By Philip Giraldi
Former Congressman Ron Paul of Texas is a genuine American hero. He stood for a new way of thinking about America’s place in the world and recognized that the war party and its policies were both destructive to the US Constitution and imperiling liberties at home. He is a national treasure. But I sometimes have to wonder why he has surrounded himself with so many grifters? I keep getting emails from the Campaign for Liberty (C4L), which represents itself as an heir to the Paul legacy, even though it is nothing of the sort. It is a money generating machine preying on the millions of Americans who have fond memories of Dr. Paul, constantly promising to do something important tomorrow but never quite delivering. It ultimately benefits no one outside the small group of scalawags that did so little so poorly in the 2012 election campaign, failing disastrously to get Ron Paul either nominated or at least having a seat at the GOP table to advance his views. They cut deals with the Romney campaign and even kept Paul’s unhappy supporters from disrupting the convention’s proceedings. In return Dr. Paul got nothing.
Some of the folks associated with the campaign and C4L have been linked recently to bribery in Iowa and other malfeasance. The campaign manager Jesse Benton, became the $1.1 million dollar man while mismanaging the effort and is now working for the lugubrious Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. Benton has stated that he does so holding his nose, which says a lot about the integrity of Benton and also reveals the cunning of perpetual Washington fixture McConnell, who hopes to attract Paul supporters and teabaggers when he runs in 2014.
Ron Paul had enormous appeal in 2012 which was not capitalized on by his handlers. In my state of Virginia, which was the only state where Paul ran head-to-head against Mitt Romney, the campaign was invisible even though well-connected contractor Mike Rothfeld reportedly billed the Paul campaign for $1,196,376 for “advertising, bulk mail, and email services” in Virginia in 2011 alone. I live in a battleground county but did not receive a single mailing, did not hear a radio ad or see a television commercial supporting Dr. Paul. A swing of 10% would have delivered Virginia to Ron Paul and it could have happened. If he had won the state it might have shifted the momentum of the entire campaign.
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(ht Reformed Libertarian)
"But I sometimes have to wonder why he has surrounded himself with so many grifters?" Probably, because a lot of the time there is only grifters in politics.
ReplyDeleteIt's kinda sad how much C4L has deviated from Ron's message but being the cynic that I am, I'm not that all surprised. They essentially became another Freedomworks with just replacing statist Dick Armey with Ron Paul's name. I remember Adam Kokesh doing a few video on Ron Paul vs Ron Paul Inc/C4L and it was quite the eye opener.
ReplyDeleteGreat article. I can say the same thing about the New York campaign, mutatis mutandis.
ReplyDelete"Obamacare will not be overturned and, as awful as the individual mandate truly is, I would be interested in learning what Campaign for Liberty would do about the tens of millions of Americans who currently cannot get health insurance in a system in which we have allowed for-profit insurance companies to determine who lives or dies. "
ReplyDeleteGood grief!! It looks like Philip has gone full Marxist.
I suggest that Ron Paul just wasn't a leader. He couldn't even keep his own campaign in check. Ron Paul is a great communicator of ideas. Who is the Bill Clinton of libertarianism? Who has the presence and charisma to lead and yet still hold true to libertarianism? I don't think liberartianism needs to sell out its ideas to become popular, like what Rand Paul is trying to do. You get the right guy out their that has the "IT" factor, people will vote for him. Especailly someone who women will vote for because he is so "dreamy".
ReplyDeleteI understand where your coming from but lets understand that libertarianism is supposed to be substance over style. The message of private property and N.A.P. is what counts at least in my opinion. However for the sake of argument I would argue that Adam Kokesh could've been that type of person but sadly he's going to be locked up for a half a decade.
Delete"like what Rand Paul is trying to do"... Rand is the biggest sell out there is. Rand Paul is no libertarian and wouldn't change a damn thing if elected president. And that's a really big IF. I'll never give another dime to a campaign or even vote unless it's Tom Woods running.
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