All these comments bemoaning how "crazy" and "extreme" Ron Paul is supposed to be would have gotten under my skin at one time, but now they just amuse me, The enemies of liberty finally see the long-term impact of Ron Paul's campaign on the minds and hearts of Americans and they are going into full-blown panic mode.
Unfortunately - civility and a firm grasp of logic not being most garden-variety statists' strong suit - the only tools left in their arsenal now are sophomoric shaming and social ostracism attempts using flaccid and meaningless buzzwords. "Radical!" "Crazy!" "Extreme!" is the kind of rubbish they bleat about when they can no longer find coherent justifications for their barbarically coercive models of society.
PUBLIC OPINION > A Libertarian Can Be Elected President One Day
SodaHead News
2012/05/16 22:00:00
As with his 1988 and 2008 presidential campaigns, Ron Paul was able to accumulate an enormously active and responsive following this year, but once again, he's wound up a little short. He's run as a third-party libertarian and as a Republican; he's run in good times and bad; he's remained (relatively) honest and incorruptible in the eyes of the public. Still, nothing. If he can't make it to the Oval Office, will a libertarian candidate ever have a shot? We asked the public.
The results were pretty close, but in politics, you don't need much of a margin to win. 53% is more than enough to land the presidency, even if you're Grover Cleveland. If we acted like everything that hasn't happened yet could never happen, humanity would never move forward. Will it happen? Who knows. But the point is, it could. This isn't about whether or not you'd want a libertarian president, but whether or not it would be possible to break the two-party system and elect someone outside of the box. As the Top Comment wrote, "At this point, they can only try to forestall the inevitable. A free and voluntary society is coming."
Libertarians Have Faith
Conservatives were a little more likely than liberals to trust that a libertarian president could win, but they were both unconvinced. Same goes for moderates. The only political demographics that thought it could happen were libertarians (obviously) and political "others." The real kicker was how many voters fell into those categories -- 45% combined.
Smokers Could See It Happening
One thing we've noticed in the past is a correlation between smokers and libertarian thinking. We've suggested that maybe recent proposals threatening to slap graphic warnings on packs, or jack the price of a pack up to $100, are the reason smokers are so like-minded. Here, again, smokers were much more likely than nonsmokers to believe libertarians could take the presidency.
High School Hot Spot
In his books, Ron Paul describes the overwhelming response he's gotten from college students who are frustrated with the rigid two-party political structure, but the breakdown shows that college students are no more likely than anyone else. In fact, high school students were the real supporters here. 84% of high schoolers said it's possible -- almost as much as the libertarians themselves.
If you'd like to vote on this question, dig deeper into the demographics, or engage in existing discussion about the topic, visit our poll about libertarian candidates. We'd love to hear from you!
I will never and have never voted for Obama. Romney has shown me he sure know how to sign anything placed on his desk into law, and RP is just insane. I guess i will not vote this year.
RP is insane only to those who have no concept of the Constitution and what it means nor do they care to understand. The Constitution is something to be followed not convoluted and interpreted according to the flavor of the day.
RP says the income tax is unconstitutional, and he says fiat currency is too...But there was an amendment after the supreme court ruling per the constitutional powers vested in our officials. And fiat currency and the fed are perfectly constitutional...SO It loooks like RP is interpreting the constitution in his own way...
Paul is a constitutionalist know the difference ... he follows the founding principles not the guns for hire that each President appoints to the SC whenever they can ...or do you like those like Kagan who judge the law and interpret rather than follow it?
So now you hate the SC's duty to interpret the constitution and law, or do you hate their duty to evaluate the constitutionality of challenged laws?
If it's naive to believe in one's country, then I guess I am naive. while you disgraceful libs spit on our pride, I'll hold my head up high.
Now its quite obvious you have to have the last word, most libs do ... so have at it.
Bah-bye.
and like most youth...
is woefully uninformed and miseducated-
just talk about how gay his shirt is---
he'll block you then-
poof...no more butthead bothering you-
Why should we stick our nose in other countries? The British did it, the French did it, the Russians did it, the Spaniards did it...you know what they all had in common? They were empires and colonizers. Is that what we want for America: to waste money showing our global might?
The British, French, Russians, and Spaniards forcefully "stuck" their noses by occupying countries who either had a strategic location or because the gov spoke out against them....The U.S and fascist countries of the past are not comparable...Why are you libs so wrong on everything. Read some history...
USAID.
You are right, we haven't stuck our nose in Latin America, Africa, or even Asia. Then why the hell have we sent our forces to these places?
Goddammit, if there is anyone that should understand this, it should be you! You are a fake, a fraud. You rally against the national debt, yet have the Pentagon up your ass! You probably think you'll make a difference this election. It will be status quo as usually, and your dumbass will stand behind Romney for doing the exact same things Obama has done. It's hypocrisy, utter blind hypocrisy.
Stand up and put an end to waste. You're like an idiot that turns in their BMW for a Cadillac because their payments were too high. Hint: You're not making much of a difference, except on superficiality.
The U.S is all over the world because there were agreements made with each country to allow military bases in return for protection and other trade agreements...
Where have a mentioned i stand for Romney or Obama.
HInt: your name calling shows your liberalism.
We should bring back the shekel.
I wonder how many big macs I can buy with these?
Ron Paul's budget proposal will immediately cut a trillion dollars...And abrupt cut will kill GDP, a lot of the country's GDP relies on government spending. He wants to end the FED....The craziest of all is to introduce a competing currency...And of course the classic gold standard...Which has failed as a currency. He'll cut 200 billion form the department of defense....INSANE
HE wants to eliminate Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
Eliminate 19 billion in foreign aid.
Eliminate the Departments of Energy, Housing and Urban Development, Commerce, Interior and Education. $170 billion
Along with many other immediate cuts...All those departments and cuts will leave around 1.5 million people out of work...
The government is too damn big, those are government employees. The government is not too big too fail, not when it keeps taking from the people. The government will fail if we proceed our spending ways, hiring redundant workers, and imagining that we will be in good times soon.
Keynesian economics. It failed for Bush and fails for Obama. Yet you still want to spend spend spend!
HE wants to eliminate Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
Eliminate 19 billion in foreign aid.
Eliminate the Departments of Energy, Housing and Urban Development, Commerce, Interior and Education. $170 billion
Along with many other immediate cuts...All those departments and cuts will leave around 1.5 million people out of work...
-Separation of powers, with checks and balances
-Very limited federal government
-Separation of church and state
-No national bank
-Laws being decided mostly by state
Every single one of the founding fathers were for limited government. Hell, the major reason Patrick Henry opposed the Constitutional Convention ("I smell a rat") was because he thought it would make the government too powerful...
"Libertarianism is generally considered to be the group of political philosophies which emphasize freedom, liberty, and voluntary association. There is no general consensus among scholars on the precise definition. Libertarians generally advocate a society with a government of small scope relative to most present day societies or no government whatsoever."
This is disturbing, and incredibly important. You need to learn your history, especially with an election coming up.