Ron Paul Ryan for President?
[Guest post by Aaron Worthing; if you have tips, please send them here. Or by Twitter @AaronWorthing.]
So Ron Paul is set to announce something today, and The National Journal makes the following prediction about it:
Sources close to Paul, who is in his 12th term in the House, said he will unveil an exploratory presidential committee, a key step in gearing up for a White House race. He will also unveil the campaign’s leadership team in Iowa, where the first votes of the presidential election will be cast in caucuses next year.
Well, certainly with government overreach in the last few years, libertarianism is likely to be a more appealing position this year than in years before. Still, it is Quixotic of him to keep trying, if only because of his tendency to blame America for September 11, which doesn’t fly in the Republican party.
Bluntly he is fine, even useful, as a Congressman, where he can be a reliable vote against big government and his more kooky beliefs are checked by their overwhelming lack of popularity. I find him tolerable in that role. But lord, he might be the only Republican who would be so bad that I would pull the lever for Obama. And you guys know that is saying something.
And that is on the issues. You will remember what I said about representatives running for President so I will only give you the Cliff’s Notes version: I like my candidates to have prior executive experience. Well, that applies to Ron Paul, too.
Of course the last time I talked about this sort of thing (in relation to Michele Bachmann) I wrote:
And you know, if we have to pick a Representative with little executive experience, couldn’t it be Paul Ryan?
And wouldn’t you know it, they just might give me that option. From a rumory post over at Ace of Spades HQ:
But I asked another journalist type (I won’t say who since I didn’t tell him I’d be quoting, it was a personal type question) and he said, “Well, he rules it out in his public statements but in his private statements…?” Not so much.
I asked, to be sure, if he was saying “Who knows what he says in private?” or if he was saying “I’ve heard what he says in private, and he’s not as firm on it as he is in public declarations.” He confirmed it was the latter.
I think the situation he’d be willing to consider it is if there’s no unifying, consensus figure in the primaries.
Which isn’t a very solid rumor, but it gave me an excuse to write that silly title. I still think that his resumé needs more executive experience, but I feel better with the idea of him being president than Paul and/or Bachmann. Which isn’t exactly high praise, but there you go. Personally, if we were going to pick a budget fixing guy, Governor Chris Christie would be my choice. I would love to see him raking Obama over the coals with the budget B.S. that has come out of Washington in the last few years and he is a lot closer to the minimal executive experience I prefer.
And of course you all know that Haley Barbour bowed out yesterday. His official statement is here. Which is too bad, because his credentials were better than most in the field (saying that with little knowledge of Barbour’s actual positions).
[Posted and authored by Aaron Worthing, who didn’t die yesterday (I was sick).]
Mr. Ryan will have his day and I would definitely vote for him in 2012 but it would be rash of him to run I think.
That said, he has a duty to run since all the other Team R candidates are losers and whores. Romney Gingrich Pawlenty? God help us.
It’s a conundrum.
happyfeet (760ba3) — 4/26/2011 @ 6:16 amBarbour out makes it a bit more likely Mr. Daniels might would run I think.
That’s a wee small bit of hope right there.
happyfeet (760ba3) — 4/26/2011 @ 6:26 amand you know what there’s nothing stopping Governor Christie from raking bumble over the coals whether he runs for president or not
happyfeet (760ba3) — 4/26/2011 @ 6:28 amSo what is his stance on the key issue of the day, which is Obamacare, why did he not file with other 27 states.
narciso (79ddc3) — 4/26/2011 @ 6:45 am…and that is when Ron Paul Ryan uttered his famous rejoinder, “Sir, I have not yet begun to run!”
JohnW (5e5062) — 4/26/2011 @ 6:45 amI would love to see Ron Paul run for president. He is just what this country needs: an easily beatable republican candidate.
Jonathan B. Higgins, MD PhD PE JD (104451) — 4/26/2011 @ 6:47 amAh Higgins, how go the lads, how’s Robin Masters.
narciso (79ddc3) — 4/26/2011 @ 6:57 am-Still, it is Quixotic of him to keep trying, if only because of his tendency to blame America for September 11, which doesn’t fly in the Republican party.
Not sure it’s that quixotic if his campaign raises more money than it spends.
jasonc (9d38d7) — 4/26/2011 @ 7:02 am*GROAN*
I’m having a bit of, “Here we go again!” morning agita, recalling all of the hits of yesteryear; the poll-freeping Paul-bots with their endearing flying monkey ways, determined to plague the internet at the slightest suggestion that Dr. Paul may be less than optimum Presidential material…
Look, Ron Paul has some great points about the FED hiding debt off their books, and the economy in general.
