Is RP missing the Health Care issue opportunity?

[RonPaulLibrary]

Is Ron Paul missing the Health Care issue opportunity?

I just sorted the last 20,000 visits to the Ron Paul Library to see what topics people were clicking on. Health Care was #3, after Iraq and Taxes.

It seems to me that Ron Paul has an opportunity to differentiate his campaign from others on the Health Care issue. His approach of open markets vs. national health care should appeal to many who have their doubts that socialized medicine is the answer.

Paul's position that the health care problem is created by too much government interference, is also his message on many other issues -- allowing him to transition people to his way of thinking on those topics too. Reducing the power of the federal government is key to understanding many of Ron Paul's positions.

Paul's position on Health Care seems poorly presented and probably misunderstood by many. It is not covered on his campaign web site issues page, even though it appears to be one of the big issues in this campaign. As a doctor, he can speak from personal experience, he has written extensively on the topic for years, and introduces new legislation on health care reform every year in congress. No other candidate comes close on this issue.

Health Care seems like an issue Ron Paul should own. Is the campaign missing this opportunity?

-----------------------------------------

For the curious, here are the stats on which topics were most popular at the Ron Paul Library. The front page on the site is now sorted in this order:

8% The War in Iraq
8% Taxes
7% Health Care
6% Abortion and Stem Cell Research
6% The September 11 Attacks
5% Other Topics
5% Gun Control and the 2nd Amendment
5% The War on Drugs
4% The War on Terror
4% Border Security and Immigration Reform
4% Freedom and Personal Liberty
4% The Economy and Monetary Policy
4% Education
3% The National ID Card
3% China
3% American Independence and Sovereignty
3% The Role of Government
3% U.S. Foreign Policy
3% The Federal Budget and Spending
3% Social Security
2% Defending the Constitution
2% The Draft
2% Free Trade
2% Privacy
1% Property Rights and Eminent Domain
1% Campaign Finance Reform

-----------------------------------------
www.ronpaullibrary.org

 

[LibertyEagle]

Is the campaign missing this opportunity?

-

YES!

 

[specsaregood]

YES!

AGREED. I would like him to publicly challenge Moore to a debate on the subject. Fred Thompson chickened out; Ron Paul would hit a homerun.

 

[shadowhooch]

Yep, you are absolutely right. He is missing a HUGE opportunity.

What other candidate can speak from personal experience?

He just needs to be careful not to just say that blanket phrase that free markets cures all. He needs to give very specific examples of what he experienced as a doctor - examples of both what is wrong with the system and examples of how he has seen free markets handle those without healthcare.

And you are right, I read his views of healthcare in the RonPaulLibrary.org site.
He should cite the many bills he has tried to pass: $ for $ tax credits, tax breaks per child, negative outcome insurance, and Social Security breaks for the terminally ill.

He would OWN everyone on stage with his first hand knowledge and his background of trying to push through legislation.

But from the debates I've seen him in so far, he really just keeps going back to the free market concept - which is dangerous with most voters because they can't get the full concept without doing some research. Hopefully he takes the "experience" approach vs the "free market" agenda.

 

[spiteface]

I noticed this problem on the "issues' page of the website to. I've been trying to email the campaign about this for a few days but I get a message that their inbox is over quota.

 

[j650]

I noticed this problem on the "issues' page of the website to. I've been trying to email the campaign about this for a few days but I get a message that their inbox is over quota.

I have also emailed them about this a while ago and got a very short reply that said,"Thank you for your concerns." They still haven't put this very important issue on the website and they even have a spot for it on the bottom right side of the Issues page. I said in the email that health care is probably the 2nd or 3rd most important issue behind Iraq and possibly immigration. I also said in the email that Dr. Paul would be wise to hammer this issue more often and he has expertise others don't have by being a doctor. Maybe he thinks people wouldn't understand his truly free market position and are too focused on universal health care. I'm not really sure why he doesn't have it on his website at least, but the email doesn't seem to work.

 

[Gee]

Health care is a much bigger issue among dems than GOPers. That may be why he isn't focusing on it at the moment.

 

[agisthos]

Are you guys kidding? Have a think about this for a moment and put yourself in the shoes of Joe Average.

Health Care is an issue that requires some knowledge about the way regulation has destroyed the competetive market and forced prices up.

But Joe Average in the street has become convinced that if you get the Government out of health care the greedy corporations will raise prices even more.

It is a good move to keep the Health Care issue confused and out of the spotlight. This is one topic that could be used to smear RP quite easily.

 

[Eric B]

Everyone agrees that healthcare in the US is way too expensive. Most GOP er's don't want to see socialization of our healthcare but really haven't heard any alternative from Republicans. Ron Paul has answers we can get behind, an alternative to socialism. This is a major issue for many Americans and RP needs to emphasize his position clearly so that the average Joe can get behind it.


Just a side note: I'm currently pricing worldwide health insurance as I'm a soon to be expat - if you exclude non-emergency coverage in the US - you cut your health insurance cost in half. That means you can be treated anywhere in the world - Hong Kong, Singapore, Europe at private hospitals for better than half the cost. Something ain't right. IMO it's a combination of legal liabilities, restrictive govt. regulation and government mandated charity.