Ron Paul's Presidential Campaign Was Ruined by the Paulbots

Impact

I am a Ron Paul supporter. I absolutely love the guy. I even own the “Ron Paul Revolution” t-shirt.  Even if I don’t agree with everything he says, I think we need a president with his compassion, wit, and consistency. Had some of his warnings been more closely heeded, we would not be in many of the problematic situations we find ourselves in today; I resent the way that mainstream media and his own party constantly ignore him. That being said, I am sometimes embarrassed to be associated with other Ron Paul supporters. The overly zealous support for Ron Paul damages his campaign and makes him a less appealing candidate.

I know that I am about to be bombarded with insults from the Paulbots. Michael Luciano expressed this inevitability with his comment on a previous article critical of Ron Paul: “Pro-Ron Paul comment carpet-bombing to commence in 3 ... 2 ... 1.... ” This is exactly the phenomenon that I would like to discuss. The Paulbots’ vociferous support is reliable, enthusiastic, and, at times, borderline fanatic. I agree with many comments defending Ron Paul and am not saying at all that the passionate defense of an underdog candidate is unwarranted or unreasonable. It is the spirit in which some of these comments are made that paints a picture of Paul fans as fanatic ideologues. 

I believe that there are many valid arguments in defense of Paul’s candidacy. However, I very rarely see these arguments made without being prefaced by something along the lines of, “wake up!” or “are you a moron?” Obviously, I generalize and am looking only at certain samples, but the spirit of the vast majority of these arguments is along the same lines: “I see the truth and everyone else is an idiot for not seeing it too.” I believe that this attitude evolved naturally from Paul’s campaign. He presents himself as the politician outside of politics, the voice of reason in an insane world, and the harbinger of better times. An almost Jesus-like figure. It only takes a little extrapolation to go from revolutionary politician “crucified” by the media to “the chosen one.”

I don’t intend to use examples of this type of logic from his supporters from this website, although there are many. Instead, watch the following video and see if you see what I mean.

 

It’s a perfectly fine video with a very convincing message. But, the goofy club music combined with text-inserts defaming the “same old shit” speaks to the message I am trying to get across. Paul's speeches are inspiring and, in my view, accurate. However, no candidate could possibly be taken seriously with a techno beat backtrack. It is damaging to his campaign to think that in order to support him, you must agree with every word he says and attack anyone who does not.  

The video also highlights another problem with the Paul message that supporters are all too ready to summarize. It is this concept of imminent doom if Paul isn’t elected, or, more subtly, thanking the powers that be that Paul is spreading a message that can save us from an apocalyptic state of affairs. I highly doubt that any world leader wants to see financial collapse. While you may disagree with some of the measures taken to prevent the debt bomb from exploding, to suggest that Paul is the only person on earth worried about it is silly. Top professionals argue in every forum about the best way to fix the deficit. It is not a matter of simply electing someone who cares. 

This argument that Ron Paul is our only hope displays an appalling lack of faith in our country and an incredibly short collective memory for just how resilient we can be. The recapitulation of these apocalyptic arguments paints a picture of Paul as anti-American, which I do not think is the case.

So, Paulbots, enjoy tearing me a new one in the comments section. Just think to yourself before you comment, “Is what I am writing a good endorsement of someone I want to run my country?”