Ron Paul: The Smarter Politician

PoliticalInquirer.com

When looking at recent actions of the Republican hopefuls, one really has to wonder what is going through their heads, whether it be theirs or their campaign staff. John McCain has made somewhat of a rebound, but he sank quite a bit in the polls after placing number two to Guiliani, undeclared name Fred Thompson was even ahead of him at one point in some polls. Is there any mystery to this? John McCain is the John Kerry of the Republican’s this year. I don’t even want to get in to his flops, but one thing is for certain with him, he will follow the Bush foreign policy to the very end. McCain and about 20% of the population, not much of a base to get elected president.

Then there is current front runner Rudy Guiliani, who is only on stage because he happened to be mayor during a terrorist attack, making him the perfect candidate of the security party…I mean the Republican’s, putting aside the fact that they haven’t made us safer yet. Then there is his stances on abortion and gun rights, which go against the basic beliefs of the party itself. Recently, the leader of Focus on the Family, a conservative group, said he would sit out the election if Guiliani was picked. Oh, and he also said he wouldn’t vote for McCain either. Conservative leaders are turning away from the Republican presidential candidates.

The best way for lesser candidates to get noticed, is to take on one of the frontrunners on the issues, and that is just what Ron Paul did during, and after, the foxnews debate in South Carolina with Rudy Guiliani. Paul spoke the truth about the harmful aftertaste of our interventionist policies, which got the scrutiny of Guiliani. He gained the initial applause of the South Carolina audience, but since then, Paul has stayed on the attack.

Conservative media kept the pressure up on Paul, mostly Sean Hannity who was doing coverage of the fox debate. Multiple people told Paul to back out from his foreign policy assumptions because they were “un-American.” Paul responded directly to this topic on a CNN interview, where he turned the tables, and said:

“No, there’s no reason too, I think he’s going to need to back away from his statements pretty soon, because I found two very clear quotes in the 9-11 commission report that says that very thing, that our foreign policy that has a very great deal to do with their willingness and desire to commit suicide terrorism, so I suggest he read the 9-11 commission report.”

The Ron Paul campaign also put out a youtube video specifically titled “Educating Rudy“, which shows Paul discussing a variety of issues, including foreign policy. We sacrifice quite a lot in return for security from terrorism. Then, it is said we should go over to the Middle East to fight them there, so that they don’t come here. Paul responds to this idea by saying:

“I find great fallacy in that logic. They came over here, because we were over there.”

Which leads us to a cycle. We give them more reasons to attack us, and their attacks give us more reason to give up our freedom, and go to war, spending billions of dollars that we can’t afford. We borrow to pay for our Iraq operations, and now here is the Bush administration, on the doorstep of Iran, foaming at the mouth.

When Ron Paul and his campaign say he is the only real conservative in the race, it isn’t a biased opinion, he really IS the only one. This scares the post-9/11 Republican’s, and this might be the reason why Rudy picked Paul as a target. That, and he finds the need to bring up the attack as much as possible to gain support. Paul is pro-life, with no flip flop on it, he has never voted for higher taxes or bigger government. Post-9/11 Republican’s like big government these days, big bureaucracies to defend us (the department of homeland security).

Paul was not done there. He went further, giving Giuliani a reading assignment on American foreign policy, books that support Paul’s views. He said:

“I don’t think he’s qualified to be president. If he was to read the book and report back to me and say, ‘I’ve changed my mind,’ I would reconsider.”

Paul has already stated he would not support Guiliani for president in the CNN interview, unless his foreign policy views were to change. Paul has suggested Giuliani read the 9-11 commission report, along with books “Dying to Win” and “Blowback”. The goal of foreign policy is to help a nation, not to hurt it.

Unlike other Republican’s, Paul understands this cycle is hurting us, and the Republican’s will continue this cycle, unless there is a change, and he is that change, because none of the other candidates will do it. Soon, the numbers against the Iraq war will be nearing eighty percent, and the “Republicans” keep pushing the Iraq operations…and they expect to win?