Rand is still our best shot for 2020.

[farreri]

why not a rich libertarian instead? Somebody like Peter Thiel. Or Elon Musk.

Or famous, like Penn Gilette, or Drew Carey.

Stossel!

 

[LibForestPaul]

Shot for what? Presidency? Do you think it matters?

No. A quasi-libertarian as POTUS means nothing.

From reading history, it seems that peoples emotions must get riled for some libertarian issue.

My best guesses:
51% want guns banned outright
80% want gun laws similar to NY and NJ.

75% want Soc Sec
80% love public schools
90% want IRS to go after "rich" people

100% have no idea what a Fiat currency is or what the banking cartels are.
90% have never heard of Free Masons.
95% never heard of Bilderberg Group

95% believe in forced private integration
99% want power over their neighbors

Again shot at what? Hamiltonians won, the Bill of Rights failed. We have a government of the moneyed interest.

Work on educating your friends and family, local issues and local power, move to Montana or New Hampshire, something of import.

 

[ThePaleoLibertarian]

I doubt it. Rand is an excellent senator, but he's was a terrible Presidential campaigner, and did absolutely everything wrong this election season. No one here or in his campaign heeded the warnings of people of like me who saw the strategy was a losing one from the beginning. It's rare that people who do poorly in a primary one election year go one to win it the next. He would have to completely reinvent himself, and, and I doubt he has it in him. He's just too thoughtful and not enough of a shark, which is why he should be President, but also why he never will.

 

[Chester Copperpot]

Adam Kokesh 2020.. DIsband the federal govt

 

[TheTyke]

I agree that Rand is the best candidate we have at this point. Though overshadowed by media, celebrity, and maybe flawed messaging this year, I can't think of anyone else who can make a stronger candidate. It's ridiculous and propaganda that the loss of one election, which almost no politician has over a 1% chance of winning, heralds the death of the liberty movement. On the contrary, the liberty movement has multiplied our representation in congress many times over - to Rand, Massie, Amash, Jones, Clawson, Blum and a handful of other allies like Lee, Brat and Sanford. A few years back, it was just Ron Paul. We have to continue to work to increase that movement and those positions, find and train up more allies, and keep the fires of liberty burning.

There are a lot of different strategies out there - for my part, I think shooting our allies or encouraging non-participation while the government steamroller runs over us is not helpful at all, and we should follow the example of Ron Paul and others, who used politics and elections to advance their principles and wake up millions of people.

Don't back down or allow ourselves to be marginalized - that's exactly what the establishment worked and paid to achieve. Not EVER going to give them what they want.

 

[r3volution 3.0]

There's no one else in the liberty-verse with the stature to make a serious attempt in 2020.

Will he run? I don't know, I hope so.

Can he win? Yes, but much depends on events outside our control.

If 2020 is another "throw out the beaners and bomb the ragheads" type cycle, he won't win.

If it's more like 2012, focused on economic issues, he'll have an excellent chance.

stop thinking about the presidency and start trying to get liberty friendly people into congress and on the state & local level

We should do both.

We're much more likely to win local and state races, but nothing brings the movement together like a POTUS run.

It's relatively hard to get people excited about state/local elections outside of their own state/locality.

I think he means it. I mean he found out how all the people that should have allied and supported him were more than happy to backstab and attack him. Why on earth would he bother to give it another go? I mean the people he most aligns with worked to defeat his candidacy.

Yup

I wouldn't blame him if he didn't run again, but I hope he doesn't go that route.

 

[redsrule2500]

If Donald Trump wins the election in November, Rand Paul could challenge him in the Republican primaries in 2020.

This makes more sense than the OP. I still think Rand just doesn't have the emotional feels needed for the average voter. Rand is too intellectual and speaks way too much about things people don't understand...Trump uses feelings/emtions to get voters. Rand couldn't do that.

I wish we could put Rand's message inside of a Trump messenger!

 

[Libertas Aut Mortis]

Guys....why dont we all just run for house of representitives in the next go around....we know all of the tricks in the book. We can have the 'D' or the 'R' or whatever by our name, and we can focus onthe issue that voters care about the most (meaning showing some passion while talking to them at a second grade reading level, and trying not to get their hearts pumping too much).

Once we get in, the people are idiots, amd will re elect us again, and again, and again (see congress for evidence), and we can really stir the pot! We already have the framework and support group here.....

Go team!

TheTexan for Speaker
RoninTruth for Chairman of the House Unamerican Activities Committee

 

[RonPaulGeorge&Ringo]

He could be an even better Senator if he's not always positioning himself for a Presidential race.

 

[Rad]

I think the biggest issue is do you want a Ron or a Rand? If you want a Rand you need to find someone who can get through the establishment spidey senses to gain the ring of power with their support! If you want Ron we need to find a really honest ballsy speaker that can motivate people.