But his ill-informed, head-in-the-sand, isolationist point of view, and the fatuous “constitutional” justification of the same, is better suited for a mutual back-patting session with Glenn Beck than as the central tenet of US foreign policy.
Better he stay in the US House of Representatives.
Now Paul Ryan, on the other hand, is my kind of guy. But sadly, I think he too may better serve us all in his role in the House, or at the very least get some “cred” by serving as someone’s VP before setting in the big chair himself.
My Regards
Bob Reed (5f2db5) — 4/26/2011 @ 7:05 amNor Laup is less of a nozzle of douche than jasonc.
JD (7cb36b) — 4/26/2011 @ 7:11 amThe worst part of a Ron Paul campaign is the Ron Paul supporters…
Scott Jacobs (98018d) — 4/26/2011 @ 7:15 amRon Paul announced last night on Hannity.
Charles Curran (ba9f1a) — 4/26/2011 @ 7:16 am11- Couldn’t agree more. Many of those who I converse with on a regular basis don’t understand that even privatization has its limits.
Jonathan B. Higgins, MD PhD PE JD (104451) — 4/26/2011 @ 7:26 amRon Paul has many supporters on the left because of his stance on drugs, his antisemitism and racism.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 4/26/2011 @ 7:51 amJust wondering when the GOP will stop accepting the same old, same old. Ron Paul has been startlingly right and prescient about the economy, which is the biggest issue we’re facing in this country, and the issue from which most other problems stem. When we need someone to address that issue, why NOT go with the guy who’s been preaching the truth as we have had to come to swallow it? He’s proved himself, time and time again, and he’s consistent. Paul Ryan needs more of a consistent, provable history for me to get behind him.
Amy (d435da) — 4/26/2011 @ 8:06 amMEGA-BURN!!1!!!!1!11!
Take that, stupid liberal buttheads.
Leviticus (b987b0) — 4/26/2011 @ 8:07 amstupid liberal buttfaces
happyfeet (760ba3) — 4/26/2011 @ 8:11 am“Ron Paul has been startlingly right and prescient about the economy”
Amy – Most Republican have been right about the economy. What sets Nor Luap apart?
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 4/26/2011 @ 8:11 amRon Paul is nuts.
DohBiden (15aa57) — 4/26/2011 @ 8:12 amJonathan is a peronista turd.
DohBiden (15aa57) — 4/26/2011 @ 8:13 amDohBiden – That’s a given.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 4/26/2011 @ 8:14 amSee? Simply including his name, or even an anagram of it!, in a post ensures that some of the hive stop-on-by to remind us all of his wisdom and prescience.
Put up a post that has his name and the word “poll” in the title will ensure a freeping frenzy. Might be good for hits.
Remember, who always wins or places highly in the CPAC vote?
We will be assimilated!
Bob Reed (5f2db5) — 4/26/2011 @ 8:16 amI wonder how long before he screams racism at me.
DohBiden (15aa57) — 4/26/2011 @ 8:16 amWhy the bolton/notlob thing, is it like saying the name of that Scottish Play?
narciso (79ddc3) — 4/26/2011 @ 8:22 amNor Laup rules the world.
JD (29e1cd) — 4/26/2011 @ 8:29 amRon Paul adds to the debate. I like having no front runners. Let the Dems whine about the lack of serious candidates. What have they produced? Obama, Hilary, Kerry, Gore, Edwards? Paul first talked about auditing the Fed, and finally people are starting to listen. Paul does not accept the Congressional Pension that provides full salary after ONLY 5 years in office. He has some off center opinions and will not be the final candidate, but he forces the discussion we need to hear. We else says: “No income tax, no fairtax, no VAT tax, no flat tax. NO TAX” Its taxes that make for a huge government.
Wayne (b37235) — 4/26/2011 @ 9:28 amI love how the world is overpopulated but yet the left has no problem allowing muslims into their countries.
DohBiden (15aa57) — 4/26/2011 @ 9:51 am“W[ho] else says: “No income tax, no fairtax, no VAT tax, no flat tax. NO TAX”
– Wayne
No one. Because that’s retarded.
Leviticus (f0f166) — 4/26/2011 @ 9:51 am“I love how the world is overpopulated but yet the left has no problem allowing muslims into their countries.”
– DohBiden
I love how random that comment is, and how little sense it makes.
Leviticus (f0f166) — 4/26/2011 @ 9:52 amI do not want to have a beer with Ron Paul because he reminds me of one of them yippy dogs people like to dress up and take shopping with them.
happyfeet (a55ba0) — 4/26/2011 @ 9:53 amYes pointing out the lefts hypocrisy makes little sense.
on topic I will vote for Paul Ryan if I have to.
