Ron Paul continues to attract freedom lovers

[GALTGULCH8]

In order to be considered for nomination at the Republican convention in Tampa, Fl in August, a candidate has to have at least five states in which his delegate supports exceeds fifteen percent.

Today Ron Paul supporters chose delegates for Mitt Romney in MA who are "bound"according to state party rules. But national party rules will prevail at the convention which will be voted on before the voting begins in Tampa. It is conceivable that "bound" delegates will be unbound at the convention.

Ron Paul continues to appear across the country. In Texas he had a rally at El Paso, Austin and Houston. There were 6000 at the Austin rally.

Several appearances are scheduled for CA including a May first fund raising dinner at which Nassim Taleb, who endorsed Ron Paul as the one whose policies are best suited to solve the current financial crisis among all contenders for the presidency, will share the spotlight.

Given the severity of the crisis facing our country today and despite the presence of what would otherwise be deal breaker positions held by him, I think that Ron Paul is our only hope among the options open to us in the upcoming election.

www.ronpaul2012.com

www.ronpaul.com

www.dailypaul.com

http://www.ronpaul2012.com/the-issues/ron-paul-plan-to-restore-america/

[Dglgmut]

It seems he's snagged 111 delegates from Louisiana!

http://www.dailypaul.com/229686/reuters-ron-paul-wins-louisiana-caucus?page=1

[Selene]

It seems he's snagged 111 delegates from Louisiana!

http://www.dailypaul...a-caucus?page=1

Gulch:

How many delegates are your sources claiming as of April 2012?

It appears that Louisiana only has forty-six total delegates to allot to the Republican Convention...

Adam

[GALTGULCH8]

Adam,

I personally witnessed the caucus or meeting of the fifth congressional district which includes Belmont, Romney's home town. I happen to live in a distant town in the same district which stretches from west of Framingham all the way to Revere on the coast and includes several towns filled with democrats and assorted leftists like Cambridge but has a smattering of Republicans.

Ron Paul has an organization in MA which worked to contact anyone who donated to his campaign and encouraged and reminded them to show up after registering as Republicans by the deadline in February.

So Ron Paul's slate entitled the Ronald Reagan Liberty Unity Slate won all the delegate positions as well as all the alternate positions to go to Tampa Fl in August at there own expense. Although they are technically bound to vote for Romney on the first ballot there is much discussion as to whether they have the right to abstain instead to keep Romney from getting the 1,144 votes he needs.

It is not yet clear whether Ron Paul will have enough supporters there between his own delegates and those devoted to Romney or Santorum or Gingrich as a result of all these meetings at which delegates are chosen. I do expect there will be thousands of Ron Paul supporters surrounding the Tampa facility and being heard shouting President Paul in a deafening, thunderous chorus.

I have no doubt that Ron Paul's domestic economic policies are needed. Whether Ron Paul would match Obama's "accomplishments" as documented in the weekend article about his violent history such as the drone killing of Alawaki or the Navy Seal killing of Bin Ladin is unlikely. But he would repeal the NDAA, Patriot Act, assorted executive orders and elimination of Cabinet departments with five to start. I expect he would urge everyone to buy gold and silver coins to prepare for the collapse of the dollar too. Surely he will repeal the Sixteenth Amendment and abolish the IRS and let the younger generation escape the Social Security Ponzi scheme, while those on it or near to it will be supported rather than thrown under the bus.

I would love to see it happen. Ron Paul is all about the vision of the Founders except for Alexander Hamilton who was a monarchist, wanted the president to be elected for life who would appoint the governors of the states.

I am eager to hear what Nassim Taleb has to say tomorrow at the dinner in LA. ALso Steve Forbes is rumored to suggest that Romney adopt Ron Paul's policies regarding the economy.

I have no sources aside from the official websites whose links I posted above.

[Selene]

So Ron Paul's slate entitled the Ronald Reagan Liberty Unity Slate won all the delegate positions as well as all the alternate positions to go to Tampa Fl in August at there own expense. Although they are technically bound to vote for Romney on the first ballot there is much discussion as to whether they have the right to abstain instead to keep Romney from getting the 1,144 votes he needs.

It is not yet clear whether Ron Paul will have enough supporters there between his own delegates and those devoted to Romney or Santorum or Gingrich as a result of all these meetings at which delegates are chosen. I do expect there will be thousands of Ron Paul supporters surrounding the Tampa facility and being heard shouting President Paul in a deafening, thunderous chorus.

