For one, Fusaro hints that he has more on the alleged payoff of Kent Sorenson:
Fusaro tells us that he has more evidence that he will be releasing in coming days.But of most concern is this comment by Fusaro:
He also says, somewhat cryptically, that he can prove that the Sorenson incident is “not the first time that [Ron Paul deputy campaign manager] Dimitri Kesari has made an illegal contribution in politics in the Midwest.”Brace yourself folks, it appears Fusaro has carefully assembled information for some time. The recording I released on Thursday was actually recorded in January of this year. Fusaro is clearly playing the long game. Who really knows what else he has?
If more does come out, it should be made clear that there is a big difference between Ron Paul and what Fusaro calls Ron Paul, Inc.
Indeed, in the interview with TBE, Fusaro makes exactly this point:
“This stuff can bring down the Ron Paul movement,” Fusaro says, before taking pains to describe the difference between grassroots supporters of Ron Paul, and what he describes as “Ron Paul, Inc.,” basically a cottage industry of self-interested professionals with more interest in personal gain than in advancement of the movement. “Like Mike Rothfield [sic] has said, he [Ron Paul] can run his own campaign, while we run ours,” meaning essentially that “Ron Paul, Inc.” ran a campaign in parallel to the candidate himself, but without the candidate’s adherence to principle.For an outsider to politics, it is difficult to understand how there can be behind the scenes operators that control operations and are never seen by the public. They exist--most certainly, even behind President Obama and Hillary Clinton and anyone else in a senior position of power.
It appears the Ron Paul 2012 campaign was not immune from this. But keep in mind that, especially at the national political level, the main players may not even be known to the candidate or person in power.
Fusaro brings up a name in his interview that will only be recognized by a very few Ron Paul supporters, Mike Rothfeld. He's definitely a behind the scenes guy. I'm told by people close to Ron Paul Campaign 2012 that Rothfeld is smart, that he has mastered political email management and that he is organized, focused and was a very key player having influence on the Ron Paul Campaign 2012. However, get this, Ron Paul probably doesn't really know who he is. One insider told me : "Ron probably would recognize his face as a guy who helped out at the campaign, but wouldn't know much more about him."
One theory advanced to me, and I emphasize that this is just a theory, is that it was decided early on that Jesse Benton and John Tate would be the key contact people with Ron and that Rothfeld would remain in the background. Benton was chosen because of his being married to Ron's granddaughter and Tate because of his pleasant demeanor. But that Rothfeld was in the background---with a foreign policy view far different than Ron's. And that this is why Ron's non-interventionist foreign policy views were not featured in the campaign.
It's really sad that this team was around Ron, but it is not unheard of in politics that there are deep behind the scenes players. Ron is truly about getting the libertarian message out and would never be involved in the behind the scenes antics of Ron Paul Inc. I'm really glad that Ron is out of politics and that his efforts have turned to homeshooling, the Ron Paul Institute and the Ron Paul Channel.
As for any further news that comes out about Ron Paul Inc people, please keep in mind that there is a big difference between Ron Paul and Ron Paul Inc.
For those of you that don't think there can be behind the scenes operators that can influence candidates, but who really do not show up on the radar, I urge you to watch, at least, the first 19 minutes of this video by Mr. 'Behind the Scenes' Rothfeld, himself. It will be an eyeopener. You will have never seen anything like this before.
(Also note well, beyond the 19 minute spot, Rothfeld disparages both Ralph Nader and Dennis Kucinich, who Ron wanted to form an anti-war alliance with)
Rothfeld comes across as a real jerk. Makes sense he'd be involved in politics.
ReplyDeleteRon Paul Inc. took over Campaign for Liberty as well which is why that organization is floundering.
Ron Paul sucks at managing things. He makes poor staffing decisions and puts people with questionable ethics in positions of power. Stop trying to separate "Ron Paul" from "Ron Paul Inc" - the man is a great spokesperson and educator for liberty but he's also bad at many things (like managing and leading organizations). Stop putting the man on a pedestal.
ReplyDeleteRon Paul is basically an empty suit who lends his name to a profit making enterprise and then gets a cut of the profits while others do the work. The Ron Paul news letters, Ron Paul Inc., Homeschooling, etc etc.
