No, Paul is not the best candidate in my opinion. I don't see a "best" candidate. A best candidate would be a moderate that would be able to work with both sides to a common goal. That certainly is not Ron Paul.
ZZZ... I see your points and they are valid. I don't think what you are saying is strawman at all. I disagree with you as often as I agree with you, but so far on this thread you're statements are being dismissed on the grounds of history and bias rather than the concepts they present. AAA... Ron Paul only got repeated cheers from the crowd because the crowd was specifically asked not to cheer and his supporters are the only ones irreverent enough to ignore that request. All 20 of them simple couldn't resist cheering at every possible chance. I'm disappointed every time I see or hear RP's supposed supporters. I happen to support RP and I'm probably a much better representation of his base support than the idiot hollering at debates and picketing outside them. These "supporters" are activists and bandwagon demonstrators and they alone are eliminating his chance at becoming a viable candidate. They are simply supporting the cause, not the candidate.
these are the people that supported him from the beginning when it wasn't cool. "we" are the ones that have been fighting to get his message out for years. glad you woke up and we are happy you are here... but you have no idea what we have gone through fighting the corrupt mainstream media.
There is always a "best", because best is a relative term meaning better than all others. I find it odd that your "best" would be a moderate and yet you claim you can't find one in this race. Moderates with proven ability to work across party lines= McCain Romney Huckabee
Just watched the entire debate on youtube. When Russert asks each candidate if "the war was a good idea and worth the blood and treasure", i got goosebumps the way paul said it was not worth it. Also, how is paul not able to work across party lines? A lot of democrats/liberals support paul and don't necessarily agree with him on every issue. For the most part the only issue republicans don't agree with is paul's stance on the war. You will never find any liberal agreeing huckabee, romney, mccain on almost any issue.
I feel for all the trauma you've had to endure, but that is precisely Ron Paul's problem right now. Allow me to offer a very similar situation for demonstrative purposes. A very talented indie punk bank saves up some cash by playing small gigs for a couple years. They use this cash to get some low-budget studio time and put together their first album, which is then sold at charity events. For quite some time this band goes unnoticed but they have developed a small group of avid groupies, until one day a larger label picks them up and they release a couple hit singles. The original fans once despised that fact that nobody recognized the talent of this band, but now they are a bit bummed that they are lost amongst a much larger fanbase, so they become more vocal and obnoxious to make themselves heard and get identified as the "true fans who liked the band even when they weren't popular". The band gets a chance to open for Metallica and these early supporters tell themselves that the band is so good, Metallica should be opening for them. Suddenly the band gets dropped from the Metallica show and the early fans all go out in protest, picketing outside the Metallica concert and going inside the concert hollering support for their band anytime Metallica's music dies down a bit. If the fans had simply accepted the cancellation by the Metallica show and worked hard to sell more cd's and raise money for gigs, the band would undoubtedly open for a big act at a later time. Instead the fans cast a bad light on the band and they aren't asked to perform any large gigs again and the nation now views the band as some hack gimmick with cult followers. Others who actually like the music are embarrassed to be lumped in with the others, and are unwilling then to promote the band at all.
Do you realize that the three you just named are notorious for working across party lines? Not only can RP not work across party lines, he can't even work within party lines. During his extremely long tenure he has almost accomplished nothing. Every bill he proposes gets shot down. Every bill that is brought to him, he votes against. I'm not sure that there has ever been another candidate who has been less able than RP to work across party lines. OTOH, McCain is actually losing support for working too well with the DEMs. Romney accomplished republican agendas in an overwhelmingly democrat state.
I think working across party lines is overrated. I want someone who will defeat the enemy, not compromise with them. That is what is wrong with the republican party today. Too ready to surrender, too willing to sell out. I think what a lot of people really mean when they say "work across party lines" is to get rid of all the petty partisanship that infects Washington today. I agree with that sentiment. People are tired of every judicial appointment turning into an ugly battle, when the noiminee is well -qualified but fails some litmus test. Or when a well-qualified nominee to the Federal Election Commission is blocked because he had the audacity to support a law that required voters to be able to prove who they were. Incidentally, the Senator who initially blocked that man was none other than Mr. Work Together, Barack obama. We want people of good will, not scheming pricks pursuing a radical agenda. Of course, each side has its definition of who that fits. Bottom line, there is nothing wrong about disagreements over principle. There is something wrong about a scorched earth policy pursued against people just because they have a principled disagreement with you.
like i said i am glad you joined the fight. just don't criticize the patriots. we have done so much already... we welcome you... but until you get in the trenches and battle a little bit you might want to hesitate on all the criticisms you have uttered. i liked your analogy... but it falls short on the fact that we want you in the fight, would just prefer you not criticize us.