Recent polling indicates Republican candidate Ron Paul is receiving close to a majority of his support from voters who don’t affiliate with the Republican party. Could this scenario be an intentional plan to create chaos within the Republican primary race?
While none can dispute the impact Ron Paul is having on the Iowa and New Hampshire caucus/primary polls, a bit of investigation into just those who actually make up the base of Ron Paul’s support is raising more than a few eyebrows among Republicans, with the potential of Congressman Paul being used as a political spoiler gaining traction among those troubled by both his seeming radical foreign policy positions and refusal to rule out a third party run in 2012 – something that would likely ensure Barack Obama’s re-election victory.
A recent Rasmussen poll indicated the following regarding Paul’s strong showing in Iowa:
Paul has a wide lead among non-Republicans who are likely to participate in the caucus… just 51 percent of Paul supporters consider themselves Republicans.
David Woodard, who oversees South Carolina polling data, stated the following:
Paul’s support is higher among those who usually don’t vote in GOP primary elections.
So the question that is now required is whether or not Ron Paul is a candidate who truly enjoys a bi-partisan grass roots base of support, of if there is a real possibility he is being used by Democratic Party operatives as an primary campaign spoiler to instill further chaos and dissension among Republican voters, and possibly set up a disastrous (for those who wish to see Barack Obama defeated) third party candidacy? There is also the media now attacking Ron Paul as a Republican radical – not as a fringe candidate, but rather one being used to represent the mainstream of the Republican party. Double damage inflicted via the Ron Paul campaign.
One bit of evidence may provide a possible answer – President Barack Obama has said not one word against Ron Paul since the Republican primary race began.
Not one…
Umm… UM! If Ron Paul get support from both parties, and he is doing well head to head with Obama, how is this a bad thing? Are you like Newt and would rather see Obama win. Wouldn’t it just be easier to admit that you have been somewhat of a warmonger? Nah.
No, he gets it primarily from ‘Truthers’ and, more importantly, people who are already Left enough to be voting for the Democrat party, regardless.
It would implode the Republicans.
Can you seriously imagine a Republican nominee who wouldn’t just relax pressure on Iran, but has openly declared that he’d ease off the sanctions already there?
I think the sanctions are just going to hurt the little people of Iran not the Arab Theocracy
I think he is saying its a setup to keep WHAT THE ELITES ON THE RIGHT SEE as an electable candidate from winning.
I like to think folks are waking up to the fact.
If Ron Paul goes small i independent, he will take 11% of the “R votes” 15 % of the “i votes” and 12% of the “D votes” that’s 38% for A WIN!!!
You will see no LAME STREAM media report this.
‘Wouldn’t it just be easier to admit that you have been somewhat of a warmonger?’
Typical Paulan spew.
Paul is not a conservative which is why Christians and conservatives don’t pull for him. BUT, they dont like anyone right now.
Ron Paul is UNELECTABLE due to his age – 76 yrs old (DOB: 8/25/1935) he will be 77 in November! He is a lifelong Washington Insider… He hates Israel…Do you want to create a candidate like this? only DemoncRATS would want to…!!!
Seriously, can any of you out there see Ron Paul as our Commander-in-Chief and an occupant of the White House. I just can’t fit him in there.
What gets me is that the Paulists dont seem to care that he is SEVENTY EIGHT YEARS old.
Stan, really? You can’t figure out your first question yourself? Maybe it’s because those on the left don’t really support him at all and are only signing up as Republicans at the caucus and voting for him all the while being lefty Democrat morons!!!
Nancy,
I went down to the OWS in Seattle with my Ron Paul sign, and most people there DID like Ron Paul, and DIDN’T like Obama. The disgust on the left with Obama is genuine. Just look at head to head polling data. Ron Paul does well, second only to Romney at the moment. Ron Paul can win by a landslide with a mandate to cut the budget $1 trillion the first year. 9/11 was an inside job, to justify wasting trillions of corporate welfare in the sand like Ike warned about. A million dead Muslims, 8,000 dead coalition soldiers. We could have re-powered the whole country with wind turbines for the money wasted there, and would be saving hundreds of billions a year going to the Saudis who support jihad against us. It’s time to wake up out of the Bush neo-con trance before Obama or a neo-con Republican starts a thermonuclear war to preserve “our way of life.”
