After a long conversation with several oh-so-earnest Portland Obama supporters last night — the kind of group in which predicting the existential end of the United States within 20 years if he loses doesn’t cause anyone to bat an eye — I was reminded of my fantasy election. As much as I dislike Hillary Clinton, I harbor a secret wish that she were the Democratic nominee. She has no cult of personality. She’s not fooling anybody. Most normally intelligent people’s brains don’t turn to mush when they envision her in office. Even with Democratic control of Congress, another President Clinton would have at least ensured that the partisan rancor and distrust of government Bush has worked so hard to achieve would not be squandered.
And on the Republican side, as long as they’re going to tank the election anyway, couldn’t they have thrown Ron Paul on the ticket? Never mind that he’d be crushed, at least the debates would have been interesting.
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Recently I was feeling nostalgic for Ron Paul. If Obama’s likely to win the White House anyway, it would have been far better to see him spar with an intellectually interesting Republican rather than a political hack like McCain. Then yesterday he endorsed Chuck Baldwin of the Constitution Party for president. Dave Weigel offers a taste of Baldwin’s rhetoric. Such as this, from a few days after 9/11:
…it is now time for the American people to realize that the liberal policies of the last 30 years have created the opportunity for terrorists like those who attacked us Tuesday to accomplish their heinous crimes. America’s foolish fascination with multiculturalism and unrestricted illegal immigration made it easy for those Islamic terrorists to do what they did…
Our Founding Fathers knew that our nation’s protection was ultimately in the hands of God. Freedom and security are the blessings of God. Since God was no idle spectator when our country was birthed, He is no idle spectator today. Both blessing and judgment belong to Him. He can accomplish either according to His will.
It is, therefore, imperative that America returns to God! For nearly a half-century, we have forsaken the moral principles of Heaven. We have legally murdered too many unborn babies. We have too readily accepted aberrant, sexual behavior. We kicked Heaven out of our schools, out of our homes, and out of our hearts. As a result, God is giving us a little taste of Hell.
This in a year when the LP nominated former Congressman Bob Barr, one of the most credible candidates the party’s ever put on the ballot. As with Paul’s disgraceful failure to fire the guy who authored his racist newsletters, the Baldwin endorsement shows an appalling lack of judgment. Paul accomplished a fair amount of good with his primary campaign, but as far as I’m concerned now he can’t fade into obscurity fast enough.
Update: James Poulos has more reactions here.
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After the New Republic article about the Ron Paul newsletters came out, I worried that the money leftover in his campaign bank fund would go to an objectionable group. Fortunately, Paul is deciding instead to start a new project: The Campaign for Liberty, a fund raising group for libertarian-minded Republican candidates largely excluded from the party’s current ugly turn toward big government. He’ll also be holding a large rally in Minneapolis during the Republican National Convention — though not in the convention, where he and his supporters won’t receive a warm welcome. ABC News has the story.
I haven’t been following the so-called “Ron Paul Republicans” very closely, but this seems like a good use of the money (and one that campaign donors won’t object to). Paul has always been better at raising money than speaking as a candidate, and funneling money to some successful, small government Republicans would be a good direction for the movement he energized last year to take.
[Via Andrew Sullivan.]
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Jacob Grier is a freelance writer, barista, mixologist, and magician in Portland, OR. He writes, eats, and drinks a lot. His articles have appeared in The Washington Post, Reason Online, The Oregonian, and other publications.
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