Ron Paul

The Unbelievable Narcissism And Egotism Of Four Republican Presidential Candidates!

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For anyone to decide to run for President of the United States, it requires a high level of narcissism and egotism! There is no debate about that at all!

But when you have four Presidential candidates out of eight on the GOP side having obsessively high levels of narcissism and egotism despite good reasons to consider the effect of what they are doing, it makes one want to puke!

Rick Santorum has a critically ill daughter, dying from a genetic disease. His wife desperately needs him to help her, and he should be spending his time, since he does not need to work, tending to his daughter, showing his love for her, and do whatever he can to alleviate the stress on his wife and other children, some of whom wish he was not running. His narcissism and egotism allow him to ignore or excuse his reprehensible behavior!

Rick Perry has demonstrated that he has no knowledge, no understanding of what the Presidency involves, but because he has money, and a tremendous level of narcissism and egotism, he is willing to make a fool of himself and make us all “shake our heads” in disgust!

Herman Cain also lacks knowledge and understanding of really ANY issue, is totally unqualified to be President, and has the gall, due to his high level of narcissism and egotism, to run a campaign on a lie, that he is loyal to his wife, who has, apparently, no clue to the fact of his adultery and infidelity! One would think that he would realize that he would be found out, and then he has the nerve to lie through his teeth and deny it all! Absolutely amazing!

And then, there is Newt Gingrich, the most qualified on paper of the four supreme narcissistic and egotistical candidates in this group, but has no shame about his past adultery and infidelity; has had ethicai violations when Speaker of the House; loves himself to the extreme and cannot stop bragging about his abilities, talents, knowledge, and connections; and does not work well with others, and has a divisive, confrontational, aggressive personality that bodes ill for working with Congress, being willing to deal with the news media, and is a terrifying thought in foreign policy! But Newt has no shame and makes a total fool of himself by his vanity and lack of modesty!

Why is it that we cannot have the Republican Party come up with quality candidates–as only Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman are–and get rid of the others who are wasting their and our time, and putting their obnoxious egos on display, and showing a level of selfishness and greed that is an embarrassment to our electoral system?

What we need is a serious debate between the only truly qualified candidates in the GOP field, Romney and Huntsman, but we cannot do that as long these four characters, along with Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul, who because of their own weaknesses, have a ZERO chance of being nominated, finally get out of the race, which, sadly, is not going to happen anytime soon!

Jon Huntsman And Ron Paul Shine At CNN National Security Debate, And Newt Gingrich And Rick Santorum Have Some Sensible Thoughts!

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CNN held a National Security debate in Constitution Hall in Washington, DC this evening, and it is clear that two laggards in the public opinion polls, former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman and Texas Congressman Ron Paul, shone brightly in the Republican debate.

Both Huntsman and Paul came out against the Patriot Act as a denial of civil liberties, with both warning that losing liberty for security is a bad bargain!

Also, both came out for withdrawing from Afghanistan as soon as possible, and focusing on America’s needs, with Huntsman saying intelligence gathering, special forces, and the use of drones could resolve the problems in Afghanistan, and that having large numbers of troops in a foreign country in the modern world was counterproductive. Paul, of course, came out for American withdrawal from the world, an isolationist nation, which as great as it might sound to many, is totally impractical! Huntsman did not go that far in his comments.

Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum also had moments of good thoughts, with Gingrich arguing that we cannot deport illegal immigrants who have been here for a long time and been lawful, and that children of illegal immigrants who wish to serve in the military should be given the chance to become citizens, in effect supporting the DREAM Act. Meanwhile,Rick Santorum backed foreign aid as important to continue, while Ron Paul called for an end to all foreign aid, not a great position making any sense in the modern world, particularly when foreign aid is only less than one percent of the national budget.

By comparison, Mitt Romney did not do as well as he has in the past, coming across as very hawkish, and hardline on illegal immigration, both views probably part of his plan to attract more support from right wing Republicans and conservative talk show hosts.

Rick Perry, Herman Cain, and Michele Bachmann continued their downward spiral, none of them making any impressive statements during the debate.

So, if all things are equal, we might see the rise of Jon Huntsman and Ron Paul in the public opinion polls, as they both stood out dramatically from the other six candidates!

The Republican Presidential Race And Foreign Policy: What A Change For The Worst!

