Ron Paul Rising?
by fitsnews
"Viewed throughout the 2012 campaign as nothing but a sideshow freak (the mainstream media would never show any love to a real libertarian, would they?) U.S. Rep. Ron Paul could soon be shedding his Rodney Dangerfield status.
The Texas Republican – who continues to place in the high-single digits in both national surveys and early-state polling – could be on the verge of breaking into “legitimate candidate” status, which would obviously be a welcome development for those of us who care about pulling our nation back from the fiscal brink.
What’s providing the wind for his sails? For starters, Paul had a very good performance in this week’s GOP presidential debate in Iowa.
“The Texas Congressman has functioned as an amusing oddity for the last four years in the presidential race. Not tonight,” wrote Washington Post blogger Chris Cillizza in assessing Pauls’ performance in the debate.
In addition to his impressive debate showing, Paul is also expected to score a top three finish in the Ames Straw Poll, a critical early test of support in Iowa – which will hold the first GOP caucus next February.
Of course while Paul could be in line for some positive publicity based on a better-than-expected showing in Iowa, the mainstream media is quick to remind us that he has yet to translate the support of his rabid supporters into credibility among broad swaths of voters.
“Paul has also shown — and he did it again in the debate last night — that he has little interest in expanding beyond that base of people,” Cillizza notes in a separate piece assessing Paul’s current place in the nominating fight. “As the electorate gets larger the ability of Paul’s supporters to dominate it recedes. It’s why he didn’t win a single primary or caucus in the 2008 race.”
That’s true … although national polls show Paul competing favorably against Obama. And we suspect that Paul could do even better as an independent candidate.
In our recent “First in the South Impressions” piece, which laid out our initial views of the 2012 GOP field, we referred to Paul as “the only pure soul contemplating a bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.”
“His record of defending both our tax dollars and our individual liberties is unimpeachable and unparalleled – and if Republicans would only follow his example America might have a fighting chance to reclaim its lost greatness,” we wrote.
More recently, in an updated 2012 status report, we noted that “of all the White House wanna-bes who have throw their hats in the ring, only Paul has proven that his rhetoric matches his record.”
Obviously, we still believe that to be the case … in fact, given the abject failure of Republicans in Congress to impose any sort of fiscal discipline on the federal government, we believe that the national urgency for a politician with Paul’s consistent record of “fiscal righteousness” ought to be greater than ever."
