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It
is no doubt to anyone that Ron Paul is running an unconventional campaign and
it isn’t just his patented guerilla grassroots replete with money bombs and a legion
of fervent Paulistas that raises eyebrows. Paul has a unique and long-term caucus strategy focusing on
proportional delegates, picking his fights carefully.
His
campaign is famous for relying on relatively decentralized even “rouge” and
local efforts who distance themselves from even official Ron Paul campaign
organs, as
evidenced in South Carolina.
The Washington Examiner
reported: “Charleston for Ron Paul prefers the official Paul campaign to stay
unaffiliated.”
Many
lauded the technical acumen of the Obama campaign for its utilization of social
media and get out the vote efforts, but it pales in comparison to the self-starting
nature of Ron Paul’s campaign. For
example, RonPaulCountry.com has a “Grassroots War Room” founded by
volunteers out of New Jersey and it literally makes you feel as if you’re in a real
time political bunker.
Inundated
with timetables for the next primary and information directing potential
Paulites to where they are needed most.
It offers an impressive platform all the while reminding its members: “…Because
saving the country should be fun”, yet another example of the privatization,
technical prowess and devolution inherent to Paul’s unique brand of electoral
politics.
While
some in the mainstream media saw the Paul campaign backing off in South
Carolina it could have also been as easily characterized as de facto delegation
of campaign responsibility. If it
isn’t broken, don’t fix it. In the
end Charleston for Ron Paul efforts were entirely volunteer, self-funded and
self-directed – frugal.
These
examples of spontaneous organization couldn’t be more fitting for a man who has
spent over 30 years educating the American public on the benefits of the
invisible hand in the free market, a hand which evidently has its fingers all
over Ron Paul’s campaign.
Looking Past South Carolina
While
South Carolina wasn’t a win for Ron Paul, the Gingrich win will sap strength
from Romney and guarantee a longer primary season, moreover it will reduce the
prospects of Rick Santorum climbing any higher than his Iowa zenith. While Paul has sustained a significant
blow in South Carolina, his campaign will undoubtedly continue to slog through
this back loaded GOP marathon.
As
I have argued before Ron Paul’s plans to Win the West,
a region more in line with his libertarian social platform is key to his
success at forcing the GOP to assimilate much of his platform. Even if Paul doesn’t win the nomination
if he can accumulate enough delegates he might be able to impose a libertarian
platform upon the eventual nominee.
After
South Carolina, while the nation has already started to become distracted by
the Florida throw down and its boatload (no pun intended) of delegates, Ron
Paul was the first to buy ad time in Nevada and Minnesota (site for his 2008 shadow
convention). Nevada political guru
Jon Ralston confirmed my sentiments
about the libertarian leaning Silver State, which may deliver Ron Paul a needed
victory. According
to Ralston: “Nevada is to some extent still a very libertarian state…That
goes across party lines and Paul is officially a libertarian running in the
Republican party. There’s a lot of
resonance there.”
The Hispanic Vote
Time’s
blog Swampland mentioned that much of Ron Paul’s appeal to Hispanics which makes
up 26% of Nevada’s population, nearly 34% in California, 27% in Arizona will
theoretically play into Paul’s favor.
While Ron Paul supports English as the official language of the Federal
Government, building a boarder fence, minutemen volunteerism, ending or better
put clarifying the 14th Amendment’s controversial birthright
citizenship provision, and rejecting amnesty he is overall pro immigration free
from federal subsidy through food stamps, social security, hospital mandates
and free education.
The
disparate affects on Latinos on both
sides of the borders who are caught in the middle of the War on Drugs should prove to play in the West as well. Recently, it was found the US-Mexico
border region was deadlier
than war torn Afghanistan, the vast majority were cartel-sponsored
murders. There were even bizarre stories of gladiator games, which would select the strongest captor for suicide bombings in towns controlled by rival cartels.
Stateside,
Latinos are four times likely to be incarcerated than whites according to the
Department of Justice, talk about "resonance". Both Romney and Gingrich scoff at the prospect of
reevaluating drug laws, they would rather demagogue the issue than solve
it. Hispanics evidently
agree with some of this as 51% view Paul in a favorable light compared to
25% for Romney.
The
fact the West Coast as well as upcoming Minnesota leans left bodes well for Dr.
Paul as he is often credited for pulling left of center issue voters into his
coalition of civil libertarians. West Coast independents
whom gravitate toward these same social values will find Paul’s brand much more
appealing than those of Gingrich and Romney whom are attempting to desperately evince
social conservative metal.