‘The disgust on the left with Obama is genuine’
Thats b/c Obama is not leftist enough for the Commies.
This is because the Ron Paul campaign is doing this on purpose. He’s trying to take over Obama’s sour grapes. The man is a constitutionalist if there ever was one, and I happen to think he’s right on foreign policy. The US welfare and warfare state are BOTH bankrupting the country.
Open primaries are a blatant non-sequitur; it makes less-than-zero sense to allow non-Republicans to vote in a Republican primary (and the same is true for Democrat, Libertarian, and other parties).
Exactly right Shain!
Hmm. Did it ever occur to you that maybe the dems are pushing the “he’s a kook on foreign policy” meme so that the most electable republican candidate loses votes from conservatives while he winds them from Obama? The POTUS is indeed powerful, but there are other players involved in foreign policy and it seems doubtful that Dr. Paul could immediately pull out of all foreign locales as soon as he takes office. There’d be a huge cadre of people giving him countless reasons why this can’t be done.
Always watch what the left hand is doing. The right hand is merely trying to hypnotize you.
For all those who say they love America but would never vote for Ron Paul, I challenge you to re-examine that stance and ask yourself if you truly think Ron Paul would do as much damage to this nation as Obama has done. He’s not the ideal candidate (there is no such animal), but I would like to propose that he’s still 1000x better than the current Resident. If it comes down to Obama vs. Paul in 2012, I’ll blacken the dot for Ron Paul without hesitation. There is no one more dangerous than the Pretender.
‘He’s not the ideal candidate’
Right, but, imo, ANYBODY but Obama, 2012, which is what the Insider is trying to get across on this website and the GOP is dumb as usual, just like in 08.
You know, it’s taken me a while to see through the rose-colored glasses over Ron Paul’s stance. For the longest time, I have been just like the media ranting that Ron Paul is a whacko. His foreign policy is terrible, his ideology is off his rocker, but when you actually look into Ron Paul’s record, he votes 100% constitutional. Other candidates take advantage of our beloved constitution and vote against it quite often. Ron Paul has never voted against it. That tells me he isn’t an insider trying to make political gain. He stands with the constitution everytime folks. When you actually listen to him speak about foreign policy, he says he would protect America’s borders. If the congress voted to go to war, he would get in there and kick ass and then come home, but only if Congress voted for war. I like his stance because he’s not saying he wouldn’t protect this country, he’s saying we as Americans, should mind our own business and if provoked, he would, by congress approval, go in an kick ass and then come home. That’s the way it should be. It should never have been about “nation building”. That’s what’s wrong with the establishment, they go to war, want to nation build, and spend billions of dollars all the while, making our soldiers fight with one arm tied behind their back. The rules of engagement have not been to win the war, just prolong it in order for our country to tell other countries how to behave. Ron Paul is right! I never thought I would ever say that, but all you need to do is look at his record and know the truth. Just saying!
Long time reader; first time poster.
I’m with you (almost) Montanagal. Used to buy into the “he’s a nut” talk and there are parts of his personality that I don’t care for (but I have issues with a lot of the candidates personalities!), but my research has shown me the same as you have found. He stands with the constitution. I am still somewhat concerned about him protecting the homeland and that is why I am (almost) to where you are.
You know, all of America’s wars since the 1940′s have been “brought on” by the UN. When you listen to Ron Paul, he does sound sort of looney. I used to say the thing I don’t like about Ron Paul, is his foreign policy, but when you actually research these wars we’ve been dealing with, noone wins. America has been kneedeep in wars that the Elites don’t want to win. If they wanted to win, we would, you know it and I know it. The stand Ron Paul takes is accurate. Everyone is always talking Republican, Democrat, Conservative, Progressive, this crap means nothing. It’s about power, that’s it, POWER. Ron Paul isn’t in the game for power, I believe he is a true Statesman, like our founding fathers. Believe me, with mass amounts of research, I have concluded Ron Paul is the guy that can save America’s Republic. Wow! I can’t believe I just said that. Tee Hee! I have been fighting those words for a long, long, time. Do your research folks, our Constitution depends on it.
Tell it to the Marines. Paul voted to repeal DADT.
You do realize they hang ‘gays’ in Muslim lands, dont you?
