Ron Paul delivered an excellent speech at CPAC this afternoon. He received a lot of applause and cheering for many of his lines. There were some obvious skeptics and shaking of heads in the audience as well, but overall he was on his game and hit all of his talking points and then some.
He talked about his bill calling for more Federal Reserve transparency. He claims it is getting bipartisan support in the Congress. That would be a great first step. He also spoke about abortion, foreign policy, and individual vs. groups with respect to liberty.
There were a few lines that I loved. It reminded me of the many rallies during his campaign in 2007 and and early 2008.
When I heard William “BJ” Lawson speak for the first time in person I said to myself, “This is the Ron Paul Republican who can win”. Then I checked out his opponent David Price and immediately thought, “I know Lawson can win.” At first glance, the problem is the heavily Democratic North Carolina district he is in, but if you dig a bit deeper, Lawson is the perfect candidate for a district of this kind. He is not your normal present day Republican. Lawson has the ability to attract those on all sides of the political spectrum much like Ron Paul did during his own campaign.
Below you will discover the Liberty Maven rankings for BJ Lawson on the Paul-O-Meter, where candidates and current lawmakers can be rated on how closely they are in line with Dr. Ron Paul on the issues. To learn about the Paul-O-Meter methodology please see this article. You may also assign your own rankings or request a candidate be added to the system.
Continue reading to see if BJ Lawson truly deserves the moniker “Ron Paul Jr.”
The final question that was posed to Bob Barr during the live debate event at Reason Magazine’s headquarters in Washington DC was regarding the snub of Ron Paul and Paul’s endorsement of Chuck Baldwin.
10:48- Bob Barr: [Responding to, "Final question: You had a very public falling out with Ron Paul. What went wrong? And what would you say to Paul supporters?"] They ought to be disappointed in Ron Paul. Endorsing a theocratic candidate makes little sense whatsoever. What we’re trying to do is what we hoped Ron Paul would have done, which is to provide true focused leadership.
As hard it is for me to admit, I think Bob Barr is right here to a certain extent. I think there were many who were disappointed in Ron Paul. Of course there were also many who were disappointed in Bob Barr as well. As I’ve written before, I am disappointed in both.
While I don’t believe Baldwin wants a theocracy as Barr accuses, Baldwin’s historical statements on policy backed by religion worry me greatly. So it matters little to me that Ron Paul is endorsing Chuck Baldwin now. I will not vote for him.
Bob Barr’s type of “true focused leadership” is likely different than Ron Paul’s type of leadership. Paul is focusing on education and activism. Barr is all about furthering his own standing in the election and propping up the Libertarian Party as legitimate.
Now after the Barr snub, Paul chooses to endorse Baldwin, more or less. This comes off as a bit like a couple of stubborn kids arguing over toys when what we lovers of liberty need is a bit of unity. Unity is no longer in the cards when it comes to voting for liberty this year.
I’m disappointed in both Barr and Paul, but the real travesty is the wasted potential for spreading the freedom message to the masses. Paul blew it when he originally chose to help his own party’s nominee by endorsing no individual candidate. Barr blew it by over-reacting to Paul’s decision.
They are equally culpable, but because Barr will be the one on the ballot in my state he will get my vote and Ron Paul will get my support for his educational and activist efforts.
If they won’t show unity themselves, I will bridge their differences with my own advocacy.
It is now time to rate the vice presidential candidates on the Paul-O-Meter. We start with John McCain’s VP pick Sarah Palin. The perfect strategic pick for McCain, Palin has little history. She’s been Governor of Alaska for less than two years, but now that McCain’s handlers are pulling Palin’s puppet strings it is difficult to see a difference between the two.
Here we examine Palin on 20 issues to see how she stacks up to Ron Paul. Hopefully this will help some see the lips through the lipstick.
The final Presidential candidate we will be rating on the Paul-O-Meter is the Green Party’s nominee, Cynthia McKinney. For a description of the Paul-O-Meter see this article. We have previously completed ratings for John McCain, Barack Obama, Bob Barr, Chuck Baldwin, and Ralph Nader.
It is now Ralph Nader’s turn to be viewed through the Ron Paul colored glasses of the Paul-O-Meter. The Paul-O-Meter rates the candidates on how closely they resemble Ron Paul on the issues. For a complete description and methodology of the Paul-O-Meter please see this article. Thus far we have rated Barack Obama, John McCain, Bob Barr, and Chuck Baldwin.
UPDATE: Chuck Baldwin’s Communications Director posted a comment clarifying his position on a few of the issues. This has modified Baldwin’s overall score. Read the comments for more details.
It is now Constitution Party candidate Chuck Baldwin’s turn to be spun through the Paul-O-Meter. So far we have rated Barack Obama, John McCain, and Bob Barr. Will Chuck Baldwin beat Bob Barr’s current high score of 88? Read on to find out.
In the next installment of our Ron Paul Paul-O-Meter effort to rate the Presidential candidates we hold John McCain to the Ron Paul liberty fire. Previously, we rated Barack Obama. For details about the Paul-O-Meter see the description.
Today we begin rating the Presidential candidates with our rating for Barack Obama. The Paul-O-Meter will give us a total score on 20 criteria. The closer a candidate gets to 100 points the more that candidate is like Ron Paul. For each criteria we will give the score and a short justification for that score. Read the results for Barack Obama below.
Who needs a Ron Paul endorsement when you have the Paul-O-Meter?
Everyone knows the perfection of Ron Paul. He is already a living legend. All future candidates are damaged goods simply because they are not Ron Paul. There is only one Ron Paul. So to see how other candidates measure up to his perfection we are introducing the “Paul-O-Meter”.
The Paul-O-Meter ranks candidates on a scale from 0 to 100 depending on how closely they are in agreement with Ron Paul on chosen criteria. Since no candidate can possibly equal Ron Paul, the highest score on the Paul-O-Meter attainable for candidates other than Ron Paul is 99. To simplify the ranking, each candidate will be graded from 1 to 5 on each of the 20 criteria. The 20 criteria are listed below, along with a short description for each.
NEW: Now you can submit your own ratings using our new Paul-O-Meter web polling service. Check it out here.
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