This sign has been up near my house for several months now - a very generic election banner for a Texas Congressman that most people who aren’t online haven’t heard of. Ron Paul is the darling of many an internet libertarian - he’s a limited government conservative and member of the Republican party, but somehow, that hasn’t stopped otherwise liberal and otherwise sane people to consider him strongly for the presidency.
On first glance, there is some appeal to the man for liberals - he’s anti-death penalty, against foreign interventionism, against the war on drugs, and against federal regulations on defining marriage. Good stuff, right?
Well not so fast. He’s also pro-life, saying “”the federal government has no authority whatsoever to involve itself in the abortion issue”1, though he has voted in favor of federal anti-abortion legislation. He’s against school prayer - but only as far as the feds not regulating it. His views on gay marriage also only apply to the federal government, and he’s against federal environmental laws, believing it can be handled just fine on the state level. Do you see a pattern here? In short, as long as the Federal government isn’t involved, he’s fine with just about anything, it seems.
This is an interesting principal to live by - a fairly literal constitutional reading gives us the “States’ Rights” argument, but it just seems to ignore 200+ years of history. Good or bad, the Federal government has its hand in many of the laws of the land, and in a world where I can travel to another state in a few hours (and folks back east can transverse several states on an afternoon road trip), having every state decide on every law is confusing, unnecessary, and occasionally dangerous. What happens if California decided to get rid of all environmental laws? We’re no longer just harming ourselves, we’re hurting all the states we border. What if the voters in some state decide to make homosexuality illegal? Or reintroduce segregation? Paul rarely bothers to declare his thoughts on states that would vote for things he’s against - What are his (and other Libertarian’s) thoughts on that aspect of States’ Rights?
Back to the question at hand, though - why is someone in Ron Paul’s local campaign putting up advertising banners on street corners a year and a half before the election? And why do we in Orange County care? You can learn more about the man at his site, and much more about his opinions and voting history at Wikipedia. Oh, and if you’ve seen signs for Ron Paul (or anyone else running for President) around the county, let me know - I’m interested in how wide-spread all this is.
Ha! Ron Paul. You mean RUPaul.
That would be a much, much more interesting campaign.
Ron Paul is without a doubt the only logical choice for President in 2008. There are hundreds of homemade signs here in Lincoln, NE. I see many bumper stickers as well, nearly everyday. Just look at the man in debates. He actually has answers that explain a feasible and real solution rather than answers that fulfill some agenda put forth by some big money supporters. Hilary, Rudy, Obama and Romney are truly clueless. Very weak puppet candidates. Ron Paul is a constitutionalist who wants each individual to know freedom as it was meant to be from day 1.