What is the deal with Ron Paul - does he have a chance for an upset in the Rethug primaries?

[BushOut06]

It seems that everywhere I drive, I see these Ron Paul placards and posters. Even though he's not doing very well in official polling, it looks like he has a very loyal underground following. I don't believe he would have a snowball's chance in hell of winning the general election. As far as I'm concerned, he's a one-trick party, wanting to pull troops from Iraq. He's anti-choice, pro-big business, and supports the UnFair Tax. But what are the chances that he pulls off a couple of surprises during the GOP primaries?

[daninthemoon]

1. He might, and Huckabee certainly does. I predict upsets in both

primaries once the actual voters get a crack, and the pundits and pollsters finally sit down and stfu.

[DrDan]

2. no way - the RNC would never go for it . . .

these repubs that are running around pushing him are wasting their time . . .

[librechik]

3. no--the Pukkkes have Diebold

they won't run anyone the power structure doesn't want. This year they seem to be torn between the crookedest (Rudy) or the stupid cute guy they can manipulate (Romney) They've given up on the Christians. Not enough votes there. They need a big steal again.

[Lucinda]

4. I see Huckabee as more of the upset guy....Paul seems " liberal"

on too many issues for the hard core Reps to support. But ya nevah know.

[Virginia Dare]

17. No, you've got Paul all wrong..

my right wing fundie neighbors support him. He's libertarian, but definitely not liberal.

[RiverStone]

25. Paul walks a great talk with his anti-war stuff, but...

He is vehemently anti-choice and anti-immigrant.

He is as far away from Liberal as the rest of the pukes in the field; just from a different direction.

[Horse with no Name]

5. There is one thing for sure

The will of the people will be circumvented if at all possible.
Corporate media doesn't talk about what they call the "fringe" candidates...however, those are the ones that real people are talking about.
We will have a corporate candidate in each party. The corporations have hedged their bets between them and the corporate media keeps telling me so.

[sniffa]

6. he's my dark horse in NH

based on the amount of freeway bLogs about him, and NH's Libertarian spirit.. or Legend of Libertarian spirit.

huckabee's my sLeeper. he'LL shock in iowa, but i don't think he'LL do as weLL in NH. however, SC is soon after where he'LL pLay the surprise roLe again.

[Yael]

7. I keep thinking the same as you, Sniffa

Huckabee and Paul have a true grassroots behind them. I think showings will be surprising in the first 3.

[sniffa]

9. indeed, they do. and their's is reaL

unLike the phony "roots."

i appreciate the die hard foLLowing that pauL has from his backers. i don't think it wiLL be enough for him outside of NH, but he can definateLy make some noise in a few states based on his war position aLone.

huckabee has been shocking me aLL aLong. his grassroots are very quiet, but their roots are Long. i think he's one of the Last to drop out if he puLLs off huge upsets in iowa and SC.

[Yael]

11. Paul has a crackpot following, but they are vocal

signs up everywhere here. Good for the anti-war movement, but a huge chunk of his base is the neo-Nazis.

Huckabee came as more of a surprise to me the last few weeks. I have been watching the debates and can see where he resonates with people. He is as dead wrong as the entire ideology, but is at least sincere. More than I can say for Mittens Mc911 and the Fred-fest.

[CGowen]

16. neo-Nazis? n/t

[Yael]

18. Yep. It is rather interesting to watch. Like a train wreck.

I am not going to post links, PM me if you are interested in :popcorn:

[CGowen]

21. looks more like guilt by association to me

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=27461_Neo-Nazis_Heart_Ron_Paul&only

or sounds like a pathetic smear campaign



And Rupert Murdochs News.com.au claims he does a fake online campaign

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22573751-401,00.html


Republican Ron Paul in possible 'fake online campaign'

By Mark Schliebs

October 12, 2007 12:32pm
Article from: NEWS.com.au


A CANDIDATE for the US presidency is being buoyed by a massive online campaign that may be a fake grassroots movement organised by party staff.

YouTube footage of Texan Republican Congressman Ron Paul, whose candidacy has been overshadowed in the media by competitors Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson and John McCain, has been viewed by tens of thousands of people in the last week.

As of 11am (AEST) today, a compilation of different clips of Dr Paul was the “Top Rated” video of the past 24 hours.

The clip had been viewed nearly 60,000 times since it was uploaded yesterday.

[BushOut06]

22. I checked out the link in your post - it looks to be real

The LGF article links to the actual Neo-Nazi website, where they are indeed urging fellow Nazis to vote for Ron Paul.

If you don't mind, I'm going go ahead and post this in its own thread - to show just what kind of people are supporting Ron Paul.

[CGowen]

24. The FBI is organizing Neo Nazi rallies, so why not posting on the net?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=145x8955

[Mojorabbit]

23. I don't know about neo nazis

but my republican BIL likes him because he is plain spoken. No parsing of words. You know exactly how they stand on the issues.
That appeals to a lot of people. Mike Gravel is plain spoken too. I wouldn't vote for either but there is alot to be said for not triangulating everything. I think there is a deep voter unease in this country about how things are going and I think it is all up in the air how it will play out. I wish one of our front runners were more plain spoken so that you knew exactly where they stood on issues.

[blondeatlast]

8. Those signs try to mimic a homemade look, but they aren't homemade.

I've seen several that are identical to others, especially the "Google" one.

I have to do some serious commuting and I've seen this a lot. Look closer; they aren't homemade.

[mnmoderatedem]

10. he's the one repub candidate who "gets it" on interventionist foreign policy

which probably means he has no chance at their nomination.

[Virginia Dare]

19. About the only thing about him that is half-way sane..

is that he wants out of Iraq, and he calls bullshit on the whole war. Other than that, he's a total wack-job.

[CANDO]

12. He offers the right a way out of their embarrassing support of W.

But they don't realize he stands for dismantling our nation and it's institutions as we know them. In reality, he wants to turn the clock back to the colonial days. But then again, maybe they DO understand that!

[Virginia Dare]

20. Probably a bit of both.....n/t

[ConfidentialStatus]

13. He supports the unfair tax?

Can you elaborate. In my neighborhood some think he is a leftwing loonie. Don't forget we have plenty of ignorant people in this country... not to mention the Sean Hannity and Rush bots.

[BushOut06]

15. Yes, he does

I watched one of the Rethug debates, and he was talking favorably about the UnFair Tax. Sorry I don't have a link to prove it, though.

[SoCalDem]

14. Ron Paul = Ross Perot- $$

:rofl:

[Disturbed]

26. Ron Paul is the Libertarian's Stealth Candidate.

Their Party figured out that they cannot win on a Natl. level, so they decided to run
their candidates as Repugs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarian_Party_(United_States)