Libertarians for Ron Paul » 2007 » May
The annual FreedomFest conference, has issued a debate invitation to GOP Presidential candidates Rudy Giuliani and Ron Paul to use FreedomFest ‘07 as a debate venue to further explore their fundamental differences in foreign policy and the war in Iraq that were highlighted in the Columbia, SC debate.
Mark Skousen, producer of the debate issued the invitation to both candidates this week. FreedomFest will be held in Las Vegas July 5-7.
FreedomFest has already scheduled another major debate on foreign policy featuring Ron Paul on Saturday night (July 7).
US Foreign Policy and the War in Iraq:
Libertarians: Congressman Ron Paul & Doug Casey -vs-
Conservatives: Dinesh D’Souza & Larry Abraham
The online gambling site Sportsbook.com reports that they have experienced a surge of bets on the 2008 race that have made them change the odds on a Ron Paul victory. Previously Paul was a 200 to 1 longshot - now the odds are 15 to 1 that he will win next year.
“Ron Paul is a serious contender whose grass roots campaign is growing dramatically,” explains Payton O’Brien, Senior Editor of Gambling911.com, one of the world’s leading political betting news sources. “No other single candidate for US President has received the type of interest generated here at Gambling911.com.”
Gambling911.com further notes that “For online gamblers a win would mean more than just money in one’s own pocket. Ron Paul is the only candidate with 20 to 1 or better odds of becoming the next US President who supports legalized online gambling.”
Conservative commentator Bruce Bartlett talks about decline in conservative support for Bush’s Iraq war, and dissatisfaction with Bush’s big government agenda, and concludes “…this has made the Republican soil highly fertile for a dissident campaign based on a genuine conservative message, such as that being offered by Ron Paul.” http://tinyurl.com/32onrj
David Boaz of the Cato Institute warns readers of the New York Daily News that “…Giuliani’s authoritarian streak is as strong as ever. He defends the Bush administration’s domestic surveillance program. He endorses the President’s power to arrest American citizens, declare them enemy combatants and hold them without access to a lawyer or a judge. He thinks the President has “the inherent authority to support the troops” even if Congress were to cut off war funding, a claim of presidential authority so sweeping that even Bush and his supporters have not tried to make it. more here: http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=8264
Congressman Ron Paul now has twice as many YouTube subscribers as all of the other Republican candidates for president combined. Here are the numbers:
Paul - 12,103
Romney - 2,059
Giuliani - 1,429
McCain - 1,291
Hunter - 413
Huckabee - 342
Tancredo - 211
Brownback - 111
Gilmore - 60
Thompson - 0
Total - 5,916
Congressman Paul also has twice as many YouTube subscribers as Barack Obama who has 5,988, and nearly four times as many as Hillary Clinton who has 3,517 subscribers.
Ron Paul 2008 YouTube Channel
Last week, on CNN’s Reliable Sources, host Howard Kurtz used Ron Paul as a foil to whip up support for the media favorite, Rudy Giuliani.
But we begin by turning our critical lens on the Republican presidential debate on FOX News. The most replayed sound bite by far was of Giuliani responding to Texas’ congressman Ron Paul’s declaration that we, the U.S., brought on the 9/11 attacks by bombing Iraq for a decade. (He then plays the tape of Giuliani’s response without Paul’s comments.)
Guest neocon William Bennett: What he had to do, Heidi, was get beyond the abortion issue, and he did, thanks to Ron Paul, the libertarian candidate who gave him this opportunity to talk about 9/11. Guests Brit Hume, Chuck Todd, and Ryan Lizza agreed that Rudy was the best thing since sliced bread.
Kurtz continues to slam Ron with periodic comments: Giuliani gets off a good line against the extremely obscure Ron Paul in a ridiculously early debate.
Kurtz closes the show with clips to make further fun of Ron Paul (and Mike Gravel), and then concludes:
So, why don’t the cable networks just say no to these distant also-rans? FOX said it invited anyone polling at least one percent in South Carolina. MSBNC says it had no minimum threshold. CNN, which is hosting Democratic and Republican debates in New Hampshire early next month, says a candidate must have measurable public support, but wont’ disclose the specifics. Why not set a higher standard? Say, five percent in the polls? These news organizations are allowing ego-driven fringe candidates to muck up debates among those with an actual shot at the White House. It should be like baseball. If you don’t make the cut, you get sent to the sidelines until you raise your game.
Kurtz’s suggestion that the media exclude Ron Paul from future debates generated some emails the following week.
Takahashi from Japan writes, “Many Japanese follow your show. The big debate recently in Japanese circles who are interested in American politics is about the Ron Paul effect. We want to know more about him.”
David from Seattle said, “Shame on you for saying that the ‘also rans’ should not be in the debates. The last time I checked not a single vote or caucus has been held. The only way most of these voices can be heard is with the public forums.”
And Thomas from Boulder, Colorado, writes, “Why on earth would you seek to silence voices who don’t agree with the so-called ‘mainstream’ candidates? Another word for mainstream is ‘bought and paid for.’ So you want the American public only to be able to see the bought and paid for candidates?” Well, even the lesser candidates have to raise money to run for president.
My guess is that if Kurtz had received a single response agreeing with him, he would have read it on the air.
In the past week, YouTube viewership of Ron Paul videos has increased by about 600% and is accelerating.
TechPresident tracks the numbers, updated daily. Here are the current stats:
The Washington Post’s Jeff Jarvis highlights Ron Paul’s performance.
Gun Owners of America has profiled the candidates for President based on their stands on gun rights. Ron Paul has always supported the right to bear arms - and this profile gives details of his long-term defense of gun rights http://gunowners.org/pres08/paul.htm
On last night’s McLaughlin Group, panelist Eleanor Clift brought up Ron Paul favorably.
During a discussion on the conservative movement, started as a discussion of the death of Jerry Falwell, Clift named Ron Paul as Barry Goldwater’s heir:
Barry Goldwater’s heir in the current Republican field is Texas Congressman Ron Paul, who is a libertarian, and who is really striking a chord. He’s not going to win the nomination or the Presidency, but he is speaking to a lot of people who think the Republican Party has gone way too far into the bedrooms of American people, and too far…
Pat Buchanan interupts:
He’s pro-life! He’s pro-life!
Clift:
He doesn’t want the government making those decisions.
Three weeks ago, John McLaughlin ended the discussion of the debate on that week’s McLaughlin Group declared that Ron Paul was the winner of the first debate.