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If Gary Johnson or Virgil Goode needed any explanation as to why they ought not waste much time trying to win over the most devoted of the “Ronulans” out there, they should take a look at this video. Created by a Paul-supporter who goes by the name TMOT, it was posted on the The Daily Paul website just the other day.
The Ron Paul movement and the liberty movement are two separate things and they only partially overlap. Many, perhaps even the majority, of Ron Paul supporters are only going to follow Ron Paul. No matter what they learn about his background, they are fully and completely invested in this man as a living deity.
During his appearance on The Daily Show recently, Gary Johnson explained to Jon Stewart and the audience that he was sort of like Ron Paul. It’s a line he’s used before and one I hope he drops in short order. Many voters think Paul and his ideas are “a little crazy” and they base that, to a large degree, on the fervently wacky Ron Paul supporters they’ve encountered in their everyday life. I’m talking about folks like TMOT.
Ron Paul has more in common with L. Ron Hubbard than he does with Gary Johnson. Goode and Johnson need to reach out to new audiences, and explain where they stand on the issues without leaning on the Ron Paul crutch.
I’m one of them, I designed a new grassroots campaign to-reignite support for Ron Pal. http://www.BumperToBumper4RP.com and I’m looking for a virtual team to promote it to the next big thing.
Nice spin.
“Ron Paul has more in common with L. Ron Hubbard than he does with Gary Johnson”
Wow really? I wonder if you said this about all those Obama supports back in 08?
At least Ron Paul sticks by his word and won’t spend millions of tax payer money bombing countries we haven’t even declared war on the Middle East.
“Many voters think Paul and his ideas are “a little crazy” and they base that, to a large degree, on the fervently wacky Ron Paul supporters they’ve encountered in their everyday life. ”
No Obama and Romney’s ideas are a “little crazy” Ideas like getting us further military involved in the Middle East when we’re 16 trillion dollars in debt.
Yes, I did. But the hardcore Ron Paul worship actually goes light years beyond the Cult of Obama.
I would say that Obama and GWB’s followers have demonstrated a degree of fanaticism that far exceeds anything Ron Paul’s supported have demonstrated. I say this bc Obama and GWB ran on one platform, then immediately changed position upon being elected. Non-fanatics would stop supporting someone who lies to them. Ron Paul hasn’t lied to his supporters.
Austin, you’re quickly starting to sound like someone with an ax to grind. Objective journalism requires one to be, you guessed it, objective. Decent journalism doesn’t involve ad hominems or baseless comparisons.
Seriously, Uncovered Politics hasn’t made a decent post in ten days. It’s all been attacks on the now-over Ron Paul campaign and some of the wacky supporters. The tone and aggressiveness of these last couple of “articles” doesn’t injure Ron Paul’s reputation or the reputation of his supporters, which is already quite low. Instead, it injures your own reputation and that of your website.
Trent, I want to be very clear that I am in no way, shape, or form attempting to be an objective journalist here. 🙂
I have no ax to grind, as you suggest. I’m not running for anything, I’m not working for anyone, and I have no financial investment in any of this. I am actually in a position where none of this directly impacts me in any way, so I am able to speak with complete freedom on the subject.
Pingback: Die Hard Ron Paul Supporter Sums It Up Pefectly: ‘I Will Not Quit’ – Uncovered Politics | PAULitics.US – Wake Up America
Ron Paul is “the least of all evils” 2012
The R3VOLUTION is leaderless…
and floundering.
We should vote TMOT 2012!
This uncompromising position of Ron Paul supporters isn’t surprising. For consumers “nothing but” makes great marketing sense, but for politics it is a dead it. It is hard to determine whether or not to feel sorry for Ron Paul. It is his problem to deal with, but he created the cult for Ron Paul. Even his admittance that Mitt Romney would be the nominee hasn’t tempered this “Ron Paul Revolution.” Let us call it a political strategy gone awry.
Ever talked to a Ron Paul supporter in person?
If you had, odds are you’d have figured out that this is far beyond Ron Paul. This movement doesn’t die if he drops out.
Most of his supporters see him as a rallying point, not necessarily a leader. The fact that you misunderstand this is the reason we can get away with so much. You assume Ron Paul is the only thing keeping the movement going. Not true in the least.
Its best summed up thusly: “We aren’t Ron Paul’s, Ron Paul is ours.”
Interesting. That was a Ron Paul supporter in the video. Also, there has been the NOBP (No one but Paul). There is also the Lawyers for Ron Paul. Maybe, it is all wrong. The fact may be Ron Paul supporters are willing to vote for Mitt Romney, and not feel guilty not participating in a write in campaign.
uncompromising position ????
Just exactly what do you think any one should compromise a life for?
for mandated insurance(obamacare) ?
immigration?
for a job?
for money?
for the US deficit ?
more or less government?
how about an undeclared war?
Seriously what do you think a life is worth?