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The Republican Party since World War II has built its reputation more on foreign policy than domestic policy, being seen as the stronger party in shaping our relationship with the outside world.

Republicans can rightly brag about Senator Arthur Vandenberg, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, President Richard Nixon, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Senator Bob Dole, President George H. W. Bush, Secretary of State George Shultz, Secretary of State James Baker, Senator Richard Lugar, Secretary of State Colin Powell, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as brilliant examples of people who shaped and understood foreign policy.

Today, we have a motley group of Republicans running for the Presidency, with Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich, and Rick Santorum showing no evidence of even a clue as to how to deal with the outside world! Instead, their primary idea is to attack Iran and discipline Pakistan, the two most dangerous nations at this point for the United States.

Instead, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush understood the need for diplomacy and to attempt alternatives to the use of force, except when unavoidable.

Only Mitt Romney, somewhat, and Jon Huntsman in a major way, have the skills and common sense to deal with foreign policy, and this indicates the sad, pitiful situation we are in, when six “dangerous” people are considered possible Presidents, without any understanding of diplomacy!

God forbid that the United States gets one of these six “losers” in the Oval Office!

Time For The “Limelight” For Jon Huntsman, The Most Difficult Opponent For Barack Obama

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We have seen many Republican Presidential candidates have their “place in the sun”, been “the flavor of the month”, surged in the public opinion polls, as the search for an alternative to Mitt Romney has evolved.

First, we had Donald Trump, who ended up not running for President.

Then, we had Michele Bachmann, followed by Rick Perry, followed by Herman Cain, and now Newt Gingrich.

The problem with all of these candidates is that they have major flaws and weaknesses, along with Ron Paul and Rick Santorum, who have never surged.

And Mitt Romney has been made out to be a “flip flopper” to match any “flip flopper” in the past.

The fact is that Barack Obama has great ammunition against any and all potential GOP opponents for the Presidency, EXCEPT Jon Huntsman!

Huntsman, after all, was given the position of Ambassador to China by Obama. Also, Huntsman presided over a very popular and prosperous time as Utah Governor. He has great knowledge about foreign policy, and comes across as reasonable and rational. It will be very difficult for Obama to mount a campaign against Jon Huntsman.

Will the Republican Party ignore these advantages and the reality that Huntsman is supremely qualified to be President, and use the Mormon issue or the fact that he is, in comparison to other candidates, comparatively moderate, although clearly a conservative, against him?

If the GOP has any common sense, which they seem not to have, they would promote Jon Huntsman becoming the person in the “limelight”, as the person with the best chance of defeating President Obama!

Jon Huntsman Comes Through In Republican Foreign Policy Debate!

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Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman performed admirably last night in the GOP Foreign Policy debate in South Carolina, sponsored by CBS News and National Journal.

Sadly, he is not being taken seriously by news media, because of his low public opinion poll ratings, but in the three opportunities he had to speak up on his expertise, foreign policy, he waxed brilliant and principled.

He told the audience and the moderators that it is time for us to leave Afghanistan and focus on dealing with domestic problems.

He also said that waterboarding was torture, and unacceptable under our American value system of freedom and democracy, in this agreeing with 2008 Republican Presidential nominee John McCain.

Huntsman also said we should not consider a trade war with China, that China policy needed to be more sophisticated, and was more complex than what everyone else in the Republican race either said or has stated during the campaign.

Huntsman is the only sensible, common sense, and rational person, other than Ron Paul, among the eight competitors for the GOP nomination, when it comes to foreign policy, and some of them–particularly Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, and Rick Perry–are absolutely horrifying in their stated views of the world.

Ron Paul was rational and reasonable in his few opportunities to answer questions, and if only his domestic views were less weird and looney as a result of his libertarian views, he might be considered acceptable by those who do not want America to be constantly hawkish in foreign policy.

The shame is that too much time was spent on the reckless rhetoric of Cain, Bachmann, Perry, and Gingrich, and not enough time given to Huntsman and Paul.

Meanwhile, Mitt Romney was barely acceptable in his answers, but again seemed unprincipled as usual, while Rick Santorum was Rick Santorum!

But it is clear that in foreign policy, Huntsman still presents by far, the best credentials, and we cannot afford to have a reckless, ignorant hand on the power given to an individual as Commander in Chief!

Richard Nixon After 37 Years: What It Tells Us About The GOP Race For President!

