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Ron Paul in The Economist

As self-styled newspapers go, The Economist is wrong on most things — furthermore it broadcasts its Establishment errors with an undeserved arrogance and a haughty tone. (For our hebdomadal reading, we prefer another publication). Nonetheless, we cannot resist giving credit where credit is due, and The Economist recently published a short, relatively balanced piece on Ron Paul’s counter-convention in Minneapolis. It is reproduced here:

Another old Republican
Sep 4th 2008 | MINNEAPOLIS AND ST PAUL
From The Economist print edition

A boisterous alternative convention targets NAFTA and the Fed

HIS movements were monitored by Republican organisers, and his supporters were muzzled at the Republican convention. Michael Moore, a rabble-rousing lefty film-maker? A surrogate for Barack Obama? No: Ron Paul, a Republican congressman. His campaign for restoring limited government did not win him the Republican nomination for president. But it did earn him a legion of adoring fans who gathered for a huge counter-convention in Minneapolis, across the river from the official Republican convention in St Paul, in a 15,000-seat basketball arena.

In the arena, the fans booed mentions of John McCain and George Bush. But they boisterously cheered the names of Friedrich Hayek and Murray Rothbard, libertarian economists from decades past. Any favourable mention of guns or the constitution won cheers; but hard words for the Iraq war gained the biggest roars of approval, and speaker after speaker hit themes of personal responsibility and small government.

The movement has its dafter elements, too. The Federal Reserve is a subject of intense hatred for Mr Paul and his fans, who want to disband it. (The candidate prefers the gold standard, though he does not think the Fed can be got rid of immediately.) There is heated fear of a “North American Union” between America, Canada and Mexico. This was called for in a mostly forgotten paper by the Council on Foreign Relations, an independent think-tank, but is the subject of much conspiracy theory among those Paulites who think the council is a secret cabal.

The former candidate, perhaps surprisingly for a man who cannot walk freely around the Republican convention, still considers himself a member of the party: “I’m an old Republican,” he says: a small-government conservative, not often seen these days. The new Republicans, he seems confident, will come back to him. Although the national party treats him like a pariah, he says individual congressmen around the country are seeking his supporters to survive in what looks like a bad year for Republicans.

But Mr Paul absolutely refuses to endorse Mr McCain, or Mr Obama, or even the Libertarian candidate, Bob Barr. Another outfit without prospects, the Constitution Party, headed by Chuck Baldwin, is more obscure; but Barr and Baldwin shirts can be seen around Mr Paul’s rally. Mr Paul will not tell anyone how to vote. Asked if he has left any mark on the Republican Party, he says he hasn’t read the platform. Many of his supporters, however, expect to take it over eventually.

Published at 10:20 pm on Thursday 11 September 2008. Categories: Politics Ron Paul Tags: .
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