Al Fraken's Operation KAOS Ron Paul's forces quietly plot GOP convention revolt again

[OrangeEmpire]

Ron Paul's forces quietly plot GOP convention revolt against McCain : Top of the Ticket : Los Angeles Times

Virtually all the nation's political attention in recent weeks has focused on the compelling state-by-state presidential nomination struggle between two Democrats and the potential for party-splitting strife over there.
But in the meantime, quietly, largely under the radar of most people, the forces of Rep. Ron Paul have been organizing across the country to stage an embarrassing public revolt against Sen. John McCain when Republicans gather for their national convention in Minnesota at the beginning of September.
Paul's presidential candidacy has been correctly dismissed all along in terms of winning the nomination. He was even excluded as irrelevant by Fox News from a nationally-televised GOP debate in New Hampshire.
But what's been largely overlooked is Paul's candidacy as a reflection of a powerful lingering dissatisfaction with the Arizona senator among the party's most conservative conservatives. As anticipated in late March in The Ticket, that situation could be exacerbated by today's expected announcement from former Republican Rep. Bob Barr of Georgia for the Libertarian Party's presidential nod, a slot held by Paul in 1988.
Never mind Ralph Nader, Republican and Democratic parties both face ...

... potentially damaging internal splits that could cripple their chances for victory in a narrow vote on Nov. 4.
Just take a look at recent Republican primary results, largely overlooked because McCain locked up the necessary 1,191 delegates long ago. In Indiana, McCain got 77% of the recent Republican primary vote, Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney, who've each long ago quit and endorsed McCain, still got 10% and 5% respectively, while Paul took 8%.
On the same May 6 in North Carolina, McCain received less than three-quarters of Republican votes (74%), while Huckabee got 12%, Paul 7% and Alan Keyes and No Preference took a total of 7%.
Pennsylvania was even slightly worse for the GOP's presumptive nominee, who got only 73% to a combined 27% for Paul (16%) and Huckabee (11%).
As Politico.com's Jonathan Martin noted recently, at least some of these results are temporary protest votes in meaningless primaries built on lingering affection for Huckabee and suspicion of McCain.
Given the long-since settled GOP race, thousands of other Republicans in these states, who might have put up with a McCain vote, crossed over to vote in the more exciting Democratic primaries, on their own for Sen. Barack Obama or at the urging of talk-show host Rush Limbaugh, who sought to support Hillary Clinton and prolong Democratic bloodletting.
According to a recent Boston Globe tally, Paul has a grand total of 19 Republican delegates to Romney's 260, Huckabee's 286 and McCain's 1,413.
In the last three months, Paul's forces, who donated $34.5 million to his White House effort and upward of a million total votes, have, as The Ticket has noted, been fighting a series of guerrilla battles with party establishment officials at county and state conventions from Washington and Missouri to Maine and Mississippi. Their goal: to take control of local committees, boost their delegate totals and influence platform debates.
Paul, for instance, favors a drastically reduced federal government, abolishing the Federal Reserve, ending the Iraq war immediately and withdrawing U.S. troops from abroad.
They hope to demonstrate their disagreements with McCain vocally at the convention through platform fights and an attempt to get Paul a prominent speaking slot. Paul, who's running unopposed in his home Texas district for an 11th House term, still has some $5 million in war funds and has instructed his followers that their struggle is not about a single election, but a long-term revolution for control of the Republican Party.
So eager are they to follow their leader's words, that Paul's supporters have driven his new book, "The Revolution: A Manifesto," to the top of several bestseller lists.
While Paul has consistently refused a third-party bid, he has vowed not to endorse McCain, a refusal mirrored by hundreds of his supporters who have left comments on The Ticket in recent weeks. And, no doubt, they'll flock back here today to spread the gospel below.

Thoughts?

[CovVol]

I like Ron Paul ideals and I would vote for him over the rest of the field but he's pulling some crap like Zell Miller pulled a few years back. If he disagrees with his party so much, why is he still a member? He need to walk out the door and do his own thing. This makes him look like a turncoat.

[GAVol]

He's got some good policy positions. Too bad he comes off as a nutty and seems to garner about 75% of his support from the kook element.

