RSS 2.0 FeedNeoCon Fantasies About Ron Paul
by Doug MataconisThis one comes straight from the pen of Son of Mr. Neoconservative himself, John Podhoretz:
Could Ron Paul run an independent candidacy for president in 2008 on a libertarian/anti-war/anti-monetarist platform? At this moment, it seems plausible, especially if the Democratic party nominates Hillary Clinton, who is bizarrely considered a neocon hawk by the Left netroots.
And despite Paul’s nominal standing as a Republican — and it is nominal — wouldn’t his candidacy draw more from disaffected Democrats, as liberal Republican John Anderson’s 1980 third-party candidacy pulled voters away from Jimmy Carter and not from Ronald Reagan?
First of all, Podhoretz ignores completely that Paul has said more than once that he does not intend to run a third-party campaign. And it’s not surprising why he’d say that — he’s done it before, and he knows that it would ultimately be a waste of time.
But let’s ignore that one for awhile, and assume that a third-party run does develop.
Podhoretz makes the same mistake that many conservatives make about Paul’s candidacy — they assume that his appeal is related solely to his opposition to the Iraq War. From that, Podhoretz derives the conclusion that most of his votes would come from the left in the form of Democrats upset over Hillary’s reluctance to take a radical anti-war stand. As is usually the case with neocons, though, Podhoretz ignores a few things.
First of all, he underestimates the dedication on the left to taking back the White House in 2008. Don’t take my word for it, go look at their own blogs and websites. Yes, they’re critical of Clinton, but they know that winning the White House is key to winning access to everything that comes with it — Cabinet positions, Executive Agencies, White House Staff position. These people want power back, and I don’t think they’re going to go off the reservation even over the Iraq War.
Second, Podhoretz ignores the fact that Paul’s support comes just as much from small-government Republicans who are sick and tired of the GOP’s hypocrisy as it does from the anti-war crowd. Assuming the GOP nominee ends up being someone like Giuliani, there are going to be a lot of people like this (including this author) who are going to be unwilling or unable to cast a vote for the Republican candidate regardless of what his rhetoric sounds like and wouldn’t vote for Hillary even if the contest came down to a choice between her and Stalin. Therefore, a Ron Paul third-party campaign is just as likely to draw away voters that might otherwise vote Republican, especially in key states where the red/blue line is sufficiently blurred that a switch of a few percentage points could send enough Electoral Votes into Clinton’s column to win her the election.
Finally, Podhoretz completely misunderstands what Paul is saying about American foreign policy:
What distinguishes Paul from the anti-war gadfly Dennis Kucinich in the Democratic Party is that Kucinich speaks alternately the language of the brainless pacifist — he would form a Department of Peace to replace the Pentagon — and the language of the far from brainless New Left, according to which the sins of the United States are sufficiently grave to deny it any kind of moral legitimacy abroad. Paul’s isolationism is rooted in the age-old American fear that we will be morally compromised by the sins of other nations who do not breathe the same sweet air of American exceptionalism.
What ? Where has Ron Paul said anything resembling this ? His point has consistently been that the kind of nation-building foreign policy that neocons like Podhoretz advocates is bad for America because it usually doesn’t work, it gets us involved in foreign wars that we don’t need to be involved in, and it ends up engendering more hatred of the United States than existed beforehand.
I don’t see anything about American exceptionalism or the poisoning influence of those darn foreigners in there do you ? Didn’t think so.
Podhoretz’s understanding of American domestic politics doesn’t seem to be much more developed than the typical neocons understanding of the consequences of the reckless adventurism they advocate.
This will be the new tone of Commentary magazine, I guess. “Rampant bullshit.” Well, good luck with it, JPod.
Comment by rho — November 6, 2007 @ 2:22 pmRon paul can no longer be called a “long shot” candidate. He has clearly surpassed John McCain and is now a “top tier” candidate.
Ron Paul dominates in Straw Polls, Debate Polls, Fundraising, Web Traffic and Grass Roots Networking. I have created a website to support this statement.
Please visit http://www.thecaseforronpaul.com and judge for yourself.
Comment by Cleaner44 — November 6, 2007 @ 2:28 pmWait a second. WTF is going on here? Shouldn’t Doug Mataconis be writing about how Paul raised 4.2 Million but it is somehow a bad thing for his campaign?
Comment by WAIT — November 6, 2007 @ 3:09 pmDon’t worry, I’m sure Buckwheat will be along shortly to explain how this post is all part of my grand neocon strategy.
Comment by Doug Mataconis — November 6, 2007 @ 3:16 pmDoug,
I can’t believe my eyes. We actually agree on something. J-Pod is an idiot and your “huh?” moment was spot on. I was thinking the exatc same thing when I read that.
Later.
Comment by Kevin Houston — November 6, 2007 @ 3:32 pmIsolationism is a ad hominem attack of the worst order in the mind of a CFR warmongerer. They use it as a slur while never ever trying to deny the fac that the interventionist created sadam hussein, The Shaw’s secret police, Osama Bin Laden and dozens of other murderous dictators.
However, they are the real isolationist as they insist on never ending trade sanctions against Cuba, Iran, Korea etc etc etc.
Comment by Gabe Harris — November 6, 2007 @ 3:53 pmWow…looks like J-Pod is just as clueless as his old man. I’m sure in 20 or 30 years he’ll be writing bullshit propaganda about how Iraq would have been a resounding success story if not for all those cut-and-run defeatists who undercut heroic old Dubya in what should have been his moment of glory. Truly, the only thing more pathetic than a communist incapable of realizing the shortcomings of communism is a pseudo-conservative too stupid to realize that his own ideals fail because he’s also a communist.
Comment by UCrawford — November 6, 2007 @ 3:58 pm“. . . they assume that his appeal is related solely to his opposition to the Iraq War.”
You’re absolutely right; it must be a coping mechanism to deal with the cognitive dissonance engendered by their own undesirability.
Comment by Klutometis — November 6, 2007 @ 8:56 pmI think we should tell “J-Pod1s” family what he does for a living……”HE LIES” to the American People.
Comment by Jerry Alexander — November 7, 2007 @ 1:41 amWe are going to be free! Ron Paul is likely going to sweep the 2008 elections! Id say the probability he is the next POTUS is 90-95% now.
People are screaming FREEEDOM! like William Wallace rigt now. They are going to have to kill Ron Paul like they did JFK or RK to stop him now, and I fully expect the MSM, military industrial complex and the CFR types to go after his life because the smear tactics are backfiring!
VOTE RON PAUL FOR FREEDOM, its your **LAST CHANCE** We will never see a man as good, honest and consistent as Ron again.
Comment by Mick Russom — November 8, 2007 @ 11:03 am