Where are the Ron Paulers going to go when he loses?

[lame54]

Just wondering

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. Well if we stop putting them down,

they just might come our way.

[TwilightZone]

5. Why should "we" stop putting them down?

The guy is a racist, anti-government con artist who has created a small but vocal and visible group of followers that appear almost cult-like in their behavior and their inability to look beyond the surface of their candidate.

Many would say that the scorn is rather well-deserved.

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. See it works like this - the candidate who gets the most votes WINS

So would you rather Ron Paul supporters vote for a Democrat or a Republican? Now keep in mind how many of them there are. And they also have incredible fund raising skills. I will gladly welcome them when they walk into the Democratic campaign offices.
:hi:

[TwilightZone]

9. Don't hold your breath.

I don't foresee a lot of racist, anti-choice, anti-environmental regulation, anti-hate crimes legislation, anti-social program voters strolling into Democratic campaign offices.

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. I can see a lot of people who want to end the war, impeach the president,

not bomb Iran and use our military more responsibly walking through that door. I know a LOT of Ron Paul supporters and I don't know any who are racist, anti-choice, anti-environmental regulation, anti-hate crimes legislation, or anti-social program voters.

It's amazing what you learn when you give folks a chance.

[TwilightZone]

16. If they're not racist, anti-choice, etc....

Then they're supporting the wrong candidate and the wrong party.

[proud2BlibKansan]

31. You also need to be on my email listserves

We have been trying to point that out.

[Occam Bandage]

27. If they're not anti-choice, and not in favor of ending regulations and social programs,

then they're dumb as hell for supporting Paul.

[proud2BlibKansan]

32. No not dumb just attracted to him for many of the things he says

And I gotta hand it to his campaign. They are actually out in the community trying to win these people over. There is a Ron Paul group here who meets once a week and has movies and parties and dinners. When I go to our weekly Sunday vigil against the war this afternoon, they will be there. None of the other campaigns will be there.

I am the political chair for two DFA groups. And the Ron Paul campaign has contacted me. Some of the Dem candidates have local workers who are already part of our DFA group but most have never been to one of our meetings or even contacted us about hooking up with our members. But Ron Paul's people have.

So you bet he has a lot of supporters. He has worked at it. I think all aspiring politicians could learn lots from this campaign.

[mmonk]

43. Or they are anti-bush and anti-fascist with no where to go.

They aren't used to the idea of voting democratic.

[Occam Bandage]

50. See: Dennis Kucinich.

If they're anti-fascist but yet in favor of social programs, they probably don't have a whole lot of experience with voting Republican either, so that doesn't explain it.

[mmonk]

52. Use your imagination.

I could easily show someone how libertarianism is a bad idea.

[Yurovsky]

15. There may be a few ...

that are simply confused and believe that the anti-Iraq war stance is what this guy is all about. Hopefully they are open-minded enough to see better candidates across the aisle.

But the majority are probably mouth-breathers who drive around with a noose in the back of their pickup "just in case they need it". Not likely voters for any Dem in 2008 (and they are probably the folks most likely to be targeted by the Secret Service if Obama gets elected).

[proud2BlibKansan]

34. Wow I really disagree

He may attract some people like that but I sure don't know any.

I am very active in the anti-war movement and there are a lot of Ron Paul supporters in most of my groups. They aren't a majority but they are a presence. And they are largely committed activists who have voted Democratic in the past. Some are Greens. And every single one of them is a likely Dem voter.

[Yurovsky]

40. The ones that I see...

tend to be pretty scarey looking "America-firsters", the kinds of people who formed militias back in the 1990s, mostly to get out of paying taxes.

It would be interesting to get all of the Ron Paulers in one room to take inventory. Something tells me that it would be a real mixed bag, based on your observations.

Having said all that, it's still not a large number of people. Of course, there aren't many of us in the Dennis Kucinich camp either, so I probably shouldn't be throwing any stones.

[B Calm]

42. Excuse me.. but Ron Paul supporters are not what we call liberal!

[sendero]

18. I can't see libertarians..

.. ever going Dem, sorry.

[skipos]

2. His whiter supremecist supporters

will probably vote for the Republican nominee no matter what. The anti-choicers will probably vote for the Republican nominee. The pot smokers will probably vote 3rd party.

[AndyTiedye]

38. RP Has Some Anti-War Voters Too

We should be able to get some of those.

[MonkeyFunk]

3. Back to the 18th century

[Benhurst]

10. The 18th Century, The Age of Enlightenment, The Age of our Founding Fathers?

[MonkeyFunk]

11. Yes

the age of slavery and debtor's prisons.

Do you honestly believe life was better then?

[Benhurst]

20. Not in some ways, but in others, yes. I would certainly trade our

current leaders in this country for those we had in the 18th Century.
And the horrors of modern warfare would have been unthinkable in the 18th Century.


I found the 18th century a strange choice since most other centuries were worse and had fewer redeeming qualities.

[MonkeyFunk]

23. because

Paul himself claims he wants to go back to a "constitutional" government, which in his mind, is the kind of government we had in the 18th Century.