I think living breathing human beings lives are priceless, should NEVER be compromised for any thing.
and until these wars are over and our troops are home. there will not be any compromising.
The one thing that is most important to most Paul supporters, Obama and Romney has an uncompromising position on.
And you have the nerve to say This uncompromising position of Ron Paul supporters isn’t surprising.
Nothing surprising for a heartless warmonger Romney or Obama supporter to say.
Obama did get elected on health care reform.
Maybe, just maybe, these common people have more sense than most and realize that this country is standing on the edge of the abyss due to the past several decades of corrupt politicians being bought out by corporatist and having their country stolen from them. You can’t deny the fact that this country is in the worst position than it has ever been in in the history of this nation. At least they are willing to stand their ground against the current corrupt political establishment. With the independent tanks at 40% and expanding rapidly, it’s just a matter of time before their message becomes mainstream. The Elephant is turning into a woolly mammoth. Extinct! The Liberty movement has just started and you can bet that there will be many more battles won in the name of Liberty and Freedom.
Hey Austin,
Don’t you wish your candidate of choice could raise such passion? Don’t you wish your candidate could have such die hard supporters? Don’t you wish your candidate could have stood up for his beliefs for 30 yrs. and counting and started a revolution of ideas that will far out last him? Don’t you wish your candidate could draw support internationally as I am not even an American? Don’t you wish a supporter of your candidate could toggle together such a video that raises the hair on your arms as this one did? Yeah, you wish?
Ron Paul,
Today, Tomorrow, and Forever
No, not really. I find the singular, undying devotion that people have to Ron Paul to be kind of creepy and very un-libertarian in nature.
I’m sure the Iraqi people felt the hair on their arms stand up when they’d pass a freshly painted 100-foot mural of their leader fighting off a Lion with his bare hands. But I’m not looking for a supreme leader that can inspire blind loyalty.
But hey, you’re free to do whatever you want with your time and your money. Mix up a big batch of grape Flavor-Aid and party down.
The kool-aid comment indicates your inability to engage in critical discourse. Ron Paul has clearly stated that he does not want power. He wants to clear away the bureacratic mission creep that is choking the life out of the U.S.
dork
I don’t know if you have heard this or not. but Bin laden is dead. the Iraqi people is not our problem on what they do.
There is no reason for our troops to be any where’s near the middle east, at least not legally.
All the candidates have supporters. my opinion none of them are a cult. they can be considered a cult by some. if they support the one Man or one idea, like he is Mormon, or he is black or he is younger. or he is winning. reasons that has nothing to do with policies just the man.
Paul supporters, supports his policies. big difference. But there really is no Good reason to support Obama or Romney’s policies, from what is reported no supporter can come up with a good reason. so yeah I suppose Obama & Romney supporters could be considered a cult by some.
What are you looking for? A president (leader), one that brakes laws, that could care less if you lived or died, that will make promises (flip flops) and then do nothing or the opposite. or create businesses and then fire every one for a profit. or that will stop obama care when that has nothing to do with the president or how about that will say they will create jobs when the president can’t unless they do the one thing Ron Paul wants done and obama or Romney is not doing that.
Or how about raising the deficit limit. wait? did you not say, “I am actually in a position where none of this directly impacts me in any way”
If that does not impact you, that means your not in America. hummm
Or are you one of those complainers that don’t get involved and don’t even bother to vote or have a reason not to vote. which would mean you would not have a reason to complain about Paul supporters…
Yeah sure you have no ax to grind LOL
All you Ron Paul supporters need to go join your local John Birch Society Chapter and start educating your friends, family and neighbors.
“Educate and inform the whole mass of the people… They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our Liberty.” – Thomas Jefferson
For whatever traction the Libertarian Party and Gary Johnson have made, they owe a great amount of gratitude towards Ron Pauls decades long efforts in the promotion of Libertarian ideals. His principled stand has meant that rather than Libertarian ideals becoming diluted to win party positions, core Libertarian ideals are being accepted by the mainstream in increasing numbers with more and more people identifying themselves as Libertarians.
I really do wish Gary Johnson and the Libertarian Party the best, but if they end up joining the NeoCon slander machine against Ron Paul and his supporters then they can count out any possible future support. It took far less for Rand Paul to alienate himself from many Ron Paul supporters.
Here’s a constituency the libertarian movement, and specifically the Libertarian Party should be reaching out too: Anti-Jihadist voters. Pamela Geller’s site gets like 30,000 hits a day. Ditto for Robert Spencer’s Jihad Watch. Bare Naked Islam, fahget about it. It’s off the charts! These voters are vehemently anti-Islamist. They’re libertarians, they just don’t know it. Go to any comments section for these sites, and you’ll see them ranting against Burkas, and sexual repression by Muslims against gays. They’ve made the connection with life under Sharia Law and life under Nanny-State government. And they’re hardline pro-capitalist.
