Badger Paul
Member
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2007
- Messages
- 3,718
This is not an "I told you so" post. Having doing nothing for Rand 2016 other than a small contribution, I will not be an asshole to those worked so tirelessly to help the campaign. As much I was starting to get annoyed at the incredible optimism of kbs and PCU and LatinsforPaul in spite of the polling, I understand what they were trying to do. You've got to give yourself a chance to win before you do so and there would have been no chance for victory if they hadn't made a million calls or signed up 1,000 precinct captains and 10,000 Iowa students. I think they were being sincere as far trying to accomplish which give supporters a reason to hope. Even I was starting to wonder if they were right or at least than Rand was going to do better than his polling. Obviously that wasn't the case. I know how much it hurts. Losing in politics is like getting slugged in the gut. It's not like watching your favorite sports team lose. There you can't control what happens on the field, the court, or the ice. In politics you think you have some measure of control.
But as I said before, what I don't want Paul supporters to do is blame themselves or think if they had just made one more phone call or contact it would have made a difference. No, it would not have. After nine years, this point must sink into the Liberty Movement, Paul Movement, Freedom Movement or Whatever-You-Want-To-Call-It-Movement: You cannot organize your way to the Presidency. You can't enthuse your way to the Presidency. All of this, while important, cannot make up for a bad candidate and on that count Rand has to bare the bulk of the responsibility.
For all the talk of Rand being more polished and articulate than Ron and a better campaigner he wound up with fewer votes in a caucus with another record GOP turnout. And there are a litany of reasons why this was. Rather than go through them all and set off endless debate about them, let me give you an example of what I mean. I read a story (and it may have been in the New Yorker, I can't quite remember) Rand was campaigning at a student gathering for him in Des Moines. After he gave his speech, he left. Just up and left. He didn't stick around, didn't talk to people in the room and make the one-on-one connections that all politicians who run for President in Iowa and New Hampshire do to deepen the commitment of their supporters. This has nothing to do with being too busy (and when will Pauls ever learn no one gives a crap if they make every goddamn quorum call or committee vote back in Washington? Enough with this perfect attendance garbage!). It may well be Rand is too much of an introvert and just not comfortable in these situations. I know the feeling, which is why I'm not running for public office higher than county commissioner. But when you do things like that, you leave people cold, like you assume their support because who you are or what you say. As Bill Clinton once famously said "People don't care what you know until they know you care." Rand should have thought about this long and hard before he decided to run for President. He should not have felt obligated to run. He needed to be clear to himself "I'm going to run for President and I'm going to do what it takes to win." I don't think he ever was, at least not until the late fall when he actually did a better job both in debates and on the stump and the campaign ran better. But by then it was too late.
Now on to brass tacks and reality: The campaign is pretty much done. It's just a matter of when they pull the plug (and if you think Rand getting pressure to drop his Presidential campaign now for his Senate re-election and you haven't seen anything yet ). The only chance Rand had was a good showing in Iowa would jumpstart the campaign in New Hampshire and so on and so forth. Not going to happen. So now what after Rand pulls out? Well that's really up to him. First he has to decide whether he wishes to even stay in politics to begin with. Part of me think he wishes he was back in Bowling Green at his practice. He has to decide is this what he wants to do for the rest of his life or much of it. If so, then he'll run for re-election.
And he'll probably win if he does. But this not much of an accomplishment, not like it was in 2010 in the primary. It seems now in Kentucky that Republicans can run trained seals for office and win. So does Rand really want to be company man for the rest of his political career? McConnell's cabana boy? Since I've heard a lot other crazy ideas this morning here's mine: Maybe Rand should run for re-election as a member of the LP? Maybe he can convince Massie and Amash and few others to join him. Wouldn't that be a political bombshell right now if he announced? Wouldn't that get him more attention than fading away in the GOP primaries? The reason I think he should consider this is the fact the top three vote-getters in the Republican Party right now are some of the biggest boobs and non-Freedom candidates in American politics. Libertarians cannot and should not feign indifference to this or believe the GOP is going to be theirs by inheritance someday. They do not have the support inside the party to make a claim on it. Does Rand, after saying he would do everything he could to bring down Trump really wish to run on the same ticket with him this fall? Or someone he despises like Cruz or another neocon Like Rubio? Why not? You want shake things up in U.S. politics, here's a great opportunity. If not, the Rand enjoy kissing McConell's arse from now into the future. How did his endorsement work out by the way?
As for the rest of the Movement and its elected officials, they need to stake stock in their political careers and see where they wish to go. Hopefully if they do run for statewide office it will be a wise choice rather than foolish fling which will only get themselves beat and end their careers. But it falls into their hands now. The cause needs to go beyond the Pauls. This isn't a cult. While they have achieved much in their careers 9certainly we wouldn't be here without them) it's also obvious they're just not capable of making the big jump to the White House. No shame in that but the time for realism needs to set in. As for this community at RPF, its been amazing we've stayed together all these nine years as people come and go, get banned, come back, die and be born again. This isn't a swan song because I'm sure in some bored moment I'll pop my head in, but we all move on as time progresses. No one wants to lose the sense of community and family we've created yet at the same time it's going to be hard without a Presidential candidate as a focal point to keep it together. I hope I'm wrong and I sure hope this doesn't become a militia hub as many will no doubt reject politics in the wake of this election or become a place to entertain the crazy. We have achieved a lot, don't kid yourself on that bit there's still a long way to go. Yet I will tell you this about politics, once the bug gets in you, you don't quite get rid of it. As Hunter Thompson once wrote, "it's better than sex". You'll be back, in some way or form, you'll be back. Myself included.