Gulch:

Now this is a strategy that makes sense.

By the way, I am pretty well decided to vote for Gary Johnson in November.

Adam

[GALTGULCH8]

Adam,

I voted for the Libertarian Party candidate from the beginning in 1972. Despite whatever excitement we felt during the weeks before the election, we were invariably crushed by the onslaught of the steamroller effect of the major parties on election day. We ended up with a fraction of one percent. But I was glad that I hadn't voted for whomever got in and who proceeded to lead the country down the path of the greater welfare and warfare state.

I do find Gary Johnson appealing for many reasons, he is pro science, secular and sensible without the irrationality of religious baggage and pro choice making him more consistent than Ron Paul in the realm of individual rights for women.

But although he is a man of principle too and more desirable ... wait for it... you will have the solace of voting your conscience without a snowflakes chance in Hell of getting more than three tenths of one percent in the final tally.

I still want Obama out and there is a good chance of that even with Romney. I have a faint hope that Romney will read a book sooner or later by Ludwig von Mises or Murray Rothbard or Ayn Rand or Henry Hazlitt or Ron Paul or G.Edward Griffin but more likely he will be curling up with the Mormon Bible or some such. Where is Barbara Walters or Katie Couric to ask him what he reads if anything at all. Tom Woods Nullification would do the trick but I have little hope of that.

Meanwhile the Ron Paul endeavor is the most exciting thing happening and it is a shame literally that the MSM ignores him. Sure they report that his acolytes whatever that means are loyal and empassioned but they never give any clue as to why he arouses passion in those who flock to his rallies. His message is liberty for the individual and in this respect he evokes the feelings of the original revolution, of Thomas Paine's Common Sense, of Samuel Adams and the Committees of Correspondence, of Lexington and Concord, of Washington crossing the Delaware and attacking the Hessians in Trenton without losing one man, except to the freezing cold. of the Battle of Cowpens.

Thousands attend meetings where Ron Paul speaks in colleges across the country, 2500 at the U of Rhode Island, 4000 in LA, 8500 in Berkeley, 6000 in Austin, 3000 in Houston, and now back to CA again to speak at state universities likely to top attendance again. You can find videos of his speeches at www.ronpaul.com or www.dailypaul.com or the official site www.ronpaul2012.com not to mention videos at youtube.com. Romney attracts a small fraction at his appearances.

I attended the Rhode Island rally in Kingston RI and met young people lining up hours in advance who have been recently made aware of Ayn Rand and spoke of loving her, and are reading von Mises, are open to learning more about the history and the Constitution and what the Founders did to try to protect future generations from ever living under tyranny again. It is Ron Paul who has inspired this pro freedom movement and it has the promise to grow and raise its voice until they achieve the freedom they realize they have had stolen from them and from their parents by the politicians and professors of our time.

I predict that blood will flow in Tampa.

The police and goon squads of the Republican Party will wield the nightsticks and mace.

We all know that no armies will stop an idea whose time has come.

I hope that the Ron Paul supporters will succeed in making him the nominee in which case I would urge you to vote for him too.

[Selene]

Gulch:

I understand your hope.

However, if this does not happen, are you going to vote for Romney?

I may change my mind as we get close to November, but right now I am voting for Johnson.

I got a call from the Republican Party for a donation Sunday night. As i explained to the young man, I will not donate one thin dime to the Boehner non-leadership that the party has not asserted in the Congress.

He kept re-framing his pitch despite my identifying myself as a Tea Party person, despite my explanations to him that he would be wise to end the call before he really pissed me off. Well, he was too ignorant to heed the warning messages.

I was on the phone with the office of the unpronounceable head of the Republican Party in Washington and I am following up with a demand to know where the call came from and whether it was an outside paid fund raising firm.

The young man should have cut his loses.

Adam

I agree there will be blood in the streets at both major conventions.

[GALTGULCH8]

Adam,

I have mentioned here in the past that I used to harbor the hope that there was reason to believe that the Objectivist movement would grow exponentially starting from perhaps the 20K subscribers to The Objectivist Newsletter. If those who were in the know simply reached another person who would take the trouble to read the books, TON, AS, TVOS, CTUI in the course of one year, then the progression would go to 40K, 80K, 160K, 320K, 640K in five years. Then 1.28M, 2.56M, 5M, 10M, 20M in ten years.

