Ron Paul’s Latest Ad Looks More Professional, But Less Interesting

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AmY-fW3gdc]

After bringing in another six million dollars recently, I commended Ron Paul for discussing how he would use the money for trying to bring out the vote in Iowa, but also suggested he make more professional ads. His latest ad is posted above.

On the one hand the ad is more professional. On the other hand it lacks the aspect of Paul’s campaign which I found of value. There is a vague reference to defending freedom but no talk about the infringements on civil liberties under Republican rule, as well as no talk about getting out of Iraq.

The ad is clearly aimed at the conventional Iowa Republican voters and avoids the issues which will offend them. Realistically I can’t blame him for this as all along I’ve said that he can’t win because his views are too out of step with the majority of Republicans. If he wants to win he needs to sound more like this ad.

The problem is that he is still unlikely to win and we don’t need another generic Republican in the race. Most likely this ad is only one part of his campaign and he will continue to criticize establishment Republican policy on the war and civil liberties. Paul even criticized Mike Huckabee’s Christmas ad recently, quoting Sinclair Lewis who wrote “when fascism comes to this country it’ll be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross.” While the conservative sites got all upset over this, with several misquoting Paul as saying he was calling all Christians fascists, Paul actually took a step back and said he wasn’t sure if the quote was a fair assessment. The videos of the Huckabee ad and the interview with Ron Paul are below.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yyVxZJ9HqY]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CHb8CWw-Q4]

If there is any benefit to Ron Paul being in the race it is as an insurgent candidate. As he is in the race to promote a message as opposed to having a realistic chance of winning, and as he is now well-financed, Paul very likely will be in the race until the end. Other candidates might drop out in the name of party unity, or due to lack of funds, once they find they cannot win. Ron Paul might be the last candidate standing to oppose the eventual nominee. If that happens, I hope that Ron Paul is talking about Iraq and civil liberties, as opposed to running such vague ads, all the way until the Republican convention.

7 Comments

  1. 1
    Egosumabbas says:

    Thanks for the fair article on Ron Paul. I think the reasoning that this ad is so bland, is to simply increase the name recognition on Ron Paul, without misrepresenting the message within 30 seconds. A valid reason why his poll numbers are low is simply because a lot of people (not on the internet) haven’t heard of him–being on a commercial is just enough time to get his name out. The hope is that either people will find out more about him on their own, or be contacted by one of the many volunteers in that state right now.

    It’s also very hard to explain libertarian philosophy in 30 second sound bites; he’s much more effective in extended interviews (which is the opposite with other candidates).

  2. 2
    Pimpin Turtle Dot Com says:

    All three of the top Democrats running have said that there is no way they could or would pull the troops out of Iraq until their second term in 2013. That is insane…

    It is not only Iraq though. Paul wants to pull troops out across the world.

    The U.S. population is only 1/25 of the world’s population, yet we spend 80% of the entire world’s military budget.

    We have troops in 130 different countries!

    We operate over 700 bases WORLDWIDE! THEY ARE BUILDING A NEW EMBASSY IN IRAQ THAT IS BIGGER THEN THE VATICAN!

    We still have 50,000 troops in Japan! 40,000 troops in Korea! 75,000 + in Germany! This is insanity and it is bankrupting America!

    Down with the military-industrial complex!

    Go Ron Paul!

    Champion of the Constitution!

    http://www.ronpaul2008.com

    http://www.pimpinturtle.com

  3. 3
    Galileo Galilei says:

    Ron Paul will beat McCain, Thompson amd Ghouliani in Iowa. You’ll see.

  4. 4
    Ron Chusid says:

    I hope so but doubt it. Even if Paul manages an upset in Iowa (which is unlikely but not impossible due to the very low turnout in the caucuses) it still wouldn’t be enough to win the nomination. Supporters of the “war on terror” (which in their minds includes Iraq) will still out number the Paul supporters in the GOP and if necessary unite behind a single candidate to maintain control of the party.

    To the average Republican Paul is the guy who blames America for 9/11, wants the terrorists to win, and now says that Christians are fascists. No matter how wrong they are on these beliefs, they will not let him have the nomination.

  5. 5
    Britton says:

    Ron’s response to the Huckabee ad is friggin priceless. What comes out of his mouth is something even an atheist would think twice about before uttering on the air. And this is Ron’s honest opinion! This guy deserves all the love he’s getting and more.

  6. 6
    Eric Dondero says:

    I’ve sensed a more pragmatic tone from the Paul campaign in the last few weeks. He’s definitely making a move towards the mainstream of the GOP. They’ve probably seen internal poll numbers which suggest that Paul has maxed out on the “fringe GOP” vote right at 4.5 to 5%.

    This is par for the course for Ron Paul. After he won the GOP nomination for Congress in 1996, shocking the GOP establishment, he took a hard turn towards the middle, particularly within CD-14 in places like Victoria, and the Houston suburbs. Paul even invited super-mainstream GOP politicians into the District to campaign for him, like Henry Bonilla, Carole Keeton-Strayhorn, and Kay Hutchison. And he took every opportunity to warm up to Gov. George W. Bush, including appearances with him, and photos.

    Now he’s trying the same strategy for the GOP presidential primaries. Problem is, it’s likely to bite him in the ass. His hardcore supporters are not at all pragmatic, and don’t understand real world politics. There’s a danger that they could become disillusioned if Paul moves to quick to the middle.

  7. 7
    Ron Chusid says:

    Eric,

    I’m not sure if anything Paul did would disillusion his hard core supporters. They have a way to justify anything he does. Support pork for his district, send out mailers which make him sound pro-war, keep money from a neo-Nazi and they have found ways to rationalize this.

    However if Paul does associate more with the GOP establishment it would be amusing if this turns them off while many of them wouldn’t be bothered even if the accusations of Paul meaning with the neo-Nazis for dinner were found to be true. Of course many Paul supporters claim everyone else is either a fascist or socialist. They might be so out of touch with reality that they cannot differentiate between the Bush administration and true fascists.

Leave a comment