There is some infighting within the Ron Paul movement.
Ron Paul is not going to be the GOP nominee for 2012. He will not be on the ballot in November. So what should his supporters do next, to further the cause of liberty?
The loudest camp is the one calling on people to leave the Republican Party and support Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate for President. This is understandable. Ron Paul was the LP candidate for President in 1988. His message and policies are somewhat in line with the LP platform. As a former Libertarian candidate myself, I’m sympathetic with the idea.
But it’s not the best choice – not for me, not for the movement, and not for our country.
Ron Paul started blazing a path through a dark wilderness. He walked a long and lonely trail for many years. The video below shows the movement beginning to catch fire, and tracks some of the progress.
That path is through the Republican Party. Thanks to Ron Paul and other leaders within the movement, we have made progress within the GOP. The most obvious example is the presidential primaries. In 2008 Paul did reasonably well in a few states, but was mostly an afterthought. He did much better in 2012, including second place in New Hampshire and a number of other states.
The presidential campaign was important for the movement, but there are other areas of progress that will carry more weight in history. We have elected a number of Paulist candidates. Most notable is his son, Rand Paul, elected to the Senate from Kentucky in 2010. Others include Utah Senator Mike Lee, Michigan Congressman Justin Amash, and there are more.
On the policy front, Ron Paul’s Audit the Fed bill passed the House of Representatives by a large margin with bipartisan support. Paul has been talking about the Federal Reserve since the 1970s. This battle continues in the Senate, going on right now. Rand Paul spoke about it at the RNC. He went further and talked about auditing the Pentagon.
Another big issue is the national debt. Ron Paul got people talking about it. The Tea Party movement took it up. This created a massive problem for congressional insiders when Tea Party Republicans in Congress resisted increases in the debt ceiling. As a result of that resistance, the federal government now faces the fiscal cliff, another example of winning other elections is so important.
At the local and grassroots level, another key battle is about influence within state and county GOP organizations. We are making great progress here, especially in Iowa, Nevada, Maine, Louisiana and Oklahoma. The most notable figure here may be A. J. Spiker, the Iowa GOP State Chair. Looking forward to 2016, that kind of influence in a key early state could be critical in the next presidential race.
All of this progress is being made through the GOP, not outside of it.
The problem with Johnson’s campaign is that it’s a distraction. Johnson shows little interest in the Fed. Here’s a picture of his list of top issues from his campaign website:
The Federal Reserve is not mentioned at all. Nor does Johnson talk about the Constitution, or States’ rights, which are central to the Tea Party movement as a whole and to Ron Paul’s message over the past 40 years.
Looking at this with a cynical (or perhaps conspiratorial) eye, the purpose of the Johnson campaign is to damage and divide the Ron Paul movement. That would explain why the campaign relies on a long-time GOP insider who brags about his work for Richard Nixon. That’s the same Richard Nixon whose destructive monetary policy motivated Ron Paul to get involved in politics.
And that would also explain why the Johnson campaign has been attacking Paulist leaders like Rand Paul and Jesse Benton. Here’s Gary Johnson calling Rand Paul a “sellout.”
Attacking each other does not help the movement.
GOP insiders are scared of us. They are statists. They believe in big government and crony capitalism. They love to waste our money, especially when they give it to their buddies. The Ron Paul movement within the GOP is the single biggest threat to the gravy train the statists have been living off of for decades.
The Libertarian Party is mostly composed of good people. But the simple truth is that the LP has no influence over policy at any level of government. It is more dysfunctional than the two major parties, and that’s saying a lot. That’s because leading libertarians is like herding cats. Which is an excuse for a funny video:
Gary Johnson is not the right person to lead a movement inspired by Ron Paul. He is not a libertarian – he’s a statist who likes marijuana. He does not care about the Constitution or the Federal Reserve. He believes in an interventionist foreign policy.
Between 2008 and 2012 the movement was carried forward not by Gary Johnson or the LP, but by Campaign For Liberty, founded by Ron Paul.
The obvious leader for the Ron Paul movement going forward is Ron Paul himself. And next in line is the man who spent more time with him than anyone else, his son. Rand Paul is focused on the issues that matter to the movement, and he’s actually doing something about it in the Senate. Here’s Rand speaking at the Republican National Convention about issues at the core of the movement.
When someone tells you that the way forward for the Ron Paul movement is to leave the GOP, keep in mind that this is exactly what the GOP insiders want. They want us out of the GOP. Tio Rio said this well on the Daily Paul. Or listen to Julie Borowski:
If it makes you feel better to vote for Gary Johnson in November, or to write in Ron Paul, that’s just fine. But don’t leave the GOP. Think Costanza – Do the opposite. Get more involved in your local Republican Party. Join your county committee. Support Paulist candidates in 2012 and 2014. And get ready for 2016. We will have a candidate, and he or she will need your help.