It didn't happen but it could have and should have, but it didn't and still hasn't.

Objectivists have the antidote, a rational philosophy for living on earth, and they seem to keep it to themselves.

Along come the libertarians with their non initiation of force doctrine in addition to the outline of a free market economic system with luminaries who have already written the books spelling out the details Mises, Hazlitt, ROthbard, BahmBawerk, Sennholz. The numbers have been growing for decades now and still it remains invisible in the public realm.

A lone obgyn runs for congress worried about the money since Nixon closed the gold window. No one listens to him for thirty years. Suddenly out of no where individuals rise up in support of his quixotic run. Thousands come to hear him speak. Not all of them are young although many are. His supporters are diverse in age, gender, race, nationality, and former political allegiance,

They appear to be widely spread in every state, every city, every suburb.

This is happening at a time when the country is deeply in debt, where tens of thousands are angered by bailouts of banks and corporations while the unemployed grow in number and disillusionment.

Running for leadership of the country is the very one who added to the debt and spending competing with an uninspiring man who appears to have no idea what needs to be done.

Oddly the people need to become aware of the diagnosis, they need to know where the country went wrong and what needs to be done to set it right. Ron Paul tells those who come to hear him that the politicians in Washington have failed to keep the oath of office which they all take. They have not defended the Constitution but that is what needs to be done now to correct the problems.

Question is whether enough of them will take the time to understand what he means by that.

[Brant Gaede]

The triumph of reason is not in figuring out right policies, even a philosophy, but in figuring out why everything is so fucked up and getting out of the way of the fuck ups. Being right about the important things doesn't mean being on the right side of history, especially when statism and irrationalism are in a bubble. Let it burst, then bring out the cleaning equipment.

--Brant

[BaalChatzaf]

The triumph of reason is not in figuring out right policies, even a philosophy, but in figuring out why everything is so fucked up and getting out of the way of the fuck ups. Being right about the important things doesn't mean being on the right side of history, especially when statism and irrationalism are in a bubble. Let it burst, then bring out the cleaning equipment.

--Brant

That is how to pop a zit.

Ba'al Chatzaf

[Selene]

Adam,

I have mentioned here in the past that I used to harbor the hope that there was reason to believe that the Objectivist movement would grow exponentially starting from perhaps the 20K subscribers to The Objectivist Newsletter. If those who were in the know simply reached another person who would take the trouble to read the books, TON, AS, TVOS, CTUI in the course of one year, then the progression would go to 40K, 80K, 160K, 320K, 640K in five years. Then 1.28M, 2.56M, 5M, 10M, 20M in ten years.

Question is whether enough of them will take the time to understand what he means by that.

Gulch:

I understand where you have been.

My question, once again, is:

Are you going to vote for Romney, if Dr. Paul does not win the nomination?

Adam

[GALTGULCH8]

Adam,

Romney will not get the 1,144 votes he needs for the nomination because Ron Paul supporters have given up their Independent status and registered Republican so they could vote in the meetings which choose the actual delegates who will go to Tampa as Romney delegates.

They are discovering that RNC rules supercede state rules so that they will become unbound and may vote for Ron Paul on the first ballot.

I suspect that the place will be surrounded by thousands of Ron Paul supporters whose call for President Paul will be thunderous and will be heard in the hall all during the proceedings.

So your question is hypothetical and moot. Romney will not get the nomination and Ron Paul will.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWDJEc92d38

[Selene]

Wow...

I do admire your faith.

[Selene]

<p class="article-header">

Persistence: Ron Paul has Master Plan to Hijack GOP Convention

• 
  
• Kate Hicks
  Web Editor, Townhall.com
  

May 04, 2012 03:11 PM EST

Who needs to win primaries? Not Ron Paul, whose campaign still thinks the persistent politician could wrangle enough delegates at state conventions to be a competitive force at the national GOP convention in Tampa.

Paul campaigners think a strong presence at state-level contests could help them influence and win enough remaining delegates to help their candidate perhaps win a brokered nomination at the national convention, should Romney not get enough votes in the first round. It at least could get Paul more attention for his tiny-government platform.

“Our campaign strategy has always been to amass the maximum amount of delegates possible, and continuing work in state caucus-conventions is part of that,” Paul spokesman Gary Howard said Thursday.

