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I'll cop to forgetting, completely, that Idaho held its primaries yesterday, and I missed watching Ron Paul score 24 percent of the vote. (John McCain got 70 percent, with the rest going to some guy named Uncommitted, who's pissed that Hillary Clinton is trying to steal his Michigan delegates.) That was a disappointing result for some Paul backers, who thought the congressman might actually win the primary given the rock-bottom GOP enthusiasm and Paul's strength in northwest Idaho. But Paul's sleepy "stay on ballots but hardly spend any time campaigning, even though there's $4 million in the bank*" strategy limited the oomph.
Paul's continuing to rack up votes in thinly-attended local conventions, nailing down two delegates from Oregon. And he's neither going to endorse Bob Barr nor the Constitution Party candidate—maybe not even after the Republican convention wraps up. At issue is Paul's congressional seniority. He's worried, and rightfully so, about losing his precious banking committee seat if he hands over too much support to third party candidates who are trying to bleed the GOP.
* The Washington Post is making hay out of Paul's payments to his family members, which is neither 1) new to him nor 2) much different from what media darling Mike Huckabee did. The only scandals with Paul's war chest, to me, were the squandering on stupid TV ads and the current hoarding of funds even though, after May 6, only inexpensive states remained on the map.
Idaho is Ron Paul Country! To an Extent!
Comments to "Idaho is Ron Paul Country! To an Extent!":
Colin | May 28, 2008, 10:52am | #
Speaking of Huck, did anyone notice him going off on libertarianism in an interview yesterday?Uncommitted | May 28, 2008, 10:53am | #
My campaign will not rest until we have won both the Democratic and Republican Primaries. Then it is onto victory in November! Yawww! Yaww!Brian | May 28, 2008, 11:03am | #
Awesome showing in Idaho!Colin - yes, I caught that. Sounds like Huck and the GOP are running scared!
TallDave | May 28, 2008, 11:04am | #
Nice.I would eat a potato to celebrate, but I'm doing the low-carb thing. Sorry, Idaho.
I must admit that he could have campaigned much harder and spent more money. However, I think he has plans for that money to spread the message with his PAC. Part of the reason is because I think the campaign didn't think that had a real chance after IOWA/NH and so they were practical with the money.
Ironic | May 28, 2008, 11:13am | #
Ron Paul is very libertarian except where he isn't.Bob Barr is very libertarian except where he isn't.
Short of writing in my own name will I be able to vote for a libertarian for POTUS in November?
Matt Welch | May 28, 2008, 11:14am | #
I deleted the "Weigel is a douche" comment; not because he isn't, necessarily, but because hitting "Control V" a thousand times just isn't very considerate of others.lgoldman | May 28, 2008, 11:15am | #
No, the $4 mill isn't going to his PAC. It's going to start a for-profit publishing biz. Ron's Grandson-in-law-to-be, Jesse Benton discussed this in the press several weeks ago.Ron should be able to keep the brood employed there.
A strength in northwest Idaho, eh? Well a certain somebody's bound to mention it eventually, so I'll go ahead and point out that guess-who wants to be left alone up there?!? Well, it's their right as much as anyone else's, though of course it's still an unsavory association. Oh well....
Let's open up the floor to discussion as to whether Weigel is, in fact, a douche.
reason... | May 28, 2008, 11:23am | #
... sucks.David Weigel's excellent coverage of the LP convention earned him a giant douche indulgence.
Citizen Nothing | May 28, 2008, 11:28am | #
I'm just kind of amazed to have seen the transformation of a movement that was supposed to be "about the message, not the man," a movement that I, indeed, supported at one time, become almost entirely a cult of personality.For a magazine called reason, there sure is a lot of discussion of douching.
Citizen Nothing | May 28, 2008, 11:30am | #
Douche!Er, Drink!
I'm kinda sad I missed the doucheness. Is there a place where obnoxious blog comments go to die?
This confirms my theory that the closer to Canada you are, the more likely you are to like Ron Paul. Still, I was surprised that even though Paul's biggest slice of the Idaho Republican pie was in Boundary County (As in the boundary between Idaho and British Columbia), he got double digits in virtually every other county yesterday, even in the supposed Romney stronghold of southeastern Idaho.
BakedPenguin | May 28, 2008, 11:49am | #
Reinmoose: lonewacko.comBakedPenguin | May 28, 2008, 11:55am | #
I deleted the "Weigel is a douche" comment; not because he isn't, necessarily, but because hitting "Control V" a thousand times just isn't very considerate of othersCtrl-V for Vendetta...