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Richard Nixon’s grand jury testimony, given in 1975 after he resigned as a result of the Watergate Scandal, and was given a pardon by Gerald Ford in 1974, shows the same Richard Nixon we know–manipulative as always, feeling sorry for himself, and avoiding responsibility for ANYTHING! The National Archives and the Richard Nixon Presidential Library released new evidence a few days ago.

He is a master of the filibuster, as his party has been conducting in recent years in the Senate!

He claims to have no recollection of lots of details, even though he was the master detail man in the Presidency!

Nixon tries to explain away the famous 18 and a half minute gap as maybe a blank spot never erased!

Nixon spent a lot of time in the 298 pages of grand jury testimony talking about his love of foreign affairs, and in complaints about the brutal nature of politics, which he, of course, heavily contributed to!

Imagine if he was around in the age of the internet and blogs and the 24 hour news cycle, when he complained at the time about constant assault from the electronic news media for 30 minutes per evening!

Nixon portrays himself as the victim , a favored tactic of Sarah Palin and other Republicans today who love to attack the media for exposing their fallacies and shortcomings!

He also talks about his fragile health, emphasizing that he could die any minute because of his trouble in the fall of 1974 with leg phlebitis.

So he wants pity, and to be given a pass, and is insulted that he was not given one!

Reading Nixon should make us aware of the dangers of selecting for presidential nominations or elections ANY candidate who makes himself out to be a victim, who has demonstrated lack of ethics, who has obvious mental problems, who is ill informed, who says inappropriate things in debates, who acts strangely in ways that we can see–in other words, ALL of the GOP candidates except Jon Huntsman, Mitt Romney, and Ron Paul! And this includes a much rumored candidate, who thankfully, did not run–Sarah Palin!

The CNBC Republican Presidential Debate: Perry And Cain Big Losers; Gingrich And Huntsman Big Winners!

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The CNBC Republican Presidential debate tonight on the economy really separated the “men” from the “boys”!

The big losers were Rick Perry, who could not remember the Department of Energy as one of the government departments he wants to abolish, coming across as totally inept; and Herman Cain, who gave a poor performance regarding his ethics, and kept on referring to his ridiculous 9-9-9 plan constantly!

The big winners were Newt Gingrich, who came across as what he was: thoughtful in ideas, intelligent, knowledgeable, but also very demagogic in many of his statements; and Jon Huntsman, who appeared to be stronger than he has been, and has a shot at becoming a serious candidate.

Mitt Romney did not do anything disastrous in his performance in the debate, but did not strengthen his case either, so Gingrich and Huntsman now appear to be his chief competitors.

Ron Paul was. . . . . well, Ron Paul, a curmudgeon with ideas totally impractical, but strong as usual in his assertiveness.

And Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum are not worthy of spending time discussing, as neither improved their position in the race.

So the main story of this debate is the collapse of the Perry and Cain campaigns, and the strengthening of Gingrich and Huntsman.

We shall see in a few days whether the author’s judgments show up reflected in the polls, but we have learned that polls do not necessarily relate to reality, and the audience at this debate acted just as insensitive and outrageous as at earlier debates.

The performance of the debaters does not bode well for the GOP, on top of their weak performance in yesterday’s key issues decided by the voters in Ohio, Mississippi, Maine, and Arizona.

Nate Silver Gives Odds For Republican Presidential Candidates A Year Before The Presidential Election

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Nate Silver of the NEW YORK TIMES on Friday explained, according to his statistical model, the odds of any GOP candidate for President having the opportunity to win the popular vote in the 2012 Presidential Election..

Note he does not say that any of these candidates will win the election, because, of course, the Electoral College will decide who wins the White House, and four times the popular vote loser nationally (1824, 1876, 1888, 2000) has won the election.

According to his model, the best candidate with the most opportunity to win is Jon Huntsman, the former Utah Governor and Ambassador to China, who has so far made no dent in the public opinion polls.

And yet, Silver’s argument is that with a 2.5% growth of the economy in 2012, a fairly tepid growth thought to be the most likely and best scenario, Huntsman has a 71 percent chance of winning the popular vote, as compared to 58 percent for Mitt Romney. No other candidate can win under this model, with Herman Cain having a 41 percent chance, Rick Perry a 30 percent chance, and Michele Bachmann having a 12 percent chance.

