Brent Budowsky on Ron Paul’s Big Moment
Progressive columnist, Brent Budowsky has put together a fair piece entitled Ron Paul’s Big Moment on Ron Paul’s ability to seize the political moment in the upcoming primaries. He raises some very interesting points:
1) Budowsky sees Paul as the frontrunner for the Iowa caucuses. This will constitute Paul’s first key victory
2) He also sees Paul’s ongoing success in the primaries predicated on Paul’s ability to distance himself from some of the fringe, and even racist supporters of his campaign.
3) Budowsky does not see see Paul winning the GOP nomination for a few reasons, if you read some of his archives over at The Hill, it will become clear that even if Paul comes close to winning a majority of delegates the nomination could still be taken out of the hands of the voters and decided in the fabled “smoky back rooms” of the GOP convention. However Paul would be a dangerous 3rd party candidate, as he has broad appeal across the political spectrum.
On all three accounts I agree with Budowsky, but not so strongly on the 3rd. While GOP candidates are directing so much focus on Paul’s purported weaknesses in the area of foreign policy, the situation on the home front continues to deteriorate both socially and economically. For this reason, American voters who are weary of a decade of war and fear mongering from the political elite may opt for a candidate who will opt to set our own house in order, as opposed to a candidate who will again make foreign policy a priority and continue to beat the drums of war. However, Budowsky is right, Paul does need to distance himself from the charges of racism hurled at his campaign, whether or not such accusations are warranted (which I don’t think they are), they do tend to stick in the psyche of the public, especially those who are dependent on traditional forms of media for their information. A good place to start would be to see more ads like this:
