Liberty MavenBob Barr: The Purple Pill Gateway Drug To Ron Paul
July 16th, 2008 8:44 am | by Marc Gallagher | Published in Activism, Bob Barr, Constitution, Debate, Election, Libertarianism, Liberty, Maven Commentary, Politics, Polling, Ron Paul | 4 Comments
Many Ron Paul supporters reference the movie “The Matrix”, saying they swallowed the “red pill” when they discovered Ron Paul. They mean that Ron Paul woke them up from their slobbering apathetic slumber to the reality of a country spinning away from the rule of law in its Constitution.
There is a certain amount of “baggage” that comes along with being a Ron Paulian. You will be deemed extreme. You will be called crazy. You will be labeled a conspiracy nut. The truth is secondary to the insult to these blind and naked mobs. This and other factors like scientific polling data and little main stream media attention caused mass belief that Ron Paul was “unelectable” in 2008. If we can present a “purple pill” to these blind and naked mobs, one they can swallow a bit easier than the big red one, by the time 2012 comes around Ron Paul may magically become the most electable candidate in (or out of) the race.
The first reaction is, “Ron Paul will be too old in 2012 to run again.” This may or may not be true. 2012 is only 4 years away and no matter who takes office in 2008 it is growing increasingly likely that most Americans will be worse off 4 years from now. Ron Paul is as healthy as he can be now. There is no reason to believe he won’t maintain that health for the next 4-8 years. Will the American people be willing to accept a 76 year old Presidential candidate as viable? If it gets bad enough, maybe.
What makes anyone think that Ron Paul will not be marginalized by the media and the pundits four years hence? Avoiding a repeat of the charges of gadfly, quixotic, extreme, kooky, and unelectable will require education, prophecy, and Bob Barr doing well in 2008.
Ron Paul’s Campaign For Liberty and its associated educational efforts must prove to be successful. It must utilize Ron Paul’s book, “The Revolution: A Manifesto”, as one of the major tools of this education process. Make no mistake the Campaign For Liberty is not just Ron Paul and his small CFL staff. It is up to every single Ron Paul supporter to make it successful. We are the campaign.
Ron Paul has been proven right many times over the course of his time in politics. It is a testament to the validity of his liberty philosophy that the words leaving his mouth as prediction eventually end up as reality. If his current dire warnings about the recent Iran saber rattling and the state of the economy prove to be true he could be labeled “credible” instead of “crazy” in 4 years time.
Bob Barr’s current Presidential effort is probably one of the most important factors contributing to the potential of Ron Paul running and being a major Presidential player in 2012. Barr is the purple pill gateway drug to Ron Paul’s red pill. Barr is more moderate than Paul. He is proving that he can lure Republicans into the liberty realm. Ironically he is running in the oft considered more extreme Libertarian Party. This “purple pill” factor is why it is my belief that all Paul supporters should throw their weight behind Bob Barr. The goal should be to unite behind Barr and get him the support necessary to get into the debates. He is the only third party candidate who has a chance at meeting the debate requirements.
Many more people watch the general election debates than the primary debates. Having a spokesman for a Ron Paul style liberty message standing on the same stage as “McBama” could do wonders for the revolution. Millions of new people could be introduced to a more moderate form of Ron Paul’s message through Bob Barr. Even if Barr were to gain access to the debates it is still unlikely that he’d be elected President. This opens the door for a liberty candidate to be “electable” in 2012 even if that candidate is not Ron Paul.
It is quite presumptuous to suggest that Ron Paul himself would run again in 2012. It may even be a tad on the crazy side. However, if everything outlined above comes to fruition combined with a little liberty luck, it just might happen.
Converting millions of brain washed voters is not accomplished overnight. It takes years. Getting Bob Barr regularly polling at 15% or more in national polls earns him a place in the debates. Getting Bob Barr into the debates is the single most important goal for the Ron Paul freedom movement to flourish in the future. I hate seeing myself type this but–feel free to ignore his voting record. It just doesn’t matter in 2008. The only thing that matters is giving the liberty message a loud voice in this election. Liberty has a way of prying open minds and capturing hearts, but to spread it must be heard.
Swallow the “purple pill” Bob Barr is presenting you in 2008, even if it makes you a little sick, so that the masses will swallow Ron Paul’s “red pill” by 2012.
July 16th, 2008 at 10:24 am (#)
Thank you for the great article. I attended the Libertarian convention in Denver where Bob Barr was elected to run as our Presidential candidate. I was at first skeptical of him because of some of his voting history in Congress. He now has my full confidence and support. Bob Barr has “seen the light”, and is now a great defender of Individual Liberties. Our future with a McBama at the helm of this nation will only bring more deterioration of everything Americans hold dear. Isn’t it time for you to win politically? Every time you’ve voted for Democrats or Republicans, they win, but you lose, your family looses, America looses. It’s time for you to win. Vote Libertarian.
July 16th, 2008 at 6:32 pm (#)
Excellent article. I’ve made similar arguments about 2012. It really is important for Barr to do well this election cycle. Even if Ron won’t run in 2012, maybe Rand will.
July 17th, 2008 at 5:15 pm (#)
Getting Barr to poll regularly at 15% gets him into the debates–a goal, yes? The reality is that he’s polling at 3% or so nationally.
And this education thing to have Americans take the pill has a short time span.
For me, why I am no Paul supporter, is a simple observation based on some study, that the Constitution, the document that Paul says we have strayed from, is a collection of compromises. As with any set of compromises, there’s a lot of grey areas that defy simple assertions of the sort that Paul makes. Indeed, at least one Paul supporter has claimed that the words and phrases in the Constitution can be made clear by submitting them to a dictionary–government by the dictionary, where the often circular definitions are of no help.
It also doesn’t help when several of the founders and framers violated the Constitution with such things as the Alien and Sedition Acts (which destroyed the First Amendment) or the Louisiana Purchase (which violated the Tenth Amendment). With the Purchase, Jefferson’s own defense was that he was appealing to a law higher than the Constitution–his words, not mine–sounds like Bush or Lincoln.
The reality is with us–it is that Pauline pill that is giving the dream state–and the usual suspects, the voter and consumer, are those who are in charge and have made things the way they are. Madison once remarked ruefully that the Constitution, that auxiliary precaution, can only delay a long held passion or interest of the people–he used paper money as an example of such a interest or passion–in short, if the people want such a thing, they will get it eventually.
This, if nothing else, is why the education of J Q Public will fail. You all are screaming against the rising tide.
Here’s the rub–in spite of the illegality of it, the Purchase, as an example, was necessary for the United States. This. too, is why the Revolution will fail.
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:55 am (#)
[...] the upcoming Campaign For Liberty rally. He hints at Ron Paul running again in 2012. Earlier we suggested a similar thing, and like Wead revealed our worry that Paul will just be perceived as too old to do so. Of course, [...]