IF there is a stalled economy with no growth, Huntsman’s chances rise to 90 percent, Romney to 83 percent, Cain to 70 percent, Perry to 59 percent, and Bachmann to 34 percent.

If GDP grows only 2.3 percent instead of 2.5 percent, Huntsman has a 73 percent chance of winning, Romney 60 percent, Cain 44 percent, Perry 32 percent, and Bachmann 14 percent.

If the economy grows by the unexpected amount of 4 percent GDP growth, then Huntsman has a 55 percent chance, Romney 40 percent, Cain 25 percent, Perry 17 percent, and Bachmann 5 percent.

Notice that Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum are not even considered in this model drawn up by Nate Silver.

It ultimately comes down to what the author has said many times; that Jon Huntsman, despite his poor performance in polls so far, is by far the best bet for the Republican Party against Barack Obama, BUT the Tea Party does not care for him; evangelical Christians will not like him for being a Mormon; and unless he can win New Hampshire, he will have no opportunity to move ahead, and right now it seems unlikely.

And since Romney has many of the same problems as Huntsman, as listed above, and has actually less of a chance than Huntsman among key GOP groups, it looks likely that the Republican Party will blow the chance they theoretically have to win the White House!

Congressman Ron Paul And College Student Loans: Denial Of Educational Opportunity!

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Libertarian and Republican Presidential candidate, Texas Congressman Ron Paul always draws interest when he makes his statements and announces his platform, because it is so contradictory to that of all the other GOP candidates.

He is much loved by many young people, including college students, who have a utopian view of having very little government in the complex world of the 21st century.

However, with his new suggestion that college student loans be ended over a period of time, along with the Department of Education itself, many young people and other Americans who are enamored with him might have second thoughts.

His comment that anyone who wants an education will be able to get one is preposterous on its face, as realize how many poor whites and minorities go into the military precisely for the chance to get a low cost education, something that should not be a factor in volunteering to put oneself in harm’s way!

While many students may graduate with high levels of debt, to eliminate the government promoting education is a guarantee of FEWER college graduates, which even with the tough realities of unemployment problems today, is still the best way to promote job success and increased standard of living long term!

What Paul is doing is condemning millions of people not so fortunate to have wealthy parents, and facing the problems of constant struggle to survive, to have no way out of poverty or the struggling lower middle class!

That is only to be condemned as heartless, uncaring, narrow minded, and elitist, and certainly, Senator Rand Paul, son of Ron Paul, with a father who was a doctor in his younger years, did not face that kind of personal struggle, which might have prevented him from his career as an eye doctor before seeking public office!

This is more than enough reason to eliminate Ron Paul as a serious Presidential candidate, although it is certain that the GOP electorate will do that effectively in the early caucuses and primaries!

The Collapse of Rick Perry: The Disastrous Performance Which Improves The Image Of George W. Bush!

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Texas Governor Rick Perry started off his Presidential campaign with a roar, surging ahead of Mitt Romney in September with 23 percent, and in some polls even more that that.

By mid October, after disastrous debate performances, he fell to 12 percent, and now, after the rude, nasty, aggressive attacks on Mitt Romney at the Nevada debate last week, he has totally tanked to fifth place, with only 6 percent support, in the New York Times-CBS News Poll.

Herman Cain, the “flavor of the month”, is ahead with 25 percent, with Romney second at 21 percent, followed by Newt Gingrich with 10 percent, Ron Paul with 8 percent, and Rick Perry at 6 percent.

And now he has proposed a new tax plan which would make the rich even richer, and hurt the middle class and the poor. And he has embraced the “Birther” myth about Barack Obama, which has been revived by Donald Trump yet again. Perry has also come across as insensitive, divisive, controversial, and personally obnoxious competitor in so many ways, with his personality and viewpoints undermining his candidacy the more one examines him!

Perry is seen by many as a total disaster, and this has led to condemnations by many Republicans, who realize Perry is worse than George W. Bush ever was, and it is clear that the Bush family and its supporters, including brother Jeb Bush, the former Governor of Florida, and Karl Rove, the “Bush Brain” advisor, are working very hard behind the scenes to derail Rick Perry.

Perry, due to his large campaign chest, is going to be part of the race for a long time, but he is an embarrassment to many in the party who see a total calamity ahead!