Adamness | May 28, 2008, 12:01pm | #
* The Washington Post is making hay out of Paul's payments to his family members, which is neither 1) new to him nor 2) much different from what media darling Mike Huckabee did.They also called him an isolationist in the first sentence, so WaPo can go suck a lemon.
Speaking of Huck, did anyone notice him going off on libertarianism in an interview yesterday?
The Huck is the real douche.
Warren | May 28, 2008, 12:04pm | #
Citizen Nothing,Get use to it. All your heroes are going to disappoint you in the end. I was a big Paul booster. But one of the main reason I donated in dribs and drabs, was scandal insurance. When he tried to brush the newsletters under the carpet, I withdrew my support. I'm horribly disappointed in those newsletters, horrible TV ads, and his lack of commitment to keep campaigning. I suspect the entire campaign was just an elaborate PR stunt to fund his retirement. But I don't regret a dime or a minute I gave to PAUL '08. Like I've said from the beginning, Ron Paul in his years of service in the US Congress, standing mostly alone as the sentinel of federal excess, earning the nickname Dr. No, has already earned my gratitude sufficient that I'd be happy for him to retire to the South Pacific with my campaign contributions. Now it appears I might have been on the right track only I had small vision. He wanted to take care of his whole family. Best of luck to all of them. If nothing else Paul 08 has reveled that the hunger in this country for a new political paradigm based on freedom, is much greater than the establishment can acknowledge.
Citizen Nothing | May 28, 2008, 12:10pm | #
Don't fret, Warren. At this late stage, I don't have many heroes, and Paul was never one of them.And I'm more disappointed in his bitter-ender supporters than in the man himself.
I hope you're correct in your assessment of the hunger for a new political paradigm.
Ali | May 28, 2008, 12:15pm | #
fyodor, who lives there?Pig Mannix | May 28, 2008, 12:19pm | #
I deleted the "Weigel is a douche" comment; not because he isn't, necessarily, but because hitting "Control V" a thousand times just isn't very considerate of others.Well, at least he's making all the right enemies - could a Pulitzer be far away?
Chris Potter | May 28, 2008, 12:24pm | #
The Washington Post is making hay out of Paul's payments to his family members, which is neither 1) new to him nor 2) much different from what media darling Mike Huckabee did.Am I the only one who does not find this to be an acceptable defense? When you're supposedly at the forefront of a rLOVEution, "everybody else is doing it" doesn't cut it for me.
I campaigned hard for Paul both by phonebanking and among my friends and family, but recently I'm getting more and more embarrassed about it. I laughed at the naivete of Obamamaniac college kids 'round here, saying that they were fooling themselves thinking that he was any different from every other politician...but now it looks like the joke's on me.
adrian | May 28, 2008, 12:44pm | #
didn't his family members actually work for him? were the payments that excessive?RonPaulYall | May 28, 2008, 12:45pm | #
What's wrong with you people? Ron Paul is still the best hope for this country, despise the MSM trying to smear him for bogus shXt. Would you really rather have one of three muskateers as prez? I admit that Bob Barr would be a better choice than those three yahoos, but he can't hold a candle to Ron Paul. I think Chuck Baldwin would be the best second choice thought, not Barr.Citizen Nothing | May 28, 2008, 12:50pm | #
"I think (God, Family, and the Republic!) Chuck Baldwin would be the best second choice thought, not Barr."Jesus. That says it all, does it not?
charlie | May 28, 2008, 1:03pm | #
Why the hate on Baldwin? I mean, I'm surely not going to vote for him, but at least he has the guts to denounce the American empire in no uncertain terms on his issues page. Yeah he's one of those crazy Christian types, but it was Bob Barr after all who wanted the U.S. military to ban Wicca.On cultural issues Baldwin and Barr seem pretty much in lockstep, though I'd give the edge to Baldwin because: 1) he didn't vote for the Iraq war or the Patriot act like a certain Libertarian nominee, and 2) at least he isn't pretending to be anything other than an anti-war conservative.
fyodor | May 28, 2008, 1:12pm | #
Ali,White supremicists. Northern Idaho is kinda famed for that. It's even where the racial slur spewing cop in the OJ Simpson case moved to. Though whether they're actually anywhere near enough of the populace to have a noticeable effect on a primary vote, I don't claim to know.