But as I said before, what I don't want Paul supporters to do is blame themselves or think if they had just made one more phone call or contact it would have made a difference. No, it would not have. After nine years, this point must sink into the Liberty Movement, Paul Movement, Freedom Movement or Whatever-You-Want-To-Call-It-Movement: You cannot organize your way to the Presidency. You can't enthuse your way to the Presidency. All of this, while important, cannot make up for a bad candidate and on that count Rand has to bare the bulk of the responsibility.
For all the talk of Rand being more polished and articulate than Ron and a better campaigner he wound up with fewer votes in a caucus with another record GOP turnout. And there are a litany of reasons why this was. Rather than go through them all and set off endless debate about them, let me give you an example of what I mean. I read a story (and it may have been in the New Yorker, I can't quite remember) Rand was campaigning at a student gathering for him in Des Moines. After he gave his speech, he left. Just up and left. He didn't stick around, didn't talk to people in the room and make the one-on-one connections that all politicians who run for President in Iowa and New Hampshire do to deepen the commitment of their supporters. This has nothing to do with being too busy (and when will Pauls ever learn no one gives a crap if they make every goddamn quorum call or committee vote back in Washington? Enough with this perfect attendance garbage!). It may well be Rand is too much of an introvert and just not comfortable in these situations. I know the feeling, which is why I'm not running for public office higher than county commissioner. But when you do things like that, you leave people cold, like you assume their support because who you are or what you say. As Bill Clinton once famously said "People don't care what you know until they know you care." Rand should have thought about this long and hard before he decided to run for President. He should not have felt obligated to run. He needed to be clear to himself "I'm going to run for President and I'm going to do what it takes to win." I don't think he ever was, at least not until the late fall when he actually did a better job both in debates and on the stump and the campaign ran better. But by then it was too late.
Now on to brass tacks and reality: The campaign is pretty much done. It's just a matter of when they pull the plug (and if you think Rand getting pressure to drop his Presidential campaign now for his Senate re-election and you haven't seen anything yet ). The only chance Rand had was a good showing in Iowa would jumpstart the campaign in New Hampshire and so on and so forth. Not going to happen. So now what after Rand pulls out? Well that's really up to him. First he has to decide whether he wishes to even stay in politics to begin with. Part of me think he wishes he was back in Bowling Green at his practice. He has to decide is this what he wants to do for the rest of his life or much of it. If so, then he'll run for re-election.
And he'll probably win if he does. But this not much of an accomplishment, not like it was in 2010 in the primary. It seems now in Kentucky that Republicans can run trained seals for office and win. So does Rand really want to be company man for the rest of his political career? McConnell's cabana boy? Since I've heard a lot other crazy ideas this morning here's mine: Maybe Rand should run for re-election as a member of the LP? Maybe he can convince Massie and Amash and few others to join him. Wouldn't that be a political bombshell right now if he announced? Wouldn't that get him more attention than fading away in the GOP primaries? The reason I think he should consider this is the fact the top three vote-getters in the Republican Party right now are some of the biggest boobs and non-Freedom candidates in American politics. Libertarians cannot and should not feign indifference to this or believe the GOP is going to be theirs by inheritance someday. They do not have the support inside the party to make a claim on it. Does Rand, after saying he would do everything he could to bring down Trump really wish to run on the same ticket with him this fall? Or someone he despises like Cruz or another neocon Like Rubio? Why not? You want shake things up in U.S. politics, here's a great opportunity. If not, the Rand enjoy kissing McConell's arse from now into the future. How did his endorsement work out by the way?
As for the rest of the Movement and its elected officials, they need to stake stock in their political careers and see where they wish to go. Hopefully if they do run for statewide office it will be a wise choice rather than foolish fling which will only get themselves beat and end their careers. But it falls into their hands now. The cause needs to go beyond the Pauls. This isn't a cult. While they have achieved much in their careers 9certainly we wouldn't be here without them) it's also obvious they're just not capable of making the big jump to the White House. No shame in that but the time for realism needs to set in. As for this community at RPF, its been amazing we've stayed together all these nine years as people come and go, get banned, come back, die and be born again. This isn't a swan song because I'm sure in some bored moment I'll pop my head in, but we all move on as time progresses. No one wants to lose the sense of community and family we've created yet at the same time it's going to be hard without a Presidential candidate as a focal point to keep it together. I hope I'm wrong and I sure hope this doesn't become a militia hub as many will no doubt reject politics in the wake of this election or become a place to entertain the crazy. We have achieved a lot, don't kid yourself on that bit there's still a long way to go. Yet I will tell you this about politics, once the bug gets in you, you don't quite get rid of it. As Hunter Thompson once wrote, "it's better than sex". You'll be back, in some way or form, you'll be back. Myself included.