[Benhurst]

35. Well, we certainly don't have a constitutional government now. Our current "leaders"

have not only allowed the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to be shredded, they have participated in their destruction. And they are allowing a vile little unelected turd to rule by executive fiat, establishing a foundation for a dictatorship. What's left of the Republic is hanging on by a thread. And our "leaders" are afraid to stand up for us and the government of our forefathers.

Powell may be a nut and a racist; but he is right about what's happening to our constitutional form of government and the corrosive influence of the military/industrial complex.

[MonkeyFunk]

36. I wish we could set up a parallel country

run by ALL of Ron Paul's principles. Then his fans could go live there - they'd be screaming to be let back in here within 5 years.

Which countries have smaller government and lower taxes than the US that you would like to live in?

[Benhurst]

37. I would prefer to live in a country that doesn't spend most of its money

on the military/industrial complex, which devotes its resources to taking care of its own people rather than killing and maiming those in countries which have done us no harm.

I would prefer to live in a country with a government constrained by the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and willing to honor rights under the Magna Carta our ancestors enjoyed even before they broke away from England.

Yeah, Ron Paul is wrong about most things. But he is right about others. And he is in no way powerful enough to be a threat, and I doubt he and his fellow Libertarians ever will be.

But the Bush Crime Family and our complicit "leaders" are doing harm to the Republic on a daily basis, so much so we may never be able to get our country back.

[MonkeyFunk]

39. I'm not saying things are right here

but I am saying Ron Paul and his supporters would make it much, much worse.

[denem]

46. Australia - small military = smaller government

They spend the money saved on useless things like single payer health insurance and strong social security.

[TwilightZone]

13. Or maybe the late 19th and early 20th centuries - the Robber Baron Era, to be exact.

[saltpoint]

4. My fear is that many of them will become Michael Bloomberg voters.

The more pathetic the Puke field looks, the more attractive the arena must be for Michael Bloomberg.

He's no dummy, he's got the grit and the cash, and the Republican field is miserably weak for 2008.

Agree with upthread posters who suggest we need to nominate someone who can make a pitch for these voters.

[Zynx]

51. I doubt most Paul cultists want anything to do with Bloomberg.

Bloomberg banned transfats in NYC, whereas hardcore Paulbots say that the Civil Rights Act was an unconstitutional intrusion into private property.

[ingac70]

Hopefully urge him to go third party. n/t.

[tuckessee]

6. Home.

Many are tired of holding their noses & voting for what they consider the lesser of two evils. That's why they're enthusiastically motivated about RP.

If RP loses, most will simply not vote in the presidential race.

I can't see them voting for Hillary or Rudy.

[thereismore]

7. Ron Paul will go independent. He cannot endorse anybody, remember? nt

[baldguy]

12. Lyndon LaRouche of the 21st century?

[sendero]

17. McCain..

.. would be my guess.

[TahitiNut]

19. There's NO candidate whose base is homogenous. Not one.

Such broad brush presumptions form mere playgrounds for feces-flingers. :shrug:

[EstimatedProphet]

24. What about the Clinton base?

[MonkeyFunk]

28. how is the Clinton base homogenous?

The demographics seem to be pretty varied - she gets a lot of support from women, african-americans, LGBT people....

Electorally, I've seen no sign of agreement on a second-choice candidate among Clinton supporters.

[EstimatedProphet]

30. That was the point I was working towards...

[TwilightZone]

21. They may not go anywhere - they can always write him in.

[Alexander]

22. Back to their KKK meetings.

[AlCzervik]

25. back to their anti government militia compounds.

there were Paul Supporters when i went to see Obama in San Francisco, they were pretty funny, i talked to them for a bit.

[Occam Bandage]

26. Half will go back to Stormfront.

The other half will go back to complaining about Sony on Digg.

[indiekid420]

29. Good To See proud2Blib Gets It

Maybe they will join the LP and play spoiler, much in the same way the Naderites handed the keys to the White House to Shrubya.

[PetrusMonsFormicarum]

33. to the bar

Libertarians are hard drinkers.

I think a lot of folks who are supporting him are hearing him say that we are headed toward a fascist state (this morning on Tim Russert's show). What they're not hearing (or bothering to listen to) is the same Repug corporatist bootlicking through neglectful anti-regulation and promotion of social ignorance. He's just wearing our skin, folks. Underneath, he's no good news.

[Perry Logan]

41. Back to their bunkers.

[Neshanic]

44. Two words. Xanax and padded rooms.

[mmonk]

45. Third party.

There's no where welcoming for them.

[madokie]

47. I say for the most part they will vote repub

ron paul is no friend of mine just because he opposes the war in Iraq. one issue out of umpteens don't make for good

[Anarcho-Socialist]

48. They'll be sucked in

by the offer of "free stress tests" by people in yellow shirts with the word "Dianetics" written on them.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

49. Back to their McMansions to read Ayn Rand bodice rippers.

[TwilightGardener]

53. Bloomberg/Hagel--a free-market capitalist and an anti-war Republican.

Bloomberg might be a little too "nanny-state" for some Paul supporters, but I doubt he'd pursue the same policies in a campaign--too smart for that.