Posted by Brian
Woke up this morning to what I had already assumed would be the "big announcement" when I went to bed. Mitt Romney has picked
Rep. Paul Ryan as his Veep running mate. Not that I'm some clairvoyant, especially after it leaked that the announcement was being held in front of the USS
WISCONSIN battleship. Pretty much a no-brainer.
Anyway, upon turning on the news this morning, and seeing that my hunch had been confirmed, I thought that Ryan should be a pretty solid pick for Romney. I still do. After watching him back in 2009, at the White House debt reduction meetings, in which he ran circles around everybody in the room, both Democrats and Republicans, I have watched Paul Ryan. Every time I have seen him , either in an interview or giving a speech, he is fully prepared. You can agree or disagree with his positions, but no one can accuse Paul Ryan of being ill-prepared in his debates. He is also likable. He doesn't destroy his opponents with clever sound bites or personal attacks. He beats them with irrefutable evidence to back up his points. Paul Ryan is a formidable opponent, not to be taken lightly.
The Dems and the Obama White House are saying that they are thrilled with Romney's choice, but I think that the truth is that they are scared spitless with Paul Ryan on the ticket.
This should be a winning ticket for the Republicans. But not so fast.
I have also been browsing Twitter today and the Ron Paul'ers are in an uproar. (Aren't they always?) There are a lot of thing that I like about Ron Paul and his economic policies. I think the GOP would do well to listen to him on those. In fact, some of them already may be based on the recent vote in Congress to audit the Fed. But, on a lot of other issues, I just happen to disagree. The problem with the Paul supporters is that they are like the Obama-zombies from 2008. It's more of a cult-status thing. He is this young generation's "Rocky Horror Picture Show", with a hell of a lot more on the line than dressing up, and remembering to bring toilet paper and newspapers. The selection of Paul Ryan has hit the Paulinists like holy water at an exorcism. It's not just the whining and complaining. We know they're going to do that. It's the number of them pushing for third-party votes and write-in votes.
Others treat him like he's Justin Bieber .
Still others are threatening to move out of the country if Mitt Romney wins the election. Really? So, they're willing to stay in the country if Barack Obama is President, and see Mitt Romney as a bigger threat?
That should tell us all we need to know about some of these people who support Ron Paul. What kind of person would rather let their country collapse under Barack Obama, a person bent on taking us on a path to Marxism/socialism, rather than vote for someone who is not their "perfect" candidate. Yet, they see themselves as some sort of Paul Revere.
Some Paul supporters are legitimately concerned for this country and where it is heading. But they are not, as I far as I can tell, the majority of his supporters.
Many of his supporters who I have talked to and/or interacted with on social sites, are not much different than many of the Obama crowd. Self-centered and self absorbed. These are the "High Times" Paul'ers who really only care about legalizing marijuana and other drugs.
There are also the anti-Semitic Paul'ers who support the Hamas -backed Palestinians, and talk constantly about the "neo-Cons", their term for Jew-loving conservatives. and complain about U.S. Aid to Israel. Notice that they never complain about aid to the PLO, or other countries in the Middle East. Why is that?
Regardless of their reasons, Romney would be well served to give Paul some kind of a role in his administration. Say, overseeing all things at the Federal Reserve. The RNC could also give Ron Paul some time at the GOP convention. This should not be done in a vacuum, though. Paul needs to speak to his supporters and unify them behind Romney for this election. Though their percentages may be small, there are enough to hand this election to Obama, just as
Ross Perot ensured Bill Clinton victories in '92 (below) and '96.
Those Ron Paul supporters who end up doing a write-in campaign, or voting for libertarian Gary Johnson, may fashion themselves as Paul Revere, but if Barack Obama wins reelection in November, they will have only succeeded in being Benedict Arnold.
