Printer Friendly

WaPost: Mitt Romney Forms “Strategic Partnership” with Anti-Israel Ron Paul

David Streeter — February 2, 2012 – 12:29 pm | Election 2012 | GOP Presidential Candidates 2012 | Mitt Romney | Ron Paul Comments (5) Add a comment

Photo by Scott Audette/Reuters

As we and others noted previously, anti-Israel Representative Ron Paul’s (R-TX) presidential candidacy poses a unique dilemma for leading GOP presidential candidate former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. The conventional wisdom holds that Romney needs Paul’s support—and his highly energized supporters—in order to be a strong nominee. In an apparent effort to court Paul, Romney told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that he would vote for Paul if he ended up the GOP’s nominee—while expressing hope that Paul would somehow change his views after decades of railing against the U.S.-Israel relationship.

Today, The Washington Post reported on its front page that Romney and Paul appear to have struck a “strategic partnership” in the GOP primary process. According to The Washington Post:

The Romney-Paul alliance is more than a curious connection. It is a strategic partnership: for Paul, an opportunity to gain a seat at the table if his long-shot bid for the presidency fails; for Romney, a chance to gain support from one of the most vibrant subgroups within the Republican Party.

‘It would be very foolish for anybody in the Republican Party to dismiss a very real constituency,’ said one senior GOP aide in Washington who is familiar with both camps. ‘Ron Paul plays a very valuable part in the process and brings a lot of voters toward the Republican Party and ultimately into the voting booth, and that’s something that can’t be ignored.’

To ensure that they are heard - not just now but after Election Day, too - Paul and his followers are working to gain a permanent foothold in the Republican Party nationwide. One state at a time, Paul’s supporters are seating themselves at county committee meetings, and standing for election as state officers and convention delegates, to make sure their candidate’s libertarian vision is taken into account. The goal is a lasting voice for an army of outsiders that has long felt ignored and sees the nation headed toward ruin if things don’t change.

That is just fine with the Romney campaign, which would be happy to bring Paul’s constituency - perhaps the most intense and loyal in the country - into the fold.

Romney’s aides are ‘quietly in touch with Ron Paul,’ according to a Republican adviser who is in contact with the Romney campaign and spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss its internal thinking. The two campaigns have coordinated on minor things, the adviser said - even small details, such as staggering the timing of each candidate’s appearance on television the night of the New Hampshire primary for maximum effect.

One advantage for Romney is that Paul’s presence in the race helps keep the GOP electorate fractured. But there is also a growing recognition that the congressman plans to stay in the contest over the long term - and that accommodating him and his supporters could help unify Republican voters in the general election against President Obama.

‘Ron Paul wants a presence at the convention,’ the adviser said - and Romney, if he is the nominee, would grant it.

Click here to read the full article.

Comments

Bob D | February 2, 2012 – 3:32 pm

As a Ron Paul supporter and having lived in his district I think I understand his views on Israel. So let me make a point. Right now Mitt Romney is threatening us with 8 years of military spending equivelent to the last 8 years at a minimum. And 8 years of perpetual war and military expansion if everything in the world doesn’t go his way. To a Ron Paul Supporter, the first option is disgusting and the second is terrifying. But if Mitt stepped down on threatening Iran and promised to cut Military spending say by half, and kept up military aid to Israel or even enhanced it, while we don’t agree with that policy, I think we could go along with it. You see, Israel is just not as important to us as keeping our nation from going bankrupt. Is that a hard thing for you to understand?

Paul F | February 3, 2012 – 4:28 pm

@Bob D.

While you are right to be opposed to Mitt Romney’s apparent intention to ramp up our military spending to even more outrageous levels, while giving even bigger tax cuts to the rich, that is no reason to support the racist, anti-Semitic, anti-Israel Ron Paul.

The answer is support President Barack Obama, who is trimming our military budget carefully in light of the fact that we are ending two wars.

The fact that Romney would associate with Paul is nearly as bad as if he were to do so with another former GOP candidate, David Duke.

Romney is giving a platform to someone with too many poisonous views. Keep in mind, there is now plenty of evidence that he was deeply responsible for the racist newsletters sent out under his name in the 1990’s.

Further, Ron and Rand Paul still don’t accept the 1964 Civil Rights Act as legal. They would be fine with a Constitution that would allow “Whites Only” signs on restaurants.

Moreover, the Pauls can’t claim that it is a technical Constitutional matter. In all his years in Congress, he never once introduced a Constitutional Amendment to make sure such signs would never be allowed in our nation again.

We have a large national debt and it is growing. It will take cuts in our defense budget, means-testing some entitlement benefits for the top 1%, ending tax expenditures for successful companies that don’t need our help (i.e. the oil industry), and progressively higher tax rates for the top 25% of earners - particularly the top 1%.

Surprise. Ron Paul won’t raise taxes or end tax expenditures for companies that don’t need the money. He is not serious about the debt.

So, the bottom line is that not only does Ron Paul not deserve your support, he should be shunned by the GOP.

One good thing. Somewhere around 25% or so of the Jewish community votes Republican in Presidential elections. The addition of Paul to the Republican team should drop that number by half by the end of the Republican National Convention. :)

Nachum | February 3, 2012 – 5:45 pm

While I disapprove of Ron Paul’s libertarian views on domestic policy, I think his strong opposition to war on Iran is a breath of fresh air. One can be in favor of security for Israel and still against Netanyahu’s belligerent campaign to drag the US into a disastrous war. Have a look at a very recent NY Times Op-Ed to see a better way than bound-to-fail sanctions or military action, to protect Israel and reduce the threat of a middle east nuclear arms race
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/03/opinion/sunday/envisioning-a-deal-with-iran.html?_r=1&hp;.

Jerry_Leigh | February 6, 2012 – 11:07 am

Ron Paul has NOTHING on Mitt Romney. The Book of Mormon contains the verse, Mormon (7:5), which states: “Know ye that ye must come to the knowledge of your fathers, and repent of all your sins and iniquities, and believe in Jesus Christ, that he is the Son of God, and that he was slain by the Jews, and by the power of the Father he hath risen again, whereby he hath gained the victory over the grave; and also in him is the sting of death swallowed up.” Note the “slain by the Jews” phrase—Romney believes in deicide.

Carolyn | February 10, 2012 – 7:11 pm

You say “Israel is just not as important to us…” Are you saying that you wouldn’t care if Israel was destroyed? If so, that’s very short-sighted of you, and a crying shame!

Name:
E-mail:
Comment:
Captcha:

Note:	This form does not support AOL's browser. If you are currently using AOL's browser, please use a major browser, such as Firefox, Safari, Chrome, or Internet Explorer.