Lysander | May 28, 2008, 1:15pm | #
Why should someone be disqualified from working for a campaign just because he/she is related to the candidate? I'm sure if you compared what the Paul relatives are paid to what similar positions in the Hillbama campaigns are paid, you'd find Paul is the cheapskate.Egosumabbas | May 28, 2008, 1:22pm | #
Dave Weigel is just a shill for Big Hygiene.brotherben | May 28, 2008, 1:22pm | #
I lived in St. Maries, Idaho about 15 years ago when the white supremacy group was open for business in Hayden. The local sentiment was that the neo nazis were a buncha hateful dumbasses. You can't accurately judge the population of North Idaho by the actions of a few.Ali | May 28, 2008, 1:24pm | #
fyodor- That's what I thought you meant. My second guess would have been BEARS.Col DuBois | May 28, 2008, 1:25pm | #
$4 million can pay for shipping a lot of copies of the Ron Paul Survival Report. He could have gotten 99% of the vote in Couer d'Alene with that kind of direct mail campaign.Chris Potter | May 28, 2008, 1:30pm | #
Why should someone be disqualified from working for a campaign just because he/she is related to the candidate?Because it stinks to high heaven of corruption, especially if (a) they're the ones who are left after he lays everyone else off, and (b) he's not spending the campaign money on, you know, campaigning.
It's sort of the same reason that radio stations don't allow their employees or family members of their employees to be eligible for prizes.
Holy crap, you made it a whole blog post without mentioning the newsletters. Are you...feeling okay?
Bosworth | May 28, 2008, 1:42pm | #
@Chris PotterMan, are you a douche.
Family members working for a campaign is nothing new. What hell is wrong with it? Who's going to work harder? Should they pay their own travel expenses?
If there's a valid criticism it's that Paul underpaid them, drastically. Jesse Benton, 54k...are you kidding me?
Keep being a douche chris crocker.
Chris Potter | May 28, 2008, 1:51pm | #
Family members working for a campaign is nothing new.That's exactly what Weigel said, and I'm saying "everyone else does it" is not an acceptable defense for someone who purports to be breaking the mold.
Jesse Benton, 54k...are you kidding me?
I agree completely. Wait...you said underpaid?
This is the guy who totally fucked up the response to the newsletter scandal, and made countless gaffes during media interviews. Please don't get me started on the incompetence of his campaign HQ staff. The only reason he got any votes was because of the efforts of grass roots volunteers (douches like myself, btw).
Chris Potter | May 28, 2008, 1:58pm | #
And furthermore:Who's going to work harder? Should they pay their own travel expenses?
I don't have a problem with reimbursements for legitimate campaign travel expenses; it's the salaries that concern me.
And seriously, why can't his family members work for free, like, you know, the thousands of people (like me!) who did so despite not being related to him. What about all the people who drove or flew to NH on their own money to work for Operation Live Free or Die, which put the official NH campaign to shame?
Walter Smith | May 28, 2008, 2:19pm | #
REASON magazine is in part responsible for McCain's success because of their FAILURE to support Ron Paul.REASON is a sell-out.
badmedia | May 28, 2008, 2:54pm | #
The family member got very little cash. If you add it all up, the total amount was less than $200,000. They were paid very little money in reality.Compare that with who the other campaigns are paying. Hmm, a bunch of lobbyists, and people with connections to special interest groups. And you are seriously going to say Ron Paul is the one that is corrupt? Please, that is just ridiculous.
Ron Paul already has millions in gold. He has a successful book, and he doesn't just go around wasting money. Despite his money, he is still a normal person. To think the entire campaign is about getting peoples money is a bunch of hogwash. I gave $2300, and consider it the best money I've ever spent.
For those commenting on politics, I find it funny not 1 person has mention McCain-Feingold in all this. Which limit the free speech of Americans, and will limit it even more in the future as inflation continues, and the purchasing power of that $2300 dips even lower.
Which of course, means the media has that much more power over the elections. As the media is able to promote candidates for free 24/7, and will only promote/report on the candidates they want. It is impossible for any campaign to overcome this in advertising. To claim the campaign is at fault only goes to make those people look clueless as to what is going on here.
Where is the outcry over that corruption? None. Why? Because do you think the MSM is going to point this out to people? Is it mere coincidence that McCain writes the laws, then wins the next nomination while recieving almost 0 support, having to accept federal matching funds, then trying to take it back breaking his own rules.
Who do these guys think they are kidding? I'm so sick of watching the system cater to the stupid. I may have been born in the day, but it wasn't yesterday.
