Who Will Not Become President: Ron Paul

One of the more interesting aspects of this election cycle is the incarnation of Libertarian thought in Congressman Dr. Ron Paul, a “Republican” candidate for President. Dr. Paul is a true RINO-Republican in Name Only much like the late Congressman Larry McDonald (of Cobb County, naturally) was a true DINO-Democrat in Name Only. McDonald was a card carrying member of The John Birch Society and ran as a Democrat because that’s who won elections in Georgia back then. Paul is a Libertarian that runs as a Republican because that’s how you get elected to Congress in that part of Texas.

Congressman Paul is very popular in some circles, particularly those circles which write on message boards in CAPITAL LETTERS. However, he has some huge problems.

One is undeniable. Paul is 76 years old and would be 77 years old when he would take the oath of office. That is very, very, old. Sure, Reagan was in that ballpark, but he was almost finished with his term by that age. We are going to replace one of the younger Presidents in history with the oldest ever elected? That’s a hard sell.

Paul’s strain of Libertarianism is a problem too.

I have been aware of Libertarianism since I was 10 years old (that’s when Neal Boortz started in radio career here in Atlanta at WRNG). In its purest form, Libertarianism is an essential American philosophy- it believes that if you mind you own business, you won’t have time to mind mine. In this age of The Nanny State (actually, The Naggy State is a better description), Libertarianism has gain popularity.

The young people have gravitated to Paul. Let’s be blunt. A lot of those kids just want to be Republican Party Reptiles. The current generation of Libertarians seem like they are interested in one thing: Marijuana. (Boortz complains about this too.) It is one thing to hear Milton Friedman discuss the benefits of the legalization of Marijuana and another to hear it from your typical Libertarian (20-40 year old male that smells like a pumpkin patch).


Paul’s strain of Libertarianism is also very isolationist. It is not “Pre 9/11” it is “Pre December 7, 1941”. When Paul speaks about foreign policy it often sounds like he is sitting in a rocking chair at The Cracker Barrel spouting off about what ‘Merica should do. It doesn’t show any real serious thought.

The Paul people don’t like the mentioning of the 90’s Ron Paul newsletters that had some non-politically correct (i.e.: racist and Anti-Semitic) stuff. Ron Paul’s response is very disturbing because it: 1) Sounds like a bold face lie and he thinks you are stupid enough to buy it or 2)He doesn’t pay any attention to anything that goes on around him in his name.

Personally, I pick reason one. I have worked in the Health Insurance industry for 26 years. To think that a physician, any physician, would be unaware of what is going in anything he is associated with strains belief. Part of being a physician is being aware of what is going on with your patients and your practice. The idea that he would allow his name to on a publication and be unaware of what is in the publication is incredible and goes against all my experience with physicians.

This election presents Ron Paul has a great opportunity: to help re-elect Barack Obama. One way is to win the Republican nomination. That ain’t going to happen. The second is to run as a third party candidate. If Paul and his fans want to ensure the re-election of Barack Obama, go right ahead. It just validates my belief that some people actually want to lose this election.