I decided I would check out some of the news and do a couple of searches. Unfortunately I completely missed the debates entirely due to work and had no idea that they were even taking place.
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I couldn't find a darn thing over at Fox about the debates, but then I didn't search very hard. Over in the polls area I did come across one that says almost half of Americans think it would be good for the country if an independent candidate were President. I tend to agree but the problem with the poll is that it doesn't reflect reality. Half of those polled probably won't vote and the other half will vote for whichever Republican or Democrat they consider the lesser of two evils.
Fox also has the transcript of an interview with Rudy Guiliani up as well. He made mention of Ron Paul and he and Sean Hannity had a little crack about Dr Paul on. Alan Colmes seemed to hit him pretty hard on illegal immigration and I was glad to hear that come up. During the time he was mayor Giuliani made the statement that he welcomed illegal immigrants to New York. Although he is towing the party line on that one it sounds to me as if he's blowing smoke up our ass and won't be any different than Bush on that issue.
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Ron Paul seems to be going pretty strong in all of the straw polls. This was posted today at RonPaul2008.com:
Has this been a hectic and encouraging time! First we got almost 17% in the Texas straw poll, an event set-up to represent the establishment, with very restrictive voting rules. That 17% of the Republican hierarchy would support our views, after a full day of pro-war propaganda, is good news. Then we won the more open Maryland Republican straw poll with 28%. In both cases, as usual, hard-working, well-organized volunteers made all the difference.
The Fox debate was a lot of fun as well. It's true that a few of the network people are not exactly with us on foreign or domestic policy (though one famous guy whispered to me that he is a libertarian), but the audience--with lots of students from the University of New Hampshire--was definitely fair and balanced, as their enthusiastic reaction showed.
My opponents called for more war, more torture, more secret prisons, more eavesdropping, more presidential power. Some seemed to identify the government and the people as if they were one entity. But you and I know that once the government moves beyond its very limited constitutional mandate, it is an opponent of the people, a rip-off operation that takes our money and our freedom and our social peace, and gives us a mess of statist pottage in return.
The government failed miserably on 911 to protect us, despite spending trillions. So the answer was supposed to be the giant, socialist Department of Homeland Security, protecting you and me from taking our toothpaste on the airplane. I was ridiculed for saying that the airlines, which know best how to protect their property, should have been allowed to arm their pilots. But then, you and I really believe in the Second Amendment. It is not just a political slogan for us.
The biggest issue I see for Ron Paul is that he needs to chill a bit with some of the fringe talk. He's right about quite a bit of stuff, but is mainstream America ready for it? Probably not. At least not enough to get him elected. You can read more of his post here and here are the results of the straw polls he has participated in.
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I came across this Open Letter to the American People at Friends of Liberty. All of it is very true...
Technorati: Rudy Giuliani, Sean Hannity, Ron Paul, Election 2008
I realize this post sort of jumps around a bit. I started reading early in the evening and then ended up having to go to work for several hours. Just now finished up with it.
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I agree that Ron Paul needs to stop with all the fringe talk. Notions of disbanding the CIA and Department of Education make people uncomfortable.
Sean Hannity is definately up in arms over Ron Paul though. Check this article on it:
http://garlinggauge.com/2007/09/08/ron-paul-driving-sean-hannity-crazy/