The Self-Destructive Nature of “Paulitics”

Ron Paul, during a campaign stop earlier this year (AP)

By now, the vast majority of Americans realize that the scene has essentially been set for the 2012 Presidential election, and it’s been that way for some time. In November, President Obama will square off against the presumptive Republican nominee, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, in an election that will be defined by economic recovery and, from the looks of things, an assortment of “family values” issues.

There will be third party candidates and an assortment of politically motivated magnates (such as a certain birther blowhard form New York) who will garner some influence in the campaigning process, but in the end, it’ll be the Obama and Romney camps that hold the most important and influential sway.

However, there is one segment of the electorate that vehemently disagrees with this assessment: The Cult of Paul.

The Cult of Paul is comprised of the rabid backers of Texas Congressman Ron Paul’s zombie Presidential bid, which has been dead for some time, yet it still insists on marching on for the sake of…well, marching on aimlessly. But don’t tell the Paulites that. In their version of the political narrative, Ron Paul’s campaign is still very much alive and thriving. In fact, Ron Paul is the clear favorite to win the GOP nomination. He’s scooping up the majority of the delegates in every primary, and he’s clearly on the path to either clinching the nomination or instigating a brokered Republican convention in Tampa.

A brokered convention at which he will, of course, be nominated and baptized as the true torchbearer of American Conservatism.

At this point, the Paulites must be jacked up on all of the drugs that their political idol wants to legalize, because no lucid mind can truly believe that Ron Paul is going to be the Republican nominee for President. The facts clearly attest to that. Take, for example, that Congressman Paul has yet to definitively win any caucus or primary. Yes, it’s true that he won the plurality of delegates in Minnesota and Maine, but in terms of the popular vote, he hasn’t won a single state. The closest he came to achieving that was in Maine, where he had 36% of the popular vote in comparison to first place finisher Mitt Romney’s 38%. Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich, Governor Romney’s other two closest contenders, won the popular vote in seven and two states respectively.

And both of them dropped out of the race weeks ago.

The current delegate count is even more damning to Congressman Paul’s campaign. The front-running Romney currently has 991 delegates, and only needs to secure 153 more delegates in order to clinch the GOP nomination.

By contrast, Paul only has a paltry 114 delegates locked up. Even if he were to win all of the remaining 790 delegates that are available, he still wouldn’t have enough delegates to ensure his nomination. And in order to create a brokered convention, he needs to win a minimum of 638 remaining delegates. Neither of these scenarios are remotely plausible. Therefore, Ron Paul will not be the Republican Presidential candidate in November. Period.

Thankfully, Ron Paul and his highest echelon of advisers have also come to this blindingly obvious conclusion. Last week, Paul suspended all active campaigning, deciding to instead focus his attention on “[taking] leadership positions, [winning] delegates, and [carrying] a strong message to the Republican National Convention that Liberty is the way of the future,". Jesse Benton, Ron Paul’s campaign manager, has also acknowledged the implausibility of Paul becoming the GOP’s nominee, saying that “Gov. Romney has what is very likely an insurmountable delegate lead” and that “We’re very unlikely to block that nomination”.

At this point, Paul and Benton’s strategy seems to be centered on influencing Romney to back some libertarian causes, such as protecting freedom on the internet, shrinking the Federal Reserve’s clout, and eliminating the provision of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that allows for the indefinite detention of Americans. Sounds like the right strategy given the circumstances, right?

 Not according the Cult of Paul.

Paul’s base of adoring worshipers has responded to these drawbacks with stark denial and irrational calls for retribution against Mr. Benton, who they view as a turncoat and retreater in the “campaign for liberty”. “We didn’t come [this far] to play nice” clamored Adam Kokesh, the leader of the “Veterans for Ron Paul” political organization. Posters on the DailyPaul.com forum debated whether or not Benton should be considered an “enemy of the Republic”. Others continued to uncomfortably insist that Ron Paul is the frontrunner, such as supporter Ashley Ryan, who said that “I still think there’s a good chance that Dr. Paul will be the nominee”.

And then there’s this gem from David Robertson, a poster on the aforementioned DailyPaul.com: “From the very outset of this campaign I have seen parallels between the Ron Paul Revolution and certain stories in the Bible… [Our] victory must come by the few not the many so that it might be seen that it is the LORD God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Commander of the Armies of Heaven, the Lord of Hosts, who has given us the victory”.

It’s people like this that have derailed Ron Paul’s unique message and campaign. As a liberal, I have found many of Congressman Paul’s positions appealing, such as his strict non-interventionist foreign policy and his calls to end unchecked power and corruption in the Federal Reserve and on Wall Street. But due to the sheer, militant lunacy that pervades throughout the Congressman’s base of followers, it’s hard to really latch on to anything he has to say.

Ron Paul is a merely a presidential candidate, not a warrior, preacher, or Messianic figure. By making him out to be more than he is, his supporters have turned him into a sort of cartoonish figure. And by constantly spamming forums, news sites, and social media with all-caps rantings and ramblings about the Congressman, Paul supporters have made the average voter become dismissive towards his campaign.

Ron Paul’s most fervent backers also tend to be the type who believe in a 9/11 conspiracy or a secret “one world government” comprised of reptilian shape shifters from outer space. Log onto any online conspiracy website, and that accusation will be immediately confirmed.

The Ron Paul campaign's biggest Achilles' Heel was never their opponents, a lack of campaign money, or an inability to generate excitement. It was their own supporters that ultimately did them in. And because of their self destructive behavior, the Ron Paul revolution will not be televised or realized.

 It will simply remain ostracized.