Ron Paul Could Rescue the GOP From Itself, But It May Already Be Too Late

As the Romney/Ryan ticket continues to sink poll after poll, a certain buyer's remorse is taking over a Republican Party which thought former CEO Mitt Romney would be the best option to unseat Democratic incumbent President Barack Obama, due to the former's private sector credentials and the latter's poor economic record. They were wrong. 

To the dismay of conservatives, and the surprise of both Democrats and Republicans alike, who was supposed to be a talented CEO, the guy who turned around failing companies and saved the Winter Olympics, has turned out to be a disastrous campaigner: drowned by innumerable gaffes and running a campaign increasingly in disarray and out of touch not only with middle class Americans but also with Republican demographics (plenty of GOP voters belong to the 47% group Romney dismissed at the Boca Raton fundraiser).

Suddenly, all those stories warning that Ron Paul would be the only one from the GOP's dysfunctional presidential primary pack able to defeat Obama are starting to ring increasingly true. Out of all the erratic and inconsistent options, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum, Texas congressman Ron Paul, the one dismissed as a fringe isolationist by the establishment wing of his party, may be the one with the key to rescue the Republicans from themselves. Sadly for conservatives, it may already be too late to stop Obama. 

The efficacy of Ron Paul's fiscally conservative message is even more apparent now that Romney seems to have failed at raising the debt and deficit flag on President Obama's runaway spending. The former governor of Massachusetts has been unable to characterize Obama as the big spender he is, even despite having picked fiscal hawk Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) as his running mate.   

Additionally, despite no longer being in the race, enthusiasm for Ron Paul, especially among young voters, is not dwindling any time soon. On the contrary, spontaneous protests against the Federal Reserve as well as a burgeoning enthusiasm for the third party candidacy of Libertarian Party nominee and former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson are living proof of this. 

So, besides missing the chance of picking a candidate who would have truly contrasted President Obama on fiscal issues, Republicans also squandered a chance to accelerate a much needed generational shift in their "good ol'" and dying party.