Gavin ([info]selfishgene) wrote,
@ 2008-01-24 13:35:00
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Go Big or Go Home
Ron Paul needs to fix his TV advertising strategy. I don't watch a lot of TV but I saw one of his ads last night. It was lame, it made him look like just another Republican. He is running against the establishment. It's not good enough to look normal, he has to look different. Romney and McCain have some establishment support, they can run on a strategy of blandness. Paul is simply wasting an opportunity here. He needs to emphasize his distinctive specific policies, not mumble about lower taxes and liberty. Anyone can do that.
Good advice here

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[info]pasquin
2008-01-24 06:50 pm UTC (link)
Agreed, but it's too late. New Hampshire was his natural constituency, you know all the free staters voted for him, and he was fifth.

What future state would be as open to a Libertarian?

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[info]atek128
2008-01-24 06:56 pm UTC (link)
idaho, montana, vermont

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[info]pasquin
2008-01-24 07:32 pm UTC (link)
Good answer.

The problem is, out of those three, only one is on Super Tuesday. The vast majority of delegates are decided then. Do you really think those are good odds? And if he won all three that is a spit in the ocean towards the nomination.

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[info]ilcylic
2008-01-24 11:58 pm UTC (link)
Doesn't necessarily matter, really.

In the event of a "brokered convention", which means, one in which there is no clear winner, the delegates are no longer required to vote for the candidate their state primary chose.

If there are enough Ron Paul supporters as delegates, he could still end up the Republican candidate.

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[info]atek128
2008-01-24 06:56 pm UTC (link)
Fo Shizzle

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[info]drstevechaos
2008-01-24 07:27 pm UTC (link)
Yeah, I gotta agree - he's running on issues that are the least differentiating for him in his ad campaign, rather than the most so. Which isn't going to attract the natural independent voter constituencies at all, nor is it going to peel off any committed Republicans - otherwise, Tancredo would still be around.

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[info]madfilkentist
2008-01-24 08:22 pm UTC (link)
He's already done so much damage to himself -- and more important, to the credibility of libertarianism -- by allowing idiots to write stuff under his name that I'd just as soon he stop saying anything at all.

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[info]selfishgene
2008-01-24 11:08 pm UTC (link)
I think you will get your wish soon. Unfortunately we have to run the candidate we have, not the one we wish we had. Unless we get a perfect candidate who can actually pull in voters. No sign of one yet.
Notwithstanding some bad choices in his Texas history, I think Ron Paul will be a long run positive for liberty. But not nearly as much as he could have been, with minimal extra effort.

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[info]madfilkentist
2008-01-25 12:41 am UTC (link)
It's not a question of the candidate we have vs. the candidate we wish we have. It's putting effort into supporting a dubious candidate vs. many other uses of our time and money which could have far more positive effect.

The LP seems fixated on the idea that the question of how to promote liberty is the question of whom to run for president. They fail to consider that their basic approach might be wrong.

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[info]selfishgene
2008-01-25 03:47 pm UTC (link)
My approach is the FSP. I agree presidential politics is a bad battleground for libertarians. However, I recognized the enthusiasm Paul was creating and hoped it would lead somewhere worthwhile. I still have some faint hopes of that.

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[info]burntbythesun02
2008-01-25 08:44 am UTC (link)
The guy doesn't know how to spend his money (maybe because libt's are not used to having it?). He should have spent a lot more in NH, which would drive donations and free publicity later in the race. I suspect he's not spending it so he can save it for a third party run.

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[info]selfishgene
2008-01-25 03:44 pm UTC (link)
That's my suspicion too. I hope it's not true because he promised not to do so. Since his main selling point is not being a lying scumbag like the other candidates; it would destroy him to lie about that.

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