Let me give you guys a hint - you do not get to choose who is elected.
badmedia | May 28, 2008, 3:07pm | #
I have seen nothing but corruption from the top down this election. From the media plain out ignoring Ron Paul(documented of them specifically doing so), to the media flat out attacking him falsely(fox news, also documented), even go so far as to call it a virus. To being ignored in the debates, being asked ridiculous questions, and questions designed(but failed) to give the other candidates chances to beat up on him. To having out of context newsletters come up the day before the first primary, which did not even attempt to show the truth. I watched Romney flat out buy straw polls, with no media attention. I watched the media push up Gulliani, even though I could never find a supporter for him. To fox news putting in specific opinionated people in the polls. Then to questionable voting procedures in multiple states, not allowing people to vote for who they actually want to vote for in many cases. To plain out scripting of the convention process.So, WTF are you guys exactly arguing about? Is there any question to who and what is corrupt anymore? Has it not been made absolutely clear to you? Is it really up for debate at this point? With all the problems facing the country, THIS is helping?
Please, do us all a favor and grow up. Start taking a look at what is important, and what is at stake here. If you wanna piss and moan about anything Ron Paul has done in comparison with the others in this election, then please get a clue. If there was ever a time when the childish, he screws animals type stuff isn't needed, it's now. Unless of course, you happen to want to keep the status quo, because that is exactly what this kind of debate is - status freaking quo.
Chris Potter | May 28, 2008, 3:09pm | #
So, what you're saying is that it's OK because everyone else is doing it.Chris Potter | May 28, 2008, 3:12pm | #
To having out of context newsletters come up the day before the first primary, which did not even attempt to show the truth.There was no media attention on the newsletter scandal either. It was invisible outside of TNR, Reason, and a few other blogs.
Oh, and the newsletters weren't taken out of context. Dr. Paul himself said that the content of the newsletters was disgusting and offensive.
badmedia | May 28, 2008, 3:17pm | #
And btw, Ron Paul is doing exactly what he needs to be doing. He is exposing the corruption in the system at every chance he gets. He has been in politics for 30 years, and has a great voting record. I have heard many people, especially libertarians say alot of the things I like to hear, but Ron Paul is the only man that I was able to look at and say wow - this man has done it when it wasn't popular. He stood up for the right things.I don't doubt him for a minute. He is playing this election very smart. He has never given up the moral high ground, and everytime the system has to push him down, it sticks out like a sore thumb.
Getting Ron Paul elected isn't the goal here. Getting Ron Paul, or someone like him elected will be the result. The result of educating the American people to the corruption and problems this country is facing, and working to give people valid information to make decisions on. Because if you think they treat Ron Paul this way because he is Ron Paul, then you are blind. They treat Ron Paul this way because of the things he says, and the truths he speaks. Anyone who speaks as such is treated as such. Every candidate, every person.
He has educated more people in this past year than has been done in decades. He has done more than any of us have ever thought about doing.
I don't support Ron Paul. I support the things Ron Paul supports and tries to educate people about. And I'm pretty proud to have him representing me in congress, even though he isn't within 1000 miles of my district.
I think some of you need to get a grip on reality.
badmedia | May 28, 2008, 3:21pm | #
"So, what you're saying is that it's OK because everyone else is doing it."No, I'm saying it because he should be allowed to have whoever he thinks is best around him.
Honestly, I fail to see what is bad about it to even need a "they do it to" argument. You just ASSUME they are being given free money or something, which is just dumb.
And when you assume, you make an ass outta u and me.
Joshua Wise | May 28, 2008, 3:24pm | #
I don't think the "hoarding" is a bad idea. He isn't going to get magical millions fundraised over night like other candidates, he knows exactly how much he will have every day for the next 6 months and he's rationing it out until there's zero.badmedia | May 28, 2008, 3:38pm | #
"There was no media attention on the newsletter scandal either. It was invisible outside of TNR, Reason, and a few other blogs.Oh, and the newsletters weren't taken out of context. Dr. Paul himself said that the content of the newsletters was disgusting and offensive."
Thats not true, it was all over the place. It just go reported as being from there, because everyone else knew it was dog poo, so that is what the media does. When they want to report something, but don't want to be directly associated with it, then they report it as so and so is saying. So when it's proven wrong, they are only reporting on the report by the source. Didn't think that was a big mystery.
As well, everyone knows if you support Ron Paul, you read the internet. It did what it's purpose was, you still have people even in this blog saying it.
As for what it said. The worse quote I read was actually a quote from some government study. I also thought the article in general was pointing out the social injustices in the justice system, and was based in truth.
For example, I'm not a theif. But I have stolen food from a grocery store when I was younger. I didn't want to do it, felt bad about doing it, but I hadn't eaten in 3 days and I was hungry. So I stole. I didn't get caught either.
