Ron Paul and the GOP Plan to Take Back the Libertarian Vote

[enter`name`here]

http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_272618806.shtml

In 2006, the libertarian vote, and the Libertarian Party in particular was arguably responsible for several Republican losses in Congress. Libertarian candidates, took away enough votes from Republican contenders that it cost them the race, and Congress. Libertarian voters served as a very large group of swing voters that would support liberty-minded candidates regardless of party affiliation.

Just before the 2006 elections, David Boaz, head of the libertarian think-tank, CATO, published "The Libertarian Vote" which detailed: "The libertarian vote is in play. At some 13 percent of the electorate, it is sizable enough to swing elections. Pollsters, political strategists, candidates, and the media should take note of it."

After the 2006 elections, it became clear to GOP strategists that the libertarians must be controlled. Their main question: "How do you heard cats?" Libertarians are fiercely independent and are notoriously suspicious of outside influence. The only way to gain their trust and then their vote, is to have one of their own serve as the pied piper.

Enter Ron Paul.

In 1988, Paul was the Libertarian presidential candidate, garnering a depressing 431,000 votes, a mere half of a percent of the vote. That ended Paul's career within the Libertarian Party and later he rejoined the Republican Party and was re-elected to Congress.

Even though Paul reassumed his "R" designation, libertarians across the nation still showed great respect for him over the decades. In March of 2007, Ron Paul officially announced his presidential candidacy on C-Span's Washington Journal.

The fervor for the campaign slowly began to build and then reached a tipping point after the infamous "blowback" confrontation with Rudy Giuliani in an early GOP debate.

While the original plan had been to distract libertarians past the "working season" of the 2008 election cycle, Paul's support became nearly uncontrollable.

He became a leading fundraising with over $30,000,000 in donations and a grassroots hero.

Despite lack-luster debate performances, Paul's libertarian message resonated with the constituency that Boaz had touted in 2006.

Paul became a force within the liberty movement but was merely a nuisance to the GOP and the media. As his primary numbers proved, even the power of his grassroots Revolution could not influence the outcome of the Republican nomination.

Now as Super-Tuesday has passed, Ron Paul and his staff are in an awkward position of admitting that they cannot win the GOP nomination but they also cannot release their hold on supporters as they would likely move to the Libertarian Party or another minor party after being snubbed by the Republicans.

Last week, Paul accomplished that in a brilliant, Machiavellian move that allowed him to stay in the race for the presidency but redirect his supporters energy to changing the Republican party and, of course, helping him maintain his congressional seat in Texas.

In an e-mail to his supporters, Paul admitted that his "chances of a brokered convention are nearly zero." He also said without ambiguity that he would not seek a third party run. His message also informed his base that he would be cutting down his campaign staff but still "fighting for our ideas within the Republican Party." He closed by soliciting support for his congressional race in addition to his presidential campaign.

It was a brilliant political move.

He left his supporters scratching their heads on the meaning of the message but still firmly planted under the Paul and GOP banner.

If Ron Paul continues to string along his supporters until the Republican Convention in September, it will effectively dismantle the libertarian vote and the Libertarian Party. After September, the Libertarian Party will have no time to regroup as ballot access and filing deadlines would have long passed.

As a result, the Libertarian candidates that remain will make little impact on the 2008 elections, giving Republicans a fighting chance against their Democrat challengers.

The Ron Paul campaign may be known as own of the most successful political subversions of a large constituency in modern history. Some may call that "evil" but in the political strategy world, it was an amazing accomplishment.

So the GOP plan is to splinter itself into warring factions???! And this is somehow 'brilliant'?

 

[Crickett]

men. We must be the only ones who know that, though. We should write them.

 

[shooter_tx]

they suggest Ron Paul is in some kind of conspiracy to help the R's win, lol

LOL, that's gotta be some kind of a record.

 

[Goldwater Conservative]

Paul's candidacy has made me MORE likely to vote Libertarian if he (or another true conservative) isn't the Republican nominee. I was disgruntled and planning on ignoring this election, like I did in 2006, until he came along. Now I'm motivated to work within the GOP, but that doesn't mean I'll necessarily vote that way. I held my nose in 2004, but I'm voting my conscience from here on out. Principle before party.

 

[jmdrake]

Paul's candidacy has made me MORE likely to vote Libertarian if he (or another true conservative) isn't the Republican nominee. I was disgruntled and planning on ignoring this election, like I did in 2006, until he came along. Now I'm motivated to work within the GOP, but that doesn't mean I'll necessarily vote that way. I held my nose in 2004, but I'm voting my conscience from here on out. Principle before party.

