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27 Feb 2012 16:03

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Politics: Ron Paul hasn’t attacked Romney once during the debates

  • Ron and Mitt, bosom buddies: A lot has been made of the mysterious affinity between Ron Paul and Mitt Romney. In addition Romney offering his private jet for Paul’s use, many note that, despite sharing almost none of the same policy positions, the two rarely go after each other during debates. ThinkProgress analyzed the forums, and its findings seem to confirm this: During the 20 Republican forums, Paul hasn’t attacked Romney once. We’d like to learn more about their methodology before drawing any hard conclusions from this (what counts as an “attack?”); we’re also curious as to why candidates like Jon Huntsman and Herman Cain weren’t included in the analysis [Edit: Herman Cain is actually represented on the chart; thanks to robajob for pointing that out]. Nevertheless, it is a rather odd phenomena, with explanations ranging from “they’re just friends” to “Romney promised Ron Paul’s son the VP slot” (which seems rather far-fetched, but not altogether impossible). It’s nice to have some numbers to back up the observation, and it’ll be interesting to see how the two handle Virginia’s primary, where they’re the only two candidates on the ballot. [many thanks to ThinkProgress, both for the analysis and the image] source

10 Jan 2012 22:36

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Politics: Ron Paul the academic

  • Some people want their freedom to practice their religious one way, maybe another way. Some might not even want to practice it at all. But freedom, if you understand it, you should all fight for freedom, because you want to exert your freedom the way you want…[People] say, how are you going to compromise and give up some of your beliefs in order to get some things passed? You don’t have to compromise. What you have to do is emphasize the coalitions that people want their freedoms for a different reason and bring them together.
  • Ron Paul • In his New Hampshire speech tonight. What’s notable here isn’t that Ron Paul is talking about liberty. What’s notable is that, in his tactical assessment of how to win supporters over to a movement, Paul sounds a whole lot more like a political theorist than a politician. The advice Paul is giving is very pragmatic–if you want to get people to support a cause, you must illustrate to them how they will benefit from the triumph of that cause. Of course, politicians use this technique all the time (the PATRIOT act, etc), but they rarely articulate that that’s what they’re doing. Paul is speaking in much more academic–and honest–terms than politicians normally do (with the possible exception of Newt Gingrich, though, to borrow a joke from Lewis Black, Newt is to academics what KFC is to chicken). If nothing else, it’s refreshing.  source

16 Aug 2011 20:32

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U.S.: Ron Paul cops a move from T-Paw’s playbook

  • Tim Pawlenty may no longer be running for president, but his influence on the race continues to be felt. If you don’t believe us, check out this new Ron Paul commercial, which mimics Pawlenty’s wonderful Michael Bay-style campaign ads. Paul’s take is admittedly a bit more toned-down, but the general approach is the same–trick young (or disengaged) voters into thinking they’re watching a movie trailer, then flip it on ’em and start pitching the candidate. This ad appeals to electability, making the spurious claim that only Ron Paul can defeat President Obama in the general election. It’s an attempt to widen his appeal, which is devoted (to say the least), but still rather narrow. source