 

[tjv123]

Amash and Massie seem to be more unabashedly libertarian than Rand is. They aren't afraid to say the unpopular thing if it is the truth. When I hear Amash speak, I am reminded of Ron's quote
"Speak up, speak often
and don't worry about those that
at this point cannot understand,
as they can never un-hear
what we tell them."
That is the kind of attitude that inspired the origination of the Liberty movement and the only thing that will rekindle it. Also, by 2020, millennials will be the majority voting block, their ideology most closely aligns with Amash/Massie and Amash can finally capitalize on his record of explaining every vote on social media etc.

 

[Peace&Freedom]

I think the biggest issue is do you want a Ron or a Rand? If you want a Rand you need to find someone who can get through the establishment spidey senses to gain the ring of power with their support! If you want Ron we need to find a really honest ballsy speaker that can motivate people.

Definitely, based on the 2016 experience, we need a Paul-minded candidate with a William Wallace alpha vibe. Someone who will really go after getting the Tea Party, cultural right, and outsider voting blocs. I could see Rand being the VP of that successful liberty candidate.

 

[Anti-Neocon]

Definitely, based on the 2016 experience, we need a Paul-minded candidate with a William Wallace alpha vibe. Someone who will really go after getting the Tea Party, cultural right, and outsider voting blocs. I could see Rand being the VP of that successful liberty candidate.

Any ideas of who that is going to be? Rand may not be the best for that but I still think he's the best out there. Then we can get Massie in the senate, Amash as VP. Amash 2028, Massie 2036

 

[CPUd]

Definitely, based on the 2016 experience, we need a Paul-minded candidate with a William Wallace alpha vibe. Someone who will really go after getting the Tea Party, cultural right, and outsider voting blocs. I could see Rand being the VP of that successful liberty candidate.

The 2 types don't mix; well they do, but what comes out is Ted Cruz.

 

[Peace&Freedom]

Any ideas of who that is going to be? Rand may not be the best for that but I still think he's the best out there. Then we can get Massie in the senate, Amash as VP. Amash 2028, Massie 2036

The best national candidate (speaking without names attached) would be someone with consistently pro-liberty positions, who can and will seek out and engage reachable voting blocs beyond the liberty base. Regarding the latter, Ron and Rand did not do this. I don't see Amash or Massie doing this.

Maybe Napolitano can, Adam Kokesh more possibly can. Alex Jones could. So could the late Aaron Russo (the other guy in my avatar), but he's not among us now. Kurt Russell? I have no idea---though if he ran like one of his characters, say, Snake Pliskin, or Wyatt Earp, anything's possible. "We've had it with tyranny, the tyrants are finished! We're going to take our country back to liberty. You tell 'em we're coming. You tell 'em I'm coming! And hell's coming with me!"

The 2 types don't mix; well they do, but what comes out is Ted Cruz.

It doesn't have to end up as a Ted Cruz, but the candidate has to do more than embody the liberty base. More to the point, running an education-only style candidacy does not create a winning coalition. You don't just speak core things to a core audience, you have to actively reach out to energize a mass audience, or enough segments of that audience to win.

 

[Aratus]

Donald Trump could pick Ted Cruz
for the same reasons why Mitt Romney
picked Paul Ryan, or John McCain
chose Sarah Palin. VEEPs are both very
important and also utterly foolish
at the same time. Lets look ahead as we
keep our eyes on the prize. SCOTUS.


Lets forgive each other for how we vote
or don't on the fall POTUS election. Lets
try to back civil libertarians on the local
level, even if its two evils we must weigh.
if we all could agree to gather again as the
dust clears, maybe we may find a way. a path.

 

[RonPaulMall]

Any ideas of who that is going to be? Rand may not be the best for that but I still think he's the best out there. Then we can get Massie in the senate, Amash as VP. Amash 2028, Massie 2036

Dave Brat is probably the liberty guy with the best grasp of how to frame things in a way that appeals to the broader audience. None of the Liberty folks in the House are high profile enough to make a run yet, but under a Trump Presidency there will be plenty of opportunities for Liberty Republicans to make a name for themselves both championing (on things like immigration and foreign policy) and fighting (on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties issues) Trump policies.

 

[Aratus]

the Libertarian Party is gaining converts. wonder why...

 

[John117]

He tried to please everyone, threw the coalition his father built on the ground and tried to play nice with the left. That is why he lost.

 

[jmdrake]

Oh jeez, not this whining and bitching again.

There are just as many people, me being one, who figure we (we meaning the grassroots, loose knit coalition of Ron Paul people) were the ones who got stabbed in the back, sacrificed on the alter of political expediency, for perceived short term gain, that proved to be worthless.

^This. One thing to learn from Trump 2016 is if people think you stand for something, whether you actually do or not, they will stick with you. Supposedly this movement believes in free markets right? Well the market spoke. Rand's strategy didn't work. Quit blaming the customers. One thing that pisses me off more than anything is that when people talk about Ron supporters who no support Bernie Sanders we hear "Screw them! They don't understand libtard-tea!" We don't need them to think exactly like us. We need their donations and their votes! The most common complaint I heard about Rand from people who were democrats but supported Ron was "I just don't understand Rand." Who's fault is that?