Speaking of Ron Paul…
Our esteemed alumnus, William Beutler chronicles the ornery Texan’s rise to internet celeb-of-the-moment status over at his excellent Blog P.I. site. Beutler wonders whether the online Paul-frenzy does his candidacy more harm than good, and offers links to discussion of the authenticity of the craze.
Meanwhile, Andrew Sullivan is defending Paul at every turn, although he too had to backpeddle a bit when called out by fellow Atlantic blogger Ross Douthat. And a Right Wing News poll has 30% of 240 “right-of-center” bloggers naming Paul as the candidate they least want to see get the Republican nomination.
As Linda Richman would say, “discuss.”
You read Andrew Sullivan? (I keed, I keed)
Um, no, I think I linked to it off of Daily Dish.
You watch The View, Ted?
Now remember children, anyone who opposes the Iraq war wants to “kill America” and is a terrorist.
Sieg Hail Vatherland!
Politics as we know it is basically taking no position on anything and sucking up to special interests – so you’re correct that Dr. Paul has nothing to do with that. But he does have a lot to do with disseminating his good ideas in hopes of being elected and speaking the truth.
I mean, at least he’s not another actor (figuratively and literally).
Tim: Right… the spike in interest means something, but it’s gonna mean different things to different people and at the end of the day, it will remain an internet phenomenon. On the other hand, the ladies of The View have picked up on Paulmania, and if there is any one show that captures the broad array of stupid opinions held by American electorate, it might just be them. Go ahead and Youtube their little klatsch, but be prepared to move your prediction bets around.
T: Would either of those pillars of western culture have recommended Youtubing The View to even their worst enemy? Not bloody likely. Where do you come up with stuff?
I take it back. You guys are like Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. So which one of you wants to be a ruthless, spouse-abusing drunk?
Ted: To your point see “netroots” OR “How Chris Bowers pretends anybody in the wider electorate actually gives a shit what he thinks.”
The Ron Paul “thing” seems to have little to do with politics, and everything to do with the internet. He’s a craze, a fad, he’s flavor of the minute. The internet is awesome because things like this happen, but lets not overestimate it’s ability to affect the larger political process.
Ron Paul is getting a lot of attention if 30% of rightist bloggers are singling him out.
I’ll let Andy be Chong. And I’ll end up co-starring in a bad detective show with Don Johnson…
Except Cheech and Chong were funny.
Ugh. This is like the Cheech and Chong of political blogging here.
Beats the pants off Ron “Kill America” Paul.
Yea, to bad he’s not even running!
Beh. I’ll stick with Fred Thompson. He’s more believable.
Is Ron Paul more awesome than the other candidates? Yes. Does he stand a snowball’s chance in a Texas July’s chance of winning? No.
Other than that question, and the “who do you want to see as the Democrat nominee” question, the rest of that poll was pure litmus-test. Look at the way the questions are worded, and it looks way more like a “loyalty test” than an “opinion poll,” which is why I wasn’t surprised that Paul took the cake for least favorite candidate.
On whether the internet popularity of Ron Paul does him more harm than good: More good, obviously, because the television and print media–not to mention the neo-con arm of conservatism (and the GOP leadership which generally marches lock step with them)–do Dr. Paul no favors. Therefore the internet is currently the Paul Revolution’s last and only bastion.
By the way, The “Right Wing News Poll” does not have 30% of 240 bloggers “naming Paul as the candidate they least want to see get the Republican nomination.” If you go to the link you posted They say they sent the question to a self-selected pool of 240 and only ELEVEN people singled out Paul. 11 people out of 240 is not 30% (its under 5% actually), but I can see how you misread the poll as it was somewhat unclear.
Give ME Ron Paul or give the GOP death!