UNLIMITED GOP 2012 PRIMARY CANDIDATE THREAD

[Luna]

I'm aware of those things. I don't think that voting for him will get him elected or anything. I just want an actual political dialog to take place. Right now we've got a bunch of clones acting like they're polar opposites.

I'm having a hard time justifying voting for Obama after he has sucked so badly at protecting privacy, eliminating corruption, and operating transparently. He signs NDAA but says he "feels bad" about it. He appoints a former Monsanto VP as advisor to the FDA. And aside from a little bit of student loan reform, he hasn't done much for the middle class. Oh but gays in uniform can kiss. It's just a bunch of cultural signaling, show me the Change he was talking about.

True, but I won't vote for someone else just because he's someone else, not without at least looking at what I'm buying. 

And, not all changes are the big, sweeping shit that draws nothing but a roadblock from a GoP Congress who'd see America go down if it means Obama fails.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/rulings/promise-kept/

[Nephew Twiddleton]

At some point, someone figured out that we keep voting for the "lesser of two evils" no matter how bat both of them get, or how small the gap between them becomes. Romney wasn't the worst governor Massachusetts has ever had.

Nope. He was a rather average MA governor actually. Didn't really do much of anything notable, collected his paycheck, went on vacation, really only used the governorship as a stepping stone and bolted as soon as he saw the opportunity for other things.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

As much as I disagree with all of his politics, I'm starting to feel like voting for Paul, if only because it's an outsider voice.

Ron Paul is not an outsider voice.  He is a grifter that takes stacks of fat boodle back to his district, and then paints himself as an outsider for the rubes.

In addition, just look at his fucking platform:  All the social nightmares the GOP has, and even weirder financial issues.  It would be like having Ayn Rand as president, only better looking.

[Luna]

On Tuesday, Anonymous enthusiasts hacked and defaced the website of American Third Position (A3P),  a major US-based white supremacist network. According to Anonymous, documents liberated in the hack show that "Ron Paul has regularly met with many A3P members, even engaging in conference calls with their board of directors."

http://www.examiner.com/anonymous-in-national/hunting-nazis-anonymous-snares-ron-paul-operation-blitzkrieg

Oops.

[Juana]

Uh oh.

[Q. G. Pennyworth]

where's the "innocent whistle" icon?

[Salty]

This is, as word has it:

a vague, non-factual statement by one member of a chaotic group

[Cain]

It was also revealed that Ron Paul did in fact know about the content of his Survival Report editorials, and approved of them.

Anyway, Romney seems to have won Nevada with 42% or thereabouts, with half of all votes counted.

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

Somewhere people are sitting at a party, crying into their Tea. 

It was also revealed that Ron Paul did in fact know about the content of his Survival Report editorials, and approved of them.

Anyway, Romney seems to have won Nevada with 42% or thereabouts, with half of all votes counted.

[Cain]

For those wondering about the Third Positionist movement, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Positionist

Third Position is a revolutionary nationalist political ideology that emphasizes its opposition to both communism and capitalism. Advocates of Third Position politics typically present themselves as "beyond