Ron Paul wishes Israel didn’t exist; Ron Paul wouldn’t have gone to war against the Axis powers, especially Nazi Germany…
Hmmm. Sounds like he has more in common with Ahmadinejad than a Republican.
Source please?
The liberal MSM is holding off right now on RP. Why do you think all the big networks aren’t blasting away at him nonstop yet? They’re waiting until he’s either the republican nominee or the 3rd party candidate and then watch as the attacks on him as a racist, Jew-hating bigot explode on every news source that they control. They’ll be relentless until he’s back under 10% approval in the polls. Keep in mind that Obama is their guy and they’re going to use every trick in the book to get him re-elected. If anyone else other than RP was questionable (like RP is at this time) of running as a 3rd party candidate, that person would be getting a temporary pass by the MSM right now too. If they blow RP out of the primaries now he’s got plenty of time to recoup as a 3rd party guy. All the other republican candidates are done after the primaries with no chance of recovery. That’s why they’re being attacked now. RP will be in the MSM’s cross-hairs next summer if he’s still in the race. It’s all about timing.
Why would Obama mention Ron Paul? Obama thinks he has effectively killed the constitution already.
Dems are not using or manipulating Ron Paul in any way. The success in the polls Paul is now enjoying is the sole result of his grass-roots appeal, which cuts across all party lines. People are sick and tired of the status-quo, and they’ve learned a huge lesson in the last three years . . . Obama is NOT what he led the people to believe he was. Americans are all the wiser. They’re looking at the candidates’ records, and most of them don’t look so good. Ron Paul is the exception.
“Could this scenario be an intentional plan to create chaos within the Republican primary race?”
Doubtful, if you look at Paul’s rise in the Republican candidate for nominee, he still would have to acquire enough support by the Republican convention to seal the nomination; otherwise, the Republicans can use new rules after watching Obama V Clinton primary of 2008 and hand pick a Republican via the Convention. In other words, if the candidates for the Republican nominees fail to meet the required amount of support, the Republican Party leaders can evoke the new rules and hand pick who they want to run. It also means the Republican nominee for President may not even be necessarily presently running for the nomination.
Nicky December 28, 2011 at 10:55 am
“The man is a constitutionalist if there ever was one, and I happen to think he’s right on foreign policy.”
I am compelled to agree with you. With several treaties expiring in 2014, the US’s ability to attack or effectively enforce sanctions becomes obsolete afterwards unless the treaties are extending by the respective powers; the US would have to launch an attack on Iran sparking a declaration of war by Russia, China, Pakistan, Syria, and North Korea as a result. People seem to forget that the NPT encourages members to aid other members in Nuclear Energy and other nuclear development for peaceful means, and Iran is a member. Germany and India seem to have conflicting stances. Germany through Belarus indirectly gains natural gas exports via Russia, and India just over a year ago or so ceded parts of Kashmir to China in response to US drone attacks in Pakistan. Sudan also has an rare earth treaty with China in which South Sudan threatens via teriaries of the Nile River. China is one of the nations leading the charge in dropping the US Dollar as the world’s reserve currency hence one of the national interest justifications to invade in addition to natural resources. Not that Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Leo Gerard, and Jimmy Hoffa is complaining; it enhances the globalization mechanisms in play for international Big Industries and their respective international union groups.
Shain December 28, 2011 at 2:58 pm .
“Open primaries are a blatant non-sequitur; it makes less-than-zero sense to allow non-Republicans to vote in a Republican primary (and the same is true for Democrat, Libertarian, and other parties).
..”
Why should Ideology be used to divide the voters of the populace from voting on the future potential President of the Executive Branch?
MJ December 29, 2011 at 2:13 am .
“Tell it to the Marines. Paul voted to repeal DADT.
You do realize they hang ‘gays’ in Muslim lands, dont you?”
lol. Apparently, you missed that the supreme court had ruled against the unconstituonality of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, which allowed homosexual members of the military to openly join the armed forces and then turns around and makes it a political accomplish for the Obama administration, which is pure and simple political maneuvering. Yes, After the Supreme Court already ruled in favor of gay rights in the military, Obama repealed it, and put it through the political process for no better reason than political maneuvering.
The fact of the matter is the Obama campaign machine believes Romney will be the nominee, which based on campaign contributions and past precedent of voting for yee of the most campaign donations Romney wins the nomination unless he fails to achieve the required support by the convention and the party hand picks someone else.