Saturday, August 25, 2012

Why Ron Paul Will Not Speak at the RNC

Ron Paul spills the beans to NYT:

Mr. Paul, in an interview, said convention planners had offered him an opportunity to speak under two conditions: that he deliver remarks vetted by the Romney campaign, and that he give a full-fledged endorsement of Mr. Romney. He declined. 
“It wouldn’t be my speech,” Mr. Paul said. “That would undo everything I’ve done in the last 30 years. I don’t fully endorse him for president.”
In the same article, Jesse Benton again signaled that he hopes Paul delegates take regular doses of Ritalin, while attending the convention:
 Mr. Paul’s campaign chairman, Jesse Benton, acknowledged the frustrations that the Paul high command had been forced to manage. 
Some true believers want to “dress in black, stand on a hill and say, ‘Smash the state,’ ” said Mr. Benton, who is married to one of Mr. Paul’s granddaughters. But “it’s not our desire to have floor demonstrations. That would cost us a lot more than it would get us.”

15 comments:

  1. "Some true believers want to “dress in black, stand on a hill and say, ‘Smash the state,’ ” said Mr. Benton, who is married to one of Mr. Paul’s granddaughters. But “it’s not our desire to have floor demonstrations. That would cost us a lot more than it would get us.”

    Actually, I think they just wanted to have a real convention and debate and nominate Paul from the floor and have an open vote.

    But its true that wont get Benton a cushy gig in the future.

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  2. Good for Ron Paul!

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  3. That Ron Paul has retained the campaign staff responsible for so many debacles is indicative that Ron Paul is not executive material. A philosophical leader perhaps, but anyone serious about playing ball in the big leagues would have relegated many on this staff to drivers and baggage handlers or just shit canned them long ago.

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    1. Dr. Paul is just too much of a nice guy to fire his own grandson-in-law.

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    2. Assuming you are an ancap (or even a minarchist), isn't the "modern presidency" beyond the abilities of any mere mortal?

      Better to have someone incompetent that will purposefully or inadvertently leave more to the people than those who imagine that they can run the whole country.

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  4. “it’s not our desire to have floor demonstrations. That would cost us a lot more than it would get us.”

    No, Benton, it would cost -YOU- a lot more if there were a showing of dissent.

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  5. Ron Paul got a raw deal. He is conciliating because this was his last shot and he doesn't want the wrath of the GOP to reign in on Rand. So who's left on the ballot in all 50 states?
    Obama, Romney and Johnson. While this forum has chided Johnson in the past for not being "fully" libertarian he most certainly is a superior choice over Obama and Romney. If all libertarians joined together now and got Gary Johnson's poll numbers up to 15% we would at least have the principles of liberty espoused on the national debate stage with the big two.

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    1. But Gary is not a principled libertarian. How will he espouse principles he doesn't have? He's going to give arguments regarding efficiency and "legalize and tax" talk about drugs. He'll talk about spending on wars but he doesn't have the anti-war credentials or beliefs that Paul does.

      If anything his performance could hurt. Paul is not any better as a debater, but his beliefs are very consistent and that consistency is what draws people. Johnson can't draw people with what he doesn't have.

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  6. Frankly, I can't recall an active candidate for president ever speaking at a Republican convention except to introduce the winner. I never have thought that it was realistic to expect Ron Paul to have a signficant speaking role at the convention unless he endorsed Romney, and that has never been likely. Still less would one expect Ron Paul to submit to having his speech scripted by the Romney campaign.

    But Paul will get a tribute on day two of the convention so it appears that Paul want to put forward a positive image of the Paul campaign at the convention rather than a rebellious one. That would be a good strategy as long as Romney loses the election.

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  7. Benton commits a red herring fallacy by claiming that certain delegates are anarchists and want to should "Down with the state." No Jesse, they just want their hard work to be recognized. They want you, their chosen candidates manager, to man up and fight for what's right. Stop the intellectual dishonesty. We're not a bunch of rubes.

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  8. "... That would cost us a lot more than it would get us.” Young Jesse and his cronies will be the only ones gaining by this strategy. I hope he goes down in the republicans' next Watergate styled scandal.

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  9. Benston admits he is here to only manage the true believers.
    We will see if this is an attempt to broker a movement for a position in the GOP

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  10. Mr. Benton would appear to be quite young, an opportunist that has cashed in on the Ron Paul phenom.

    Nothing new under the Sun in all of this, move along.

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  11. Who is Mr. Paul? ... oh, you mean Dr. Paul?

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  12. "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats."-Mencken

    Jesse fails the most basic question asked by Rothbard in his 77' article, "Do you hate the State?"

    "In short, there is no sign that David Friedman in any sense hates the existing American State or the State per se, hates it deep in his belly as a predatory gang of robbers, enslavers, and murderers. No, there is simply the cool conviction that anarchism would be the best of all possible worlds, but that our current set-up is pretty far up with it in desirability. For there is no sense in Friedman that the State – any State – is a predatory gang of criminals." excerpted from http://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard75.html

    Substitute "Jesse Benton" for "David Freidman" and you have an accurate description of him as well.

    He's not a radical and will never move the cause forward. Once Ron Paul has officially ended his campaign, I believe Ron will again, especially so when he's retired from politics.




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