains Mitt Romney’s to lose, and if he continues to accumulate delegates at a steady clip starting with contests in Puerto Rico on Sunday and Illinois on Tuesday, he can still amass the 1,144 necessary to secure the nomination before the last primary, in Utah on June 26.

But as he struggles to win the hearts of conservative voters and hold off a challenge from Rick Santorum, party leaders, activists and the campaigns are for the first time taking seriously the possibility that neither he nor anyone else will get to that total.

In that case, the nomination would be decided by the more than 2,200 delegates — from obscure local officials and activists to national figures — who will attend the party’s convention in Tampa, Fla., in late August.

They would embark on an unscripted, contentious and televised drama that has not played out in 36 years, a period in which both major party conventions have become slickly produced and highly choreographed pep rallies kicking off the general election campaign.
A floor flight means anything can happen. It's a long shot but it could result in Ron Paul as the nominee. Or it could result in a candidate (Mitt Romney?) who needs Ron Paul's delegate votes. What would Ron demand for the delegates? It has to be major, very major or Ron flys back to Texas with the delegates. this could get interesting.

5 comments:

  1. The GOP neocon leadership can never be trusted

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  2. I've got to think the prospects for Ron Paul to emerge from a brokered convention are about as close to nil as can be imagined. The exception would be if a dramatic event occurred that would drastically alter public opinion between now and convention time. I think, however, that there is a slim chance that Rand Paul could emerge as a compromise candidate or perhaps as a VP nominee with a compromise candidate like Paul Ryan and a compromise party platform.

    But I don't see much chance for Paul to wring much out of Romney even if he has the king-maker votes. Romney can't back away from his current stands on defense spending and foreign policy, and that would be necessary in order to deliver the Paul delegates. It would be much easier for Romney to tap Santorum as his VP candidate. They really don't differ much on issues anyway.

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  3. What happens with a stalemate meaning no sides compromise and there is no majority. Does that mean no republican nominee, lol?

    I hope Ron pulls something off but don't be romneys vp, vps have little power. Better for him to be treasury sec or better yet chairman of the federal reserve!

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  4. Here you are again, taking counsel from your hopes.

    1) What makes you think that the most principled statesman in American history would align himself with Romney in this way?
    2) What makes you think that Romney and his handlers will want or need Ron Paul's delegates when Santorum and Gingrich will be infinitely more malleable?
    3) Assuming, just for the sake of argument, that Romney makes major concessions to Paul to get the delegates--what makes you think that such concessions would be any more enforceable than any other campaign promise? What is Ron Paul gonna do--sue him for breach of contract?

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  5. Love ya, Bob, but you're delusional if you think this is going to turn out well for Ron Paul. Given that, for example, the GOP rigged a non-binding "beauty contest" in the tiny state of Maine to deny Ron Paul even a whiff of positive news coverage, do you honestly believe that fairness will prevail at the national convention if it would result in Ron Paul becoming the nominee?

    These people are a corrupt and deranged lot. And the media does their bidding, so any anti-Paul shenanigans will go unreported. Ron Paul should have nothing to do with the GOP. He should run third-party. The general public is slightly more sane than the war-crazed, totalitarian GOP base. At this point, running in the GOP is absolutely counterproductive. Why place himself at the mercy of pro-war dead-enders, when the wider electorate is receptive to his antiwar message?

    Both Rs and Ds love big government. This election should make that clearer than it has ever been. Facing an economic calamity brought on by government overreach, Republican voters have rejected the one genuine, limited-government candidate. They have embraced the purveyors of government medicine, welfarism, aggressive wars and debt.

    Run third party, Ron! The media will paint you as a sore loser, but when have you ever gotten any favors from the media? The Republicans will say you're stealing their votes, but they never owned them to begin with. The genuine limited government voters will flock to you, as they should.

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