Ron Paul takes the lead in Iowa.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Ron Paul isn't from the Midwest, and he isn't an ethanol baron. Why do you think that he can win in Iowa, but not the South? Do Southerners hate guns and love big government?

You think Southerners are going to vote for a guy who wants to legalize prostitution and drugs (at least that's going to be the narrative against Paul in South Carolina & Florida)?

[Felch]

Subsidiarity is a popular idea among conservatives and libertarians alike. Ron Paul wouldn't exert control over states that pass vice laws, he simply opposes them at a federal level.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Subsidiarity is all fine and good at an abstract level among conservatives, but the South would never support a candidate who believed in letting individual communities decide on prostitution or drugs. For one, a lot of Southerners would believe that showed a lack of a proper moral compass.

[Felch]

They have a choice to make. Let the GOP wallow in Southern retardation for another generation, or act on Constitutional principle for once. I guess I'm just an optimist.

[Dr Strangelove]

When was the last time that Iowa really mattered? In the good ol' days, back when mid-western farmers were the backbone of the GOP, how a candidate did in Iowa gave a fairly decent indication of how he would do nationally, but if IIRC in the past few decades the Iowas caucus has not been a good predictor of who will ultimately get the nomination.

[Dr Strangelove]

You think Southerners are going to vote for a guy who wants to legalize prostitution and drugs (at least that's going to be the narrative against Paul in South Carolina & Florida)?

Wouldn't those actually be pretty good selling points in Florida? Well, maybe if he promised to make Percocet available over the counter.

[Felch]

If by "good ol' days," you mean 2008, then that would be the last time Iowa really mattered. As we've already discussed, Hillary Clinton was leading national polls by a 19 point margin until an upset in Iowa gave Barack Obama the momentum and media boost he needed to secure the nomination.

[Imran Siddiqui]

They have a choice to make. Let the GOP wallow in Southern retardation for another generation, or act on Constitutional principle for once. I guess I'm just an optimist.

How about we actually pick someone intelligent who doesn't look at the poor and say "screw 'em"? Though I guess in this day and age that makes me a Democrat because no Republican really gives a damn (well aside from those not running like Chris Christie and Mitch Daniels).

[Felch]

I don't expect Ron Paul to accomplish much in terms of legislation. I just hope that he adopts a less expensive foreign policy, and puts obstructionists in charge of the DEA and ATF. You want some non-existent candidate to fund huge social programs with money we don't have? Good luck.

[Imran Siddiqui]

It helps to fund social safety programs which provide assistance for those in need when we don't waste our money on cutting taxes for the richest Americans (yes, as well as curtailing military spending, but Paul isn't willing to use that bonus in order to give assistance to those who most need it).

[Felch]

Congress isn't going to pass any tax increases for social programs anytime soon. Not unless there's a big leftward shift in both houses. You have to be realistic about what any President can accomplish.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Aside from his feature (or bug) foreign policy stances, Paul stands no chance against the Dems and in particular Obama given his 90's newsletter writings.

.”Opinion polls consistently show that only about 5 percent of blacks have sensible political opinions, i.e. support the free market, individual liberty and the end of welfare and affirmative action

Regarding arrest rates in DC of black males (85% at the time per a 1992 study by the National Center on Incarceration and Alternatives)

“Given the inefficiencies of what D.C. laughingly calls the `criminal justice system,’ I think we can safely assume that 95 percent of the black males in that city are semi-criminal or entirely criminal,”

“we are constantly told that it is evil to be afraid of black men, it is hardly irrational. Black men commit murders, rapes, robberies, muggings and burglaries all out of proportion to their numbers.”

“We don’t think a child of 13 should be held responsible as a man of 23. That’s true for most people, but black males age 13 who have been raised on the streets and who have joined criminal gangs are as big, strong, tough, scary and culpable as any adult and should be treated as such.”

[Imran Siddiqui]

Congress isn't going to pass any tax increases for social programs anytime soon. Not unless there's a big leftward shift in both houses. You have to be realistic about what any President can accomplish.

A Democratic House & Senate may indeed have enough to pass the so-called "millionare tax". Especially the poll numbers which are supportive of it.

[C0ckney]

i think having a president who wants to end foreign wars and the drug war is more likely to achieve those ends than a president who is happy for the insanity to continue.

[HalfLotus]

Aside from his feature (or bug) foreign policy stances, Paul stands no chance against the Dems and in particular Obama given his 90's newsletter writings.

That bird don't fly. Ron Paul's approval from non-whites leads all other GOP candidates:


http://www.prisonplanet.com/cnn-poll-ron-paul-most-popular-republican-amongst-non-whites.html

Also new RevPAC ad for Paul:



The ad has some devastating info re: campaign donors which bears repeating:

Top 3 campaign donors:

Romney:
Goldman Sachs
Credit Suisse
Morgan Stanley

Newt:
Rock Ten (green company)
Poet (ethanol)
First Fiscal (Real estate)

Ron Paul
U.S. Army
U.S. Airforce
U.S. Navy