There is a concerted attempt to put Ron Paul and his supporters back in the box, so to speak--he ran, he mobilized the fringe, he lost, now let's move on to the main event of Obama and Romney.
Ironically, both Obama and Romney would agree on that approach.
Ron Paul has interjected libertarianism and non-interventionism into the mainstream conversation. My own candidate, Gary Johnson, would not have been a possibility without Ron Paul's existence.
Right now the only bulwarks keeping ideas like those of Paul and Johnson out of "the mainsream"--by which I mean picking up millions of votes and changing the face of electoral politics are the media blackout and the bureaucratic rules of the GOP.
The media blackout is crumbling, because today's media is no longer exclusively top-down. Right now, one of the last effective weapons of enforcing obscurity is the exclusion of Johnson/Paul questions from presidential polling, and that's fall apart.
The real last barrier--the organization of the two-party system--may hold out (just barely) for one more election. But if Gary Johnson qualifies for significant matching funds, and Ron Paul comes as close to derailing the GOP convention as many people are starting to believe/fear is possible, then all bets are off.
Two stories today--Ron Paul's revolution has successfully moved beyond the fringe--and how Ron Paul (and Libertarians) have moved the national conversation--make that point quite well.
Ironically, both Obama and Romney would agree on that approach.
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| Ron Paul and Gary Johnson: crashing the gates |
Right now the only bulwarks keeping ideas like those of Paul and Johnson out of "the mainsream"--by which I mean picking up millions of votes and changing the face of electoral politics are the media blackout and the bureaucratic rules of the GOP.
The media blackout is crumbling, because today's media is no longer exclusively top-down. Right now, one of the last effective weapons of enforcing obscurity is the exclusion of Johnson/Paul questions from presidential polling, and that's fall apart.
The real last barrier--the organization of the two-party system--may hold out (just barely) for one more election. But if Gary Johnson qualifies for significant matching funds, and Ron Paul comes as close to derailing the GOP convention as many people are starting to believe/fear is possible, then all bets are off.
Two stories today--Ron Paul's revolution has successfully moved beyond the fringe--and how Ron Paul (and Libertarians) have moved the national conversation--make that point quite well.
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