Ron Paul will appear on The View, Hannity, and The Colbert Report tomorrow under the guise of promoting his new excellent treatise on liberty called, “Liberty Defined: 50 Essential Issues That Affect Our Freedom“; however, will he also officially announce his run for president?
If he wants to participate in the first debate scheduled for May 5th he must meet certain criteria by April 29th. It doesn’t take an expert to know that one of the first criteria is actually becoming a candidate. Jesse Benton has stated that Paul will meet the criteria to participate so that is certainly an indirect admission that the announcement will be forthcoming
So will Ronald Ernest Paul announce his official bid for 2012 on Monday? We’ll know for sure very soon.
May my fellow Paulites grow the grassroots of liberty in 2012 far beyond the inherent limitations of 2008.
Yes, apparently freedom is still quite popular. Ron Paul’s pre-2012 candidacy money bomb was a huge success. Paul requested supporters fill up the coffers of his Liberty PAC and they did so in earnest. Paul’s PAC is now over $700 thousand richer, setting the stage for his eventual 2012 candidacy.
Here is an excellent appearance by Ron Paul on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”. Fiscal responsibility, foreign policy of Obama, and more is discussed. Ron Paul at one point bluntly calls Barack Obama a warmonger.
Here is Ron Paul’s appearance discussing his CPAC straw poll victory on CNN’s “American Morning” this morning. Note that the youtube video does cut off a bit at the end, but the full video from CNN is posted below that.
Here is the CNN embed with the rest of the interview:
Yes, Ron Paul has won his second consecutive CPAC straw poll and as expected all the anti-libertarian, defense=offense, neo-conservatives (and Donald Trump, whatever he is) are dismissing the victory. They say it doesn’t mean anything. They don’t know what they are talking about, as usual. Of course it means something.
It doesn’t necessarily mean that Ron Paul will be the GOP nominee in 2012. Paul hasn’t even announced if he’s running yet. The victory’s meaning really has little to do with 2012 and much to do with the future direction of the Republican Party.
The organizers of CPAC sheepishly denounced their own straw poll prior to announcing Ron Paul as the winner. Appropriately enough, while they denounced the presidential preference question they gushed when talking about the results to the other questions in the poll. Yet the same people that voted for Ron Paul answered those other questions as well. Why did they not suggest that those results were skewed?
Yes, Ron Paul’s Campaign For Liberty and Young Americans for Liberty made it easier for supporters to attend CPAC by offering discounted tickets and lodging packages. They did not “bus them in” as some suggested. The reason so many showed up at CPAC for Ron Paul is because they are true political activists. They are active, vocal, and dedicated to spreading the liberty message to those who are and aren’t willing to listen. This is something the GOP has been missing for a long time.
It is mainly foreign policy differences that keep the old guard GOP from embracing these young Ron Paul activists. Perhaps if the rest of the Republican Party could ever understand the fundamental differences between…
preemptive war and national defense
isolationist and non-interventionist
anti-semitism and ending all foreign aid
blaming America and blaming American policy
…they could welcome Ron Paul and his supporters. The CPAC straw poll result suggests an effort should be made to understand and perhaps embrace these differences. After all, isn’t the ultimate Republican goal to defeat Obama in 2012? Seeing eye to eye with Ron Paul and his numerous activist supporters could go a long way toward that goal.
I have little hope this will happen, but in the long run it may not matter. Many of those young Ron Paul supporters are growing up, feeding on liberty, and will become office-seekers in the future.
The result of the CPAC straw poll does have meaning. It suggests the future is burning bright with the fire of liberty.
There are cerebral strategists and balls-to-the-wall activists in the tent of Ron Paul. Both were evident at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) today. Prior to Rand Paul’s stellar speech the surprise speaker was Donald Trump. Many of us in the audience had come to get our seats to see The Rand instead of The Donald, and things got a bit ugly.
During Trump’s speech there were some vocal activists shouting out Ron Paul’s name, among other things. At one point when Trump mentioned there were no good GOP candidates the shouts of Ron Paul became too much for him. The video below shows what happened:
Yes, the out-of-touch celebrity with lots of money reacts by telling the crowd that Ron Paul has zero chance of winning. I immediately said something that was later echoed by Rand Paul, “Trump has an even less of a chance of winning than Ron Paul”. That was only the beginning.
How is it possible that omitting Ron Paul’s name from this Reuter’s article about CPAC was not done on purpose? CPAC begins today with several presidential hopefuls attending and making speeches. One of those speeches is from last years run away CPAC straw poll winner, Ron Paul, yet the article excerpted below ignores him. I had to re-check the agenda for CPAC to see if they had somehow erased Paul’s name, but no, it was still there.
“It’s one of the first times that they get to showcase their actual credentials among key constituencies and generate publicity for themselves early on in the cycle,” said Republican strategist Ron Bonjean.
Among the speakers are two former governors, Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota; former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich and sitting governors Haley Barbour of Mississippi and Mitch Daniels of Indiana.
Gingrich and two other possibles, Representative Michelle Bachmann and former Senator Rick Santorum speak on Thursday.
Romney, Pawlenty, South Dakota Senator John Thune, Texas Governor Rick Perry and Daniels speak on Friday and Barbour speaks on Saturday. Attendees will decide their favorites in a Saturday straw poll.
Ron Paul hasn’t even announced he’s running in 2012 yet and the media is already trying to ignore him. I ask again, how can this not be on purpose?
The Atlantic’s Joshua Green observes that Haley Barbour isn’t the only potential 2012 GOP candidate to be once endorsed by Ronald Reagan.
Ben Smith of Politico has identified what he predicts will be the “best campaign ad of 2012.” It will be a Haley Barbour spot featuring something any GOP hopeful would kill for: Ronald Reagan’s endorsement, which he bestowed during Barbour’s 1982 Senate campaign. Here’s Reagan:
I’d like to take a moment to talk with you about our country’s future and a very special leader – Haley Barbour. The problems of the 1980′s are rapidly changing and demanding new solutions and fresh vigorous ideas. I’ve learned first hand that Haley Barbour has the intelligence, courage and experience to make a great United States Senator. These are difficult times but slowly and surely we are making America prosperous again. With leaders like Haley Barbour we can look to the future with confidence and hope.
I agree that will make a compelling ad. But I wouldn’t award the Oscar just yet. That’s because the 2012 GOP primary will quite possibly feature two Reagan-endorsed candidates, and just as many Reagan endorsement ads.
by John Browne, Senior Market Strategist at Euro Pacific Capital
Following the huge gains made by Republicans in the midterm elections, it was widely expected that President Obama would use the State of the Union address to signal a major policy shift toward the center of the political spectrum. On the surface, at least, he appeared to do just that, hinting that he took budget management very seriously and that Americans should be prepared for shared sacrifice. However, as the final applause still echoed in the House chamber, many astute pundits were left trying to make sense of the many contradictory policy prescriptions the President proffered.
Classical political maneuvering dictates that when clouds are grey, politicians must offer good news, tell jokes, and remind us warmly of our childhood (or in Obama’s version, America’s triumph over Russia in the Space Race). Disclosure of specific measures should be avoided at all costs. President Obama followed these tactics closely.
While he did address plans to cut non-defence, discretionary federal spending – a small fraction of the overall budget – the President also announced his intention to increase spending on several existing and new initiatives. The scope of the new initiatives will surely eclipse the modest cuts pledged.
Liberty Maven
by John Browne, Senior Market Strategist at Euro Pacific Capital
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