Point being, you should look at the persons actions not just on the action, but also what lead to the action. People don't just act in certain ways for no reason. And when it comes to poverty, you will find desperate people doing desperate things. So it is no surprise when you go into the ghetto if you get robbed. Nor is a surprise if they are good at it. But that doesn't automatically make them bad people, it is a result of the environment they live in. Not to mention the fact that many of the crimes are social drug crimes, and the war on drugs which criminalize it create the black market which automatically creates crime.
So, what creates that environment? Well, you can start with the federal reserve that takes wealth from the poor and gives it to the rich via the inflation tax. Those dependent on fixed income or making minimum wage are unable to keep up their income with the inflation. This is why the poor get poorer, and the rich get richer. And Ron Paul is the candidate against it, and he is silenced.
He is also against the social crimes, and wants to repeal them. Further making the situation better, because it will kill the black market.
He also points out the importance of the individual, and sees people as individuals rather than belonging to a race, sexual preference etc. The only fair and right way to treat people, as equals and as intended in this country.
So to call him racist and claim racist ties(as if any candidate is free of them) is just simply ignorant IMO.
I'm sick of the BS, either get real or shut up.
Citizen Nothing | May 28, 2008, 4:00pm | #
"I think some of you need to get a grip on reality."Uhemmm-potsandkettles-uhemmm.
Pig Mannix | May 28, 2008, 4:08pm | #
Dave Weigel is just a shill for Big Hygiene.And on that note...
Shane Brady | May 28, 2008, 5:22pm | #
Alan Keyes received more votes in 2000 in Idaho than Ron Paul did. This is much ado about nothing.Rick W | May 28, 2008, 6:30pm | #
Wow! David!You really don't stay very current on the news, do you? Its been all over the web ... the "left over cash" that is still coming in, by the way, is being used to finance the "revolution". Duh!
sparky64 | May 28, 2008, 6:45pm | #
"Alan Keyes received more votes in 2000 in Idaho than Ron Paul did. This is much ado about nothing."If this is true, it defeats fyodor's assumption that only the unsavories vote for Paul in Idaho. Reason Sucks.
1440 minutes | May 28, 2008, 6:51pm | #
Reason continues to undermine the revolution. How was RP supposed to win Idaho when most people (a) have never heard of him, or (b) think that he has dropped out? Give me a break. These were fantastic results.Craig | May 28, 2008, 7:23pm | #
Another 7 delegates for Ron Paul in Idaho, based on 24% of the vote, with 26 of their 32 delegates distributed proportionately, and rounded up.That should put him in the 30-40 range according to the mainstream media, and above 50 in real life. Not enough to scare McCain by any means, but about 50 more than the Establishment predicted a year ago.
Craig | May 28, 2008, 7:25pm | #
There was no media attention on the newsletter scandal either. It was invisible outside of TNR, Reason, and a few other blogs.Yeah, except for that MSNBC piece on national TV on the eve of the New Hampshire primary, and another national TV bit on CNN before Super Tuesday.
Auberon | May 28, 2008, 9:05pm | #
I don't have a problem with reimbursements for legitimate campaign travel expenses; it's the salaries that concern me.Which salaries in particular? Name one Paul family member salary that you think is unreasonable. Just one. Any one. Be sure to specify the time period over which the salary was paid, and do not include expense reimbursements. Hint: this data was not in the shoddy WaPo article.
SeattleJoe | May 28, 2008, 11:16pm | #
badmedia,Thank you for your intelligent posts. You are representing the rEVOLution well and with respect. It seems this thread is infected with some know-nothing, basement dwelling big L's.
It never ceases to amaze me how opponents of Paul never address issues, only baseless media rhetoric.
RustyJohn | May 28, 2008, 11:54pm | #
Wow, so let me get this straight...in the grand scheme of things the Libertarian candidate will likely get more votes this year than any other, the interest in the party will increase, Conservatism- a dying animal since 1994- is on the rise, thousands of people who were never involved int he political process now are with the goal of making government smaller and increasing freedom, and there was a candidate for President who voted for his principles instead of pandering to the lowest of the low...and yet, because he hired some family members to work on his campaign at below market rates you are disenchanted?Paul has 4 large in the bank to spread the message of freedom around with a publishing company- the horror- it would have been much better if he made an ad about answering the phone at 3 AM that ran in two markets- yes, spending that 4 million would have made all the difference in the world.
Some of the people on this board are so removed from reality they really should be checked out.
Apaulogist | May 29, 2008, 1:50am | #
Dr. Paul should give his family members a raise. That was a very impressive showing in Idaho and I consider my donation well spent.