[CovVol]

Originally Posted by GAVol

He's got some good policy positions. Too bad he comes off as a nutty and seems to garner about 75% of his support from the kook element.

Wait a tic... arent genius's misinterpreted as being kooks as well?

[GAVol]

Originally Posted by CovVol

Wait a tic... arent genius's misinterpreted as being kooks as well?

That's the trouble with kooks. About 1% of the time they are indeed actual geniuses. The other 99% of the time they are goofballs, nutcases and cult leaders.

[volinbham]

Paul will start his rant about Monetary Policy and the nation will fall asleep.

[OrangeEmpire]

There is a huge support base in the county I live in.

You would think Paul is a some sort of god.

[CovVol]

Originally Posted by volinbham

Paul will start his rant about Monetary Policy and the nation will fall asleep.

Isnt that what alot of the campaigning in Washington is about? It's always about money for this and money for that. Our Government spends too much of it as is. It may be boring but it's worth listening to.

Originally Posted by GAVol

That's the trouble with kooks. About 1% of the time they are indeed actual geniuses. The other 99% of the time they are goofballs, nutcases and cult leaders.

I dont know if he's the 1% but the kind of change he proposes is actual change.

[volinbham]

Originally Posted by CovVol

Isnt that what alot of the campaigning in Washington is about? It's always about money for this and money for that. Our Government spends too much of it as is. It may be boring but it's worth listening to.

He's talking about the Federal Reserve actions on interest rates and the money supply as well as the Gold Standard etc.

[GAVol]

Originally Posted by CovVol

I dont know if he's the 1% but the kind of change he proposes is actual change.

He reminds me of the guy running for President of the 5th grade class that runs on the "No Homework" platform.

[allvol123]

Originally Posted by GAVol

He reminds me of the guy running for President of the 5th grade class that runs on the "No Homework" platform.

Ah...that dude rocks.

[volinbham]

I ran on the "Teacher, you forgot to assign us homework" platform.

Soundly defeated and routinely beaten

[allvol123]

[Rasputin_Vol]

Originally Posted by GAVol

He's got some good policy positions. Too bad he comes off as a nutty and seems to garner about 75% of his support from the kook element.

For the 1 millionth time, nobody can control who supports them. All they can do is send their message out and hope the message speaks to the average voters sense of reason. If people are attracted to your campaign for other alterior motives, what is he supposed to do?

If you are a conservative, I hope you are satisfied with the crap of a candidate in McCain that the GOP has miraculously shoveled out there. Just on my ride back home from work today, the GOP lapdogs were going over the evolution of how McCain became the front runner. It litterally required all of the stars to align for him to make it this far. McCain needed a one note candidate riding on the 9/11 coattails like Rudy to not campaign in the first 5 or so primary states and get lost in the shuffle by the end of January, the most conservative candidate and crowd favorite in Fred Thompson to run the most inept, unlively campaign in modern history, a Mass. liberal with an image of being an aristocrat, and a southern governor to split the conservative/fundamentalist votes in Iowa and South Carolina to push McCain at the top of the ticket.

Here is all that had to happen. Nominate Ron Paul. You lock down and address all of the domestic conservative principles that the GOP has been traditionally since Reagan and Goldwater, and then the GOP national committte goes out and runs a campaign that focuses on house/senate seats, to contniue the war on terror. Campaign on the Terrorism issue, and say that if you elect a GOP house/senate majority, that a declaration of war vote will be issued from congress. You satisfy the pro-war crowd because you can contniue the war in a legal/constitutional manner, and at the same time, you satisfy the faction in the party that wants us to defend our borders, lower taxes, have fiscal responsibility, and defend the constitution.

The GOP made a major cluster f**k in not selecting a true conservative. Heck, Tancredo or Duncan Hunter are more conservative than Huck, McCain, Romney, or Rudy, and ironically enough, the most conservative GOP candidates couldn't get a fair shake during the debates and nominating process. I would settle for Tancredo or Hunter or Paul over that crap the GOP is putting out there.

[OrangeEmpire]

I miss TVA.... bring it back!