+1000 for truth! Had Ron Paul not run I probably would have gone for Kucinich and might have drifted to Obama. Now I'm DEFINITELY voting 3rd party unless some minor miracle happens and Ron runs 3rd party. Besides the libertarians are already working on ballot access. And if they need any petitions signed I'd be glad to help.

Regards,

John M. Drake

 

[misterbig]

LOL that article is retarded. Talk about conspiracy theories. Its pretty obvious how Ron Paul evolved:

1. Learned how our economy and the Federal Reserve worked

2. Decided to get involved in politics

3. Ran for president as a Libertarian

4. Learned by experience that the two party system makes a third party run IMPOSSIBLE

5. Became a Republican

6. Ran for president as a Republican

DOH! He took the only sensible path. Third party runs don't work, and probably never will work. The best solution is to re-infiltrate the GOP and instill conservative / libertarian principles again.

 

[English Mastiff]

Yeah, won't they be suprised when a bunch of regisered Republicans write in Ron Paul's name on their ballots.

I most definitely second that!

 

[CountryboyRonPaul]

Psychological warfare at it's dumbest

If anything, Ron Paul has helped the Libertarian Party, and hurt the Republicans.

Unless Republicans are willing to make concessions to Libertarians, they will be hurting bad this year.



However, the Democrat's are very polarizing, and who knows, McCain might just be able to pull this out of his butt. All I know is that none of the three "front-runners" are getting my vote, and I don't really think they're going to get many of yours.

 

[MrHellebusch]

HA! How many RP supporters are going to vote for a different GOP candidate for POTUS?

 

[WilliamC]

The only Republicans I'll ever vote on a National level for are Ron Paul Republicans.

That is those Republicans who are either endorsed by Ron Paul or who run both on his issues and who are not afraid to associate themselves with his good name.

If there are no Ron Paul Republicans in the race I will vote third party.

 

[Maltheus]

I'll stay in the GOP until the national convention and then I plan to change my registration the day after (either to indy or lib). But I'll likely vote for the Libertarian. I use to vote lib, but I didn't even bother voting in the 2004 election because I had given up. Now I'm back to voting libertarian. I'm sure I'm not the only one in that boat. Paul's campaign will end up helping the Libertarians, not harming them.

As for Ron's whole, let's stay in the GOP and fix it plan, while I love the guy, I won't be following him over that hill. I will not stay in the party of Bush-McCain for some lost cause. If they had voted for Romney, I might have considered it, but a party that would nominate a John McCain is a party that cannot be redeemed. After all this BS talk about electability, the GOP ends up nominating the least electable candidate they have. At this point, I'm just hoping that Obama takes the nomination (not that I like him) because the prospect of Hillary or McCain is too much for me to process.

 

[ziggrl]

Vote Libertarian

 

[Xenophage]

This guy doesn't understand libertarianism in the least. What libertarian is going to vote for Obama or McCain?

Frankly, the libertarian movement hasn't fractured the Republican party at all. Libertarians vote for liberty candidates no matter what their political affiliation, but that rarely includes Republicans (or Democrats). We're all writing in Ron Paul or voting third party in November.

While its true that this has definitely hurt the 2008 LP's numbers, its been nothing but good for libertarianism in general.

 

[francioshouse]

This is an interesting article. While I too refuse to believe that was some kind of pre-orchestrated campaign, the fact does remain that Ron Paul's campaign has nearly eliminated the Libertarian Party. Party fundraising is fractional compared to other election years, and even Libertarian Presidential candidates have complained about a lack of funds in their own campaigns. ballot access is a very serious issue, in several states.

If you are someone who would consider voting Libertarian if Ron Paul did not get the Republican nomination, I strongly encourage you to explore Libertarian candidates now, and pick one as your second choice should Ron Paul fail. Give that 2nd choice candidate a small amount of money to ensure their survival. Because yes, if we wait till after the RNC convention in Sept. It will be to late for Libertarians to get on the ballot in many states. Then it won't matter if you want to vote Libertarian because you will not have the option to. They won't be on the ballot.

I'm sure Ron Paul is not part of a conspiracy but the end result points made in this article are valid.

 

[Liberté]

At some 13 percent of the electorate, it is sizable enough to swing elections.

In there wildest dreams.. 13% pffttt.. LMAO.

Despite lack-luster debate performances, Paul's libertarian message resonated with the constituency that Boaz had touted in 2006.

Who? LMAO. Not even a footnote in history.

Last week, Paul accomplished that in a brilliant, Machiavellian move that allowed him to stay in the race for the presidency but redirect his supporters energy to changing the Republican party and, of course, helping him maintain his congressional seat in Texas.

Oh, that sneaky Ron Paul.. anyone that knows anything about RP knows this is bullshit.


This is typical LP delusion.

 

[ArrestPoliticians]

The Republican party will be conquered.