Specifically, the Paul campaign is thinking of targeting 25 unbound delegates from Nevada, although the GOP's top lawyer has sent the Nevada Republican Party chair a letter warning them against delegate tampering. Paul has also performed well in various state caucuses and conventions around the country, thereby winning him a few more delegates for Tampa despite his primary losses. In the end, they're hoping he can pick up enough delegates to force a brokered convention -- remember that pipe dream from a few months back? -- so their state-level, grassroots campaign efforts will continue through to Tampa.

Of course, both parties have already accepted that Mitt Romney will be the nominee; Ron Paul's followers seem to be the only people in America who are still hoping their guy can pull off an upset. By now, however, the right has begun to coalesce around Romney, and Ron Paul's moment in the sun is over. Like Hillary said, thanks for the "Lodz," but your time has come.

[GALTGULCH8]

Adam, You saw the video above which shows that Romney holds the same policies as Obama on a wide assortment of issues yet you are ready to acknowledge that he is the nominee of the GOP. Is it not clear that the nominee is not chosen until the delegates actually vote for someone at the Tampa convention? Romney couldn't even get the three delegates and three alternates in his own district! I was there and I voted for the Ron Paul people. The MSM considers that since Romney won the primary that all the delegates in MA belong to him, 41 in all. Sixteen of them at least are Ron Paul people. Ron Paul got a higher percentage of delegates in other states. They will vote for Paul on the first ballot and will keep Romney from getting the 1,144 votes.

Romney is in favor of the National Defense Authorization Act, NDAA, which allows for unlimited detention without charges for any citizen of the USA who is declared a terrorist by the president, and will have no lawyer, no hearing before a judge and could spend the rest of his or her life in a cell somewhere. This is the kind of horror people were subjected to in England before the Barons forced the King to sign the Magna Carta in 1215. Romney is naive if he thinks that only authentic enemies of the state/terrorists will be subjected to indefinite detention and never will ordinary citizens who are considered political enemies, one thinks of Nixon's enemies list, be subjected to this fate. Perhaps anyone who requests a copy of the Constitution or who supports or contributes to a political campaign, say the Libertarian Party candidate or Ron Paul, might be labelled a terrorist.

If Romney doesn't come to his senses on this issue he will never get the votes or support of those who currently support Ron Paul.

Now that Gary Johnson has the Libertarian Party nomination those of us who are pro choice have someone to vote for. Ron Paul thinks it is not the job of the Federal government to involve itself in the matter of abortion. He would leave it up to the states after repealing Roe v Wade. Think of all the states where the religious fanatics predominate.

Ron Paul says he has just begun to fight for the nomination. Even the MSM are beginning to take notice.

[Selene]

Gulch:

The purpose of my prior post was to validate your position that Dr. Paul has a plan that could deny Romney the first ballot victory that appears to be looming.

I should have explained that because the authoress of the article is saying that it is over which was not my point.

My apologies.

The question is and I have not done the math, but what are the Santorum and Gingrich delegates going to do on the first ballot?

I do not know the answer to this and I have not seen much discussion anywhere as to that possibility that they will not vote, nor can they vote for Romney on the first ballot by party rules.

Hell, I would rather see a revolution at the convention even if O'bama would win re-election, as long as the House remained non-Democratic and the Tea Party Congressmen increased their numbers significantly to get rid of the Boehner-Kantor scum of incompetence as a "leadership" philosophy!

Additionally, if we can make the Senate a non-Democratic component of government, we can basically grid lock the system and have an outside chance of surviving the looming disaster.

A bitter option, but revolutions are not pretty, nor are the painless.

Adam

[GALTGULCH8]

Adam,

Get this!

<<<" the Romney Campaign will be invoking Rule 5.2 of the MassGOP "Plan for the Selection of Delegates" to the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida by choosing to "not certify" delegates elected at last Saturdays caucuses under the "Ronald Reagan Unity Liberty Slate" banner.

Emails have been sent to Romney Slate Delegates, many of whom finished in 4th, 5th, and 6th place for one of three delegate slots, informing them that the Romney Campaign would challenge Liberty Slate Delegates, and to be prepared to serve as Delegates in their stead.

