Monday, October 03, 2011
One Pundit's Love/Hate Relationship with the GOP Field
RedState's Erick Erickson, who has long been a friend of this site, has a thorough piece today on what he dislikes about each of the Republican candidates. It's an interesting column, inasmuch as Erik is friends with several of the candidates.
But isn't that what races are about? No candidate should be everything that you want - that 100% perfect mix of policy, character, charisma, and background. One of my favorite candidates of all time was my former boss, Ed Bryant, and even he and I disagreed about issues, how to approach situations, etc.
And I guess that's one big problem I have - and that's folks that immediately grab on to a new candidate and start spewing their love for a candidate without knowing one actual thing about them. There's one member of the Republican State Executive Committee here in Tennessee who does that on almost every race, no matter if that race is a contested primary or not. He just goes giddy when a candidate announces, even if that is a first-time candidate with no record of achievement, votes, etc., or that candidate was an ambassador to Outer Mongolia and his record is unknown and undocumented. And this is someone who is supposed to be speaking for the Party. Go figure.
But he's not alone. Would anyone be surprised if Ron Paul supporters would justify Ron Paul's actions if he donned a ski mask and a shot gun and knocked off a bank? They'd probably say that he was a modern day Robin Hood, fighting back against the Fed or something. As Erik says in his column, Paul supporters are kinda scary. What seems to fuel them is this notion that the establishment won't make any concessions to them, which is odd given that they themselves refuse to make any concessions on any issue and openly state that they would never vote for anyone other than Ron Paul. If that's the case, why would anyone care to deal with them? They have abandoned their only real bargaining chips - their vote and support - right off the bat.
Supporting a candidate is not supporting a sports team. Sure, it's fun to be a UT fan and think that we're gonna give Alabama hell come the 3rd (actually 4th this year) weekend of October this year, no matter how unrealistic that is. But should that be the same for our political candidates?
But isn't that what races are about? No candidate should be everything that you want - that 100% perfect mix of policy, character, charisma, and background. One of my favorite candidates of all time was my former boss, Ed Bryant, and even he and I disagreed about issues, how to approach situations, etc.
And I guess that's one big problem I have - and that's folks that immediately grab on to a new candidate and start spewing their love for a candidate without knowing one actual thing about them. There's one member of the Republican State Executive Committee here in Tennessee who does that on almost every race, no matter if that race is a contested primary or not. He just goes giddy when a candidate announces, even if that is a first-time candidate with no record of achievement, votes, etc., or that candidate was an ambassador to Outer Mongolia and his record is unknown and undocumented. And this is someone who is supposed to be speaking for the Party. Go figure.
But he's not alone. Would anyone be surprised if Ron Paul supporters would justify Ron Paul's actions if he donned a ski mask and a shot gun and knocked off a bank? They'd probably say that he was a modern day Robin Hood, fighting back against the Fed or something. As Erik says in his column, Paul supporters are kinda scary. What seems to fuel them is this notion that the establishment won't make any concessions to them, which is odd given that they themselves refuse to make any concessions on any issue and openly state that they would never vote for anyone other than Ron Paul. If that's the case, why would anyone care to deal with them? They have abandoned their only real bargaining chips - their vote and support - right off the bat.
Supporting a candidate is not supporting a sports team. Sure, it's fun to be a UT fan and think that we're gonna give Alabama hell come the 3rd (actually 4th this year) weekend of October this year, no matter how unrealistic that is. But should that be the same for our political candidates?
Labels: 2012 Presidential Campaign, Ron Paul, State Executive Committee
Permalink posted by Rob Huddleston @ 12:51 PM 
