May 16, 2007
Political Science Department
Ron Paul Fumbles the Ball for the Libertarian Team
I didn't watch the Republican debates, but it sounds like it went about how I'd expect, only worse.
As a libertarian, I'm interested in seeing how well Ron Paul does. I don't agree with everything he stands for, but I like his minimalist approach to government. He's one of the few successful politicians who can hear about a new problem in the world and not immediately respond with a government program to fix it. He takes seriously the idea that some things just aren't part of the government's job.
That would be a refreshing change of pace.
There's no real chance he'll win, of course. The media doesn't understand him or take him seriously, and according to Reason, he's not a very good debater. In answer to a hypothetical question about the war in Iraq, he somehow managed to sound like he was blaming the United States's Iraq policy for the 9/11 attack. Giuliani promptly clobbered him.
(Not surprising. Giuliani's most important qualification for the job of President is that his city got blown up on 9/11. He's very strong on that subject.)
I guess when it comes to debating, Ron Paul just isn't quick on his feet. If we libertarians want to put someone in the debates who can hold his own in a verbal boxing match, I think our best bet is to draft magician/TV personality Penn Gillette. He's an incredibly fast thinker, he's a principled libertarian, and he knows how to craft short and devastating verbal attacks.
I just wish he wouldn't say "fuck" so much.
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Ron Paul is more conservative than those other candidates could dream of. Do your home work. Most intellectual conservatives were against this war before it started in 2003. Did you know that? Pat Buchanan, Charley Reese, “is a prescription for the decline and fall of the American empire. Overextension – urged on by a bunch of rabid intellectuals who wouldn’t know one end of a gun from another” Paul Craig Roberts, who was one of the highest-ranking Treasury Department officials under President Reagan and now a nationally-syndicated conservative columnist, wrote: “an invasion of Iraq is likely the most thoughtless action in modern history.” On and on and these quotes are from 2002! This war was Undeclared, un-provoked, liberal “nation building” I know it is hard, but we, as conservatives, have got to do some deep thinking about this issue and wake up!
Paul is an excellent debator. He didn't "sound" like he was blaming our policy in Iraq for 9/11, he was quoting the 9/11 Commission report that this is/was indeed the case. Paul came off like the honest statesman that he is. Guiliani sounded like the snickering slimball that he is. And how is having one's city blown up a "qualification" for anything? How utterly ridiculous...
Hey, I didn't actually see the debate, but people made it sound like Guiliani nailed him on a "gotcha" soundbyte. I hate the fact that people can get nailed on stuff like that instead of debating substantive issues, but that's the way it seems to be.