In the Agora: Heh

« Making a List | Main | The Virgin Mother, Her Child, and Advent »

November 30, 2007

Heh

He's just terrible, even when -- which is often, once he's off the subject of the war -- I agree with him. His voice is too high, he can't remember who the Kurds are, and he often comes off like a crazy old man in a bus station.

But that's good news, in a way. Paul's doing better than anyone expected. It's abundantly clear that he's not doing it on charisma and rhetorical skill. Which means that libertarian ideas are actually appealing, since Ron Paul isn't. Paul's flaws as a vessel for those ideas prove the ideas' appeal. If they sell with him as the pitchman, they must be really resonating. I suspect Paul himself would agree with this analysis. Er, except maybe the bus station part.

Just imagine a dashing, smooth-talking candidate with Ron Paul's ideas. What would be the poll numbers then?

Posted by Joshua Claybourn at November 30, 2007 09:47 AM

Comments

I wish Reynolds were right that libertarian ideas are gaining appeal, but my sense is that a great deal of Paul's support comes from exactly that area where Reynolds tends to disagree with him: his position on the war. I think Paul is getting a lot of his support from registered Republicans whose disenchantment with the war and the Bush administration in general has become their single voting issue.

Posted by: Eric Seymour at November 30, 2007 02:51 PM | permalink

Talk about late to the party. If Reynolds hadn't been so dismissive of Paul over the last several months, he would have noticed that this is exactly the point Paul and his supporters have been making all along.

Posted by: Zach Wendling at November 30, 2007 06:21 PM | permalink

November 30, 2007

Heh

Comments

Post a comment