EASTON, Md., January 10, 2012 — Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney had to nail down New Hampshire and he did. Texas Congressman Ron Paul had to secure a second spot finish. And he did. Next stop: South Carolina on January 21.
For Romney, New Hampshire had to be a solid win or else. After all, it’s right next door to Massachusetts and he has a summer home in New Hampshire. If he couldn’t win in New Hampshire, how could he possibly beat President Obama in November?
For Congressman Ron Paul, second place was crucial to his candidacy. A strong second makes him formidable since he has the money and the workers to move onto South Carolina, which will be a tough state for him to do well in.
But if he’s anything, he’s determined.
Tonight in his speech to his campaign workers, Dr. Paul claimed, “We’ve had a victory for the cause of Liberty.” He definitely had scored a victory for his message of “sound money and personal liberty."
“We’re dangerous,” he couldn’t help but chortle. “We’re dangerous to the status quo of this country.”
Actually, his policies probably are. Certainly, plans to slash $1 trillion in the first year of a Ron Paul presidency would be risky business. Closing down the Federal Reserve and ending regulations are not the solutions to the nation’s problems, but, gee, they make great rallying cries.
Now Paul is taking his “Liberty Movement,” as he called it tonight to South Carolina and while his conservative fiscal policies might sound good to the good folks of that state,his anti-war, anti-military stance will not play well where so many military people and veterans reside and vote. Or will we find they are as tired of war as the rest of us?
Coming in with a lion’s share of the vote, Mitt is now primed to fly to South Carolina a winner in every sense of the word. His street creds as a candidate are stronger than ever. Yes, Ron Paul is “nipping at [Romney's] heels,” as Paul described his second place finish. However, that will only push Mitt further Right.
Newt Gingrich will continue to hurl his arsenal of Newt’s Nukes at him, but Mitt is getting good at shrugging them side. After all, he has nothing to hide: As Newt claims, he is a predatory capitalist.
Actually that seems to be the kind of candidate Republicans like. As one voter noted, “Just think what he would do to the government.” Mitt is probably just itching to start firing a batch of bureaucrats and closing some departments, downsizing government, and outsourcing jobs. Just like he did at Bain Capital.
The real lesson tonight is that the Ron Paul message is working its mojo. Let’s face it: At 76, Paul is not really running for president, although he has the stamina of a 40-year-old. He is running to be heard. To get his beliefs before the American people.
Despite his stalwarts’ belief that he will be the next president of the United States, Dr. Paul is actually a realist.
He is running a message campaign, not a presidential campaign. Paul has always stressed the message over the man, himself. And it has worked. Voila, the GOP has moved closer to Paul’s economic policies, not only over the course of the last ten years but over the course of this campaign.
Only “sound money and personal liberty can solve this country’s problems,” he told his supporters this evening. And his anti-war stance is making inroads into the GOP, bit by bit. So even if he does not run as a third party candidate, Paul’s philosophy has taken root and is flourishing deep within the soul of Tea Party Republicans.
If you didn’t know it before, you know it after tonight: the Republican Party isn’t the party of your daddy, not even the party of John McCain in 2008.
It is starting to resemble the party of Charles Lindberg.
To contact Catherine Poe, see above. Her work appears in Ad Lib in the Communities at the Washington Times. She can also be heard on the Democrats for America's Future. She is also a contributor to broadcast, print and and online media.
This article is the copyrighted property of the writer and Communities @ WashingtonTimes.com. Written permission must be obtained before reprint in online or print media. REPRINTING TWTC CONTENT WITHOUT PERMISSION AND/OR PAYMENT IS THEFT AND PUNISHABLE BY LAW.