Well, Warren this is where we part company. When you left the Republican Party and obtained the Libertarian Party nomination in New York, I contributed to you campaign. So I am disappointed with your attempt to discredit Gary Johnson. Good luck back in the Republican Party. When you decide to leave it again, let me know and I will be happy to support you again.
Here’s an idea….
Unless you’re in a battleground state (one that historically does not go R or D) vote Libertarian (Gary Johnson).
This way we can maximize the Libertarian party votes (perhaps even over the 15% needed for debate inclusion in 2016) without hearing the Republicans whine about how third party voters stole votes from Romney. It could be a win-win situation. Americans get a 3rd option in 2016 and the Republicans get Obama out of office
Although, IMHO Romney will do nothing to improve our situation that the normal financial cycle won’t automatically correct and won’t restore any of the civil liberties we’ve lost in the past 20 years. And anybody who thinks he’ll get ousted in the 2016 primaries if he doesn’t do a good job ought to look at history and the crap the RNC pulled a few weeks ago.
Finally, people on the fence about Obama should be told about the unconstitutional his re-signing the Patriot Act (violates 1st, 4th, and 5th Amendments….in the least) his signing statements and abuse of “Executive Orders”.
I’d ask George, JC and others to read the post. This is not about the 2012 presidential election. It’s about the future of the Ron Paul movement.
If it is not about the 2012 presidential election, why did you spend so much space putting Gary Johnson and the Libertarian Party down?
It’s about the future of the movement. If you’re a diehard LP guy, you’re not going to like it. I get that.
But if you’re interested in changing policy in the United States, then the LP has not gotten it done. We are making progress in the GOP and that’s the path I see forward.
I’m putting down Gary Johnson (and not really so much the LP – not sure where you get that) because Gary Johnson is dividing the movement. Why did he call Rand Paul a sellout? Because he’s trying to harm the movement. Period.
Find me where Ron Paul or Rand Paul or Justin Amash have said something bad about Johnson or the LP.
The movement was harmed when Rand Paul endorsed Mitt Romney. It was truly shocking and sad to see.
That’s just whining. The movement was not harmed at all by that.
The movement continues within the GOP. Get on board or get out of the way.
Hmm … Nice slogan. ???
Warren, you don’t remember Rand Paul calling the libertarian label an “albatross”? Come on now. All Gary Johnson did was say what a lot of peopler were feeling at the time about Rand’s betrayal to his father.
Dan I think you’re misquoting him. The context was that he felt his opponents thought he could hang the label on him as an albatross, not that he felt that way.
Regardless, neither Paul is a pure libertarian. They are Constitutionalists. A pure libertarian President would legalize marijuana nationwide, overruling the states. A Constitutionalist would end the federal drug war but would not interfere with state laws. That’s what both Pauls have said they would do.
So the “libertarian” label is inaccurate for both. They are both “Liberty Republicans” but really they are Constitutionalists first. They respect the constitutional limits on the federal government. That’s important to libertarians, but it’s not the core of the libertarian message.
Similarly, the focus on the Fed is not a purely libertarian issue (though the LP has been strong on the gold standard for a long time).
I still don’t understand how my strategy would hurt the GOP. If anything it would be better for the movement because the GOP would have to incorporate some of the LP views in order to appeal to the LP voters.
As far as getting involved…..I have neither the time, money or desire to deal with it. Being we’re down to a single income and I hardly have time to get to the stuff I need to, I would prefer not to frustrate myself with backstabbing politics. With very few exceptions (you and Ron Paul included) I have never felt compelled to assist a candidate in their campaign. Why? Because none of those candidates actually cared about America….the just cared about gaining power and lining their pockets.
JC, I understand. I’m not talking about those who want to vote for Johnson, or write in Ron Paul. I’m talking about those calling for people to leave the GOP.
But on one thing you mentioned: “I would prefer not to frustrate myself with backstabbing politics”
Insiders know that they can’t compete with good people in a fair fight. So they make politics as nasty as possible, to deter good people from getting involved.
Ahhh….well I’ve never been a member of any party.
The thing I find is that the locals seem to be competent enough. I don’t have real issues withthe village or town. Schenectady county could be run better, but I think the high taxes are more of a City of Schenectady issue.
My primary issues are at the State level. The State punishing local schools with their inability to balance the budget by putting the GEA into effect (and then capping property taxes at the same time). And my personal pet peeve is the stupid “Assault Weapon Ban” which has been utterly useless outside of fear mongering (and higher prices and fewer choices for NY gun owners.) I’d love to get that repealed. Unfortunately, with the Aurora incident (which I sincerely believe is more than meets the eye) the government and media seem to be pushing for even more 2nd Amendment erosion.
I don’t really care about the economy (it’ll either sort itself out or tank.) The things I’m most concerned about are my Constitutional rights. Everything else that makes the news is just a distraction to what’s really going on. Politics is a shell game. Keep you focused on thee issues while they palm your rights.