">>>

<<<"

5.2 "Certified delegate" shall be defined for the purposes of the Plan as having been certified as acceptable by a qualifying Presidential Candidate's state committee, or such presidential candidate's representative on the Allocation Committee, if any. If neither exists, then the delegate may be certified by the Allocation Committee. In the case of a protest or an appeal, the Allocation Committee's ratification or reversal shall be final. An elected delegate shall not be denied certification by a qualifying Presidential Candidate's state committee, or such presidential candidate's representative on the Allocation Committee, if any, without just cause. Any such proposed denial of certification will not be effective unless upheld by a majority vote of the Allocation Committee.

">>>

This has really upset members of the MA GOP who took the time to attend the caucus in all nine Congressional Districts. It appears that Romney is trying to disqualify the delegates who were chosen who were listed on the Ronald Reagan Liberty Unity Slate and replace them with his own who came in 4th 5th or 6th.

This will undoubtedly alienate the entire grass roots of the party in MA who saw that the vote was done fairly and believe the delegates are going to adhere to the state rule at Tampa to vote for Romney on the first ballot.

The comments by MA GOP members indicate that they believe the GOP in MA is acting in a high handed and condescending manner and have been turned off by the tactic to disqualify properly elected delegates.

It appears that the "just cause" referred to would be the understood fact that they are advocates of Ron Paul.

[Selene]

Gulch:

The delegates in Massachusetts should immediately file suit in the local Federal District Court. They should have an excellent chance of getting a liberal/progressive Judge in that circuit who would do almost anything to create mayhem in the Republican nominating process.

Look what happened in Maine:

Paul wins majority of delegates from Maine GOP

By GLENN ADAMS | Associated Press – 4 hrs ago

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — With Mitt Romney's GOP presidential nomination all but decided, Ron Paul supporters took control of the Maine Republican Convention and elected a majority slate supporting the Texas congressman to the GOP national convention, party officials said. The results gave the Texas congressman a late state victory.

In votes leading to the close of the two-day Maine convention, Paul supporters were elected to 21 of the 24 delegate spots from Maine to the GOP national convention in Tampa, Fla. The 24th delegate's seat goes to party Chairman Charles Webster, who has remained uncommitted throughout the process.

Making the Paul takeover complete was the election of Paul supporters to a majority of the state committee seats.

"It's certainly a significant victory," said Jim Azzola of South Portland, Cumberland County coordinator for Paul.

Paul, the last challenger to remain in the contest, finished a close second behind Romney in Maine's GOP caucuses in February, but those results were nonbinding. Not everyone had a chance to cast a ballot before the results were announced, and a snowstorm forced the cancellation of some caucuses, including one in a Paul stronghold. Romney won the February straw poll with 39 percent of the vote to Paul's 36 percent. Rick Santorum trailed with 18 percent and Newt Gingrich got 6 percent.

Romney's aides say they do not view Paul as a threat to winning the nomination. But Romney and his team have also been mindful not to do or say anything that might anger Paul's loyal supporters.

"I think he's being very careful because he knows how important the Ron Paul voters are — they obviously represent a very different dynamic," said Mike Dennehy, a former top aide to Republican John McCain's 2008 campaign. "They are the most passionate and the most frustrated of any voters heading to the polls. And many of them are independents."

The weekend's turn of events — in a state neighboring one where Romney served as governor — would indicate the GOP has not yet united behind the presumptive nominee, and there are indications the infighting may last all the way to the national convention.

Paul supporters accused the Romney crowd Saturday of dirty tricks to garner more delegates. "We came here to see democracy in action. We are floored by what happened, absolutely floored to see the cheating," said Elizabeth Shardlow of Auburn, a Paul activist.

Charles Cragin, a Romney supporter who lost Saturday's bid to chair the convention, called the turn of events at the Maine convention "bizarre." Cragin said the Paul-led delegation may not be recognized at the national convention because of violations of rules of procedure this weekend in Augusta.

"They have so phenomenally screwed this up that they will go to Tampa and not be seated," Cragin said.

Another Romney supporter, delegate John Carson of Kittery, acknowledged "this is a split convention."

"The Paul supporters have had a successful process and should be congratulated on that," said Carson, a veteran of numerous state conventions. "I think it's important that the Romney camp and Paul camp come together and support a single candidate," Carson said, adding that candidate should be Romney.

[BaalChatzaf]

If I recall correctly, Barry Goldwater had millions of fans, long after the 1964 election.

Ba'al Chatzaf

[Dglgmut]

Ahahahahaha