DohBiden (15aa57) — 4/26/2011 @ 9:54 amMost Republicans have been right about the economy? Uh… seriously? So TARP was a fabulous idea? Getting involved in a dubiously useful war in Iraq that bogged us down in a quagmire, cost us billions we didn’t have, increased our need to sell bonds to China to prop up said quagmire? That’s sound fiscal policy? I do credit Paul Ryan for getting out there and addressing those third rails that neither Dems nor GOPers have been willing to touch. It’s just that Ron Paul has been doing it for decades. You can see clips from him back in the 80s saying everything that we’ve come to accept today as our new reality.
And please, give me a break. Just because someone is an adherent of a respectable politician, with a long and dignified career of public service, doesn’t make them some sort of fringe whacko. Did you know that he returns a portion of his budget every year to the US Treasury? That he has never voted for a bill that entailed powers not strictly enumerated to the federal government by the US Constitution?
I wish all our GOP politicians were so “loony”.
Amy (d435da) — 4/26/2011 @ 10:59 amGod DAMN do I ever hate Ron Paul supporters…
Scott Jacobs (176843) — 4/26/2011 @ 11:04 amRon Paul supporters are hypocrites who would have no problem going to war with israel.
DohBiden (15aa57) — 4/26/2011 @ 11:08 amQuagmire?
Been to Libya lately?
Oh, I forgot, that’s just a “stalemate”!
You might want to stay away from the you-tube vid over at Powerline from Syria that shows how the Great Reformer treats those who disagree with him.
AD-RtR/OS! (b8ab92) — 4/26/2011 @ 11:09 amMost Ron Paul fans I have met think 9/11 was an inside job.
That’s just in person, and not scientific. Amy, such people are whackos, though I worry they aren’t fringe enough if they are so numerous.
BTW, Amy, you’re wrong about Ron Paul never voting for a bill with unenumerated powers. Ron Paul is a big believer in spending tons of money on crap the constitution never envisioned, so long as Ron Paul gets a slice. he’s the earmark king. Sure, if Ron Paul doesn’t get a slice, he won’t vote for it, but that just shows he’s selfish and unprincipled.
Amy, tell me, was 9/11 an inside job? Did the US Government let it happen? Do you condemn the losers who say those things?
Dustin (c16eca) — 4/26/2011 @ 11:13 amDidn’t Ron Paul vote against food ammo and other supplies for troops who were already in a warzone? Those were my pals, Ron Paul fans. That’s tough to swallow. Politics needs to stop at the water’s edge. Ron Paul is not important and never will be, aside from being an internet fad for a few thousand supporters.
Dustin (c16eca) — 4/26/2011 @ 11:15 am“Ron Paul adds to the debate.”
Wayne – Ron Paul adds to the debate like a guy walking up and down the street with a sandwich board and a bullhorn shouting aliens have invaded the earth.
A couple of generations ago people used to keep people like him locked away in attics or asylums for the terminally confused.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 4/26/2011 @ 11:16 amAmy – The Iraq War cost us billions? Where did you read such drivel? Are you a lefty Nor Luap supporter for drug legalization?
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 4/26/2011 @ 11:21 amAmy – Sorry, I meant trillions. The usual lefty BS. It did cost us billions, nothing like Obama’s deficits.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 4/26/2011 @ 11:22 amThe Iraq war saved us billions. It would have saved us many billions more had we removed Saddam in 1991.
There’s the lesson we need to learn. If we go to war, we need to win. None of this Libyan nonsense where we might leave enemies behind to fight another day.
Also, 9/11 proved once and for all that isolationism is a fool’s economy. Ron Paul doesn’t care for some reason. I wonder if it’s because of his well known bigotry.
Dustin (c16eca) — 4/26/2011 @ 11:30 am“So TARP was a fabulous idea?”
Amy – All but 19 House Republicans voted against TARP. Your point?
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 4/26/2011 @ 11:31 amI’ve noticed this a lot with Ron Paul fans. They ignore Ron Paul’s earmarks, and ignore the good in other Republicans, even to the point where they credit Ron Paul alone for fiscal conservatism.
Where’s Ron Paul’s budget? Paul Ryan put real work into the idea of getting the USA back on track. Sure, his proposal has the defect of realism. It is intended to be politically viable in US politics. Ron Paul fans don’t actually have a shred of hope of accomplishing anything other than complaining about how everyone isn’t as great as Ron Paul. That seems lazy to me. It seems like they know they aren’t a solution, and so they have to deny that anyone else is every on the right track.
Dustin (c16eca) — 4/26/2011 @ 11:37 amFormer New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson has executive experience, and announced his candidacy a few days ago.
Aaron (086800) — 4/26/2011 @ 12:52 pm