How Ron Paul’s Supporters Aren’t Helping Him, Exhibit A

Over at The Crossed Pond, Rojas cites two examples of so-called supporters of Congressman Ron Paul who are doing more to sabotage his campaign than any enemy of liberty could even hope to do:

First, there’s the Alex Jones (he of the sanely titled website Prison Planet) 9/11 truth squad over at InfoWars:

A host of curious events at the Iowa Straw Poll at the weekend has raised questions as to whether there was some kind of tampering with the final vote count, with evidence to suggest Ron Paul may have been wrongly placed in fifth position behind Mitt Romney and three second tier candidates.

It was reported by local TV news stations before the event that upwards of 45,000 Republicans would arrive to meet candidates and cast their votes, however this number was dwindled down to between 30,000 and 33,000 according to the Iowa GOP’s projected figures.

The number of voters then decreased by another sizable margin to around 26,000 the next day, only for the final figure to drop EVEN FURTHER to 14,302 actual votes cast.
Even if the immediate figures of 45,000 and 33,000 were wrong and the Iowa GOP grossly overestimated the figures, with only 26,000 tickets being sold, this still does not account for the other 12, 000 tickets that suddenly disappeared. One has to ask the question why did 12,000 people buy tickets at $35 each and not vote?

Umm, dudes, maybe that’s because most of the tickets for the Ames Straw Poll are purchased not by individual voters, but by campaign organizations hoping to bring supporters to the event ? My guess is that alot of those tickets were purchased by the Romney money machine and went to waste.

And then there’s this:

The evening before the Straw Poll, a local TV news show carried a story that the expected attendance for the next day had just been increased from a maximum of 40,000 up to 45,000 – 50,000. Yet, according to the Iowa GOP, the very next day only 30,000 to 33,000 showed up.

Dudes. A few things to consider before you storm the barricades.

First of all, the Ames Straw Poll isn’t exactly a scientific sampling of the opinions of the people of Ames, the people of Iowa, or the people of the USA. It’s a Republican Party rally that, at best, measures the organizational ability of the campaigns of the people running for President. With very limited exceptions, it it has never been an accurate predictor of either the winner of the Iowa Caucuses or the winner of the Republican nomination.

Second, Congressman Paul did a heck of alot better than anyone who is only getting 3% in national polls and barely showing up in the Iowa polls would have been expected to do.

So, you know, theorizing about some vast conspiracy is both counterproductive and makes other people think you might be a little loony.

And a memo to the campaign itself. The Alex Jones’s of the world are not helping you.