Only problem is, they havent’ been invited into the libertarian movement. They’ve been scared away by Ron Paul’s foreign policy views.
I met one of the top leaders of this movement at a conference in Nashville last year. Blogger for Gates of Vienna. He told me straight out he and his girlfriend were hardline “libertarians,” but they didn’t want to have anything to do with the Libertarian Party in Virginia, cause of all the foreign policy non-interventionists involved.
Gary Johnson can reach these voters with his moderate libertarian views on foreign policy. The Johnson campaign doesn’t need the Paulists. Move in the other direction. Move towards anti-Islamism, and there will be a slew of voters running into the LP and Johnson campaign.
Done with that dead horse yet? It’s so pulped I can’t even tell that it’s a horse anymore.
So Eric,you flip flopped from Ron Paul to Gary Johnson and are encouraging the LP to manipulate the anti-islamists to side with him. There are 2 ways to run a campaign. Politics or Paulitics, and only one has integrity.
Actually, I’m a Libertarian for Romney. Romney gets it on the threat from Islamo-Naziism. I also support Gary, and hope he maximizes the Libertarian Party vote.
The bigger vote Gary gets, the more incentive President Romney will have to move in a hardline libertarian direction.
Gary Johnson is a very decent man. I like him. Problem I have with him is his belief in interventionism. And the opposite is exactly what I like the most about Ron Paul.
Ron Paul is a libertarian with an small “l”. So what? Besides, the founders were all libertarians. Don’t you realize it? In fact, Ron Paul can be better described as a constitutionalist, that is what he is. And I love it! After all, my family came to this country, years ago, because of its wonderful constitution. It is this so called “old paper” what gives the nicest reputation to USA any where in the world…not any more. Unfortunately, USA is more known now for its addiction to wars.
I have never voted for the party. God, I vote for our country, for the person I believe will be best for it. It is wrong to vote for the party, I think…What is so bad about having principles?
I don’t love Ron Paul. I ADORE RON PAUL.
Ron Paul is a 50%-er libertarian.
He’s 100% right on 50% of the issues, but 100% wrong on the other 50%.
His economic views are utterly superb. The best! Doesn’t get any better than Ron Paul on free market economics.
His foreign policy is a complete and utter disaster. The worst of all. You cannot get any worse on foreign policy than Ron Paul. He’s Blame America First, wave the white flag to our Islamist enemies, isolate America, and tell Israel to go to hell.
what a waste of time. every post i make on every site will include my comment about austn. dork
Killing 1000s (100s of 1000s?) innocent people to benefit incredibly wealthy financially elite = Sane
Stopping those heartless atrocities, saving our soldiers’ lives and foreign innocents = Wacky
Opening up a new war constantly without a formal declaration, telling Americans it’s to ensure their freedoms, while at the same time turning our nation over to the UN for them to control us = Sane
Suggesting that we allow a war only if agreed upon by congress and have a formal declaration, to bind their decision and make them culpable = Wacky
Borrowing from Social Security so heavily that it’s no longer solvent, while raising the age of retirement for people who have paid in all of their lives = Sane
Ending the wars and closing bases that no longer have a purpose, then using the “peace dividend” to shore up Social Security and offering alternatives for those just starting our = Wacky
I’m 58 and have been a supporter of Dr Paul since 1988, so call me a “cultist” or wacky if you like, but I have watched our nation fall since Nixon took us off of the gold standard, Carter created the Dept of Ed, etc. I have watched the effects of Viet Nam and all if the following wars that have accomplished nothing but extreme grief and losses of huge resources. I could go on and on, but what’s the use? The more I type, the more extreme I will sound, right?
Historical times and people are never recognized until decades or more have passed and history points out reality. Whether Paul wins this election is almost insignificant compared to the fire that has been lit. He didn’t ignite this fire himself, thousands (possibly millions) of these “wacky supporters” have assisted. These same supporters will continue this movement until everyone has woke up and takes our government back, for the benefit of the American people.
The slanderers, the doubters, the sleeping sheep will all be forgotten soon, while these historical times will be written in the books for future generations to better understand.
Ron Paul; We are not his. He is ours.
Yup, you watched the “effects of the Vietnam War” ‘eh?
Did you watch the Vietnamese boat people the 1 million plus who fled South Vietnam after our pull-out? Many who drowned in the South China Sea? I did. On board the USS Kittyhawk CV-63. Part of our job was to fish out of the water hundreds of Vietnamese boat people who were fleeing communism.
Did you watch the Killing Fields of Cambodia? The 2 million who were killed by Pol Pot and the Communist Khmer Rouge as a direct result of us pulling out our Troops from Southeast Asia. Things got tough, so we turned tail and ran, like scared little girls. Result: 2 million dead at the hands of Pol Pot.
The results of yours and Ron Paul’s non-interventionist/isolationist/surrender-tarian foreign policy?
3 million dead in Southeast Asia. And yes, that blood is on YOUR HANDS ASSHOLE!