ReplyDeleteThis is how capitalism works.
Baloney , who do you work for?
DeleteComplete bs. He is someone who realizes politics is full of liars and crooks and basically focused on getting out his message rather than who was less of a crook in his staff.
DeleteAside from proving he is a rank and file Republican snakeoil selling dickhead, he says nothing in the first 10 minutes. Sounds more religious right than anything else.
ReplyDeleteDon't stop at the 10 minute mark, the good stuff is between the 14 minute and 19 minute mark.
DeleteSounds like an egotistical power hungry nut job to me.
DeleteThis man is a perfect example of why gov't needs to be stripped of its power.
ReplyDeleteBoth Nader and Kucinich are vile, freedom hating socialists. Why doesn't Wenzel call out Ron Paul for these associations?
ReplyDeleteNot on war, the drug war, or the police state. On those issues the GOP types are the socialists.
DeleteWow, what a scumbag. Even before he opened his mouth, I could tell what kind of a person he was by his demeanor and facial expression. This is the type of person that is attracted to politics, even of the libertarian kind of politics. I ask myself, would I want a person like this in my personal life? Hell no. Then why should I be associated with other endeavors that attract these kinds of people?
ReplyDeleteIf Ron Paul doesn't know the guy his campaign gave $7.7 million to during the 2012 campaign and was the second largest campaign expenditure then he is much more aloof and hands-off than even I thought and definitely had no business being president.
ReplyDeleteI had to turn it off part way through. I agree, a first class political jerk.
ReplyDeleteSo glad Ron is out of politics now bc this is what everyone else in dc not named Ron Paul are like. He reminds me of a small time and low level used car salesman who thinks he is much smarter than he really is.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate Robert's post to differentiate Ron Paul from the Ron Paul Inc. campaign handlers. I would have assumed that most would already know this, but it appears not the case.
ReplyDeleteMost noted are the replies given, not to the original story topic but to the video shared. I have attended events and have been part of the presentation by Mike Rothfeld twice. The verbiage was different although the political strategy was the same. While I may personally disagree with certain points, the political evaluation is sound and the mathematics regarding campaigning goals is correct, in my opinion.
The critics commenting here seem to be of a mind set that view a movie, wishing for a happy ending, only to find out the movie was a documentary with an unexpected ending.
Whether I agree or disagree is beyond the point. The matter is that this is how politics works, love it or hate it. So what are you prepared to do?
I have seen this training (as seen in video) at C4L events/conferences. I thought it was really good training. So, I guess the points being made here on this blog are that we shouldn't like people who are confident and have type A personalities?
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, the training above is excellent for helping grassroots activists become effective activists as opposed to being used by the political establishment. Not all of us in the liberty movement are intellectuals (myself included) or great writers/bloggers. There is however something we can all do to further the cause of liberty. My role is to be an effective grassroots activist on the ground. This type of training is exactly what people like me need to ensure I am not used/abused by the political establishment.
I still cannot fathom why people in the liberty movement/RP supporters are attacking the people that RP has surrounded himself with. RP is not naive, although I always hear people say RP is great but he just doesn't choose the right people to run his campaign or to surround himself with. I don't think they are giving RP enough credit. I would guess RP knows exactly who he is surrounding himself with and people are just unfairly attacking those people.
Most of the criticisms I see are unsubstantiated and usually amount to I don't like him (Benton et el) because he is a two faced scum bag. I don't usually find much evidence included and it just seems like sort of a mob mentality attack. What evidence does anyone have other than unsubstantiated rumors? And this latest scandal with Sorenson amounts to nothing more than consenting economic activity between adults. I can see why left wingers would be critical of this but why supposed libertarian RP supporters? How does this violate the NAP? And don't we expect someone who is going to work for a campaign to receive compensation? And don't you think it is OK for a prospective employer to lay out some terms and expectations of what the employer will get from his employee? That is all that I saw in this Sorenson affair. Nothing unethical or illegal. At worst Sorenson violated his Senate ethics laws which is a far cry from anything illegal, unethical, or in violation of the NAP.
Anyone have a response to his point that the education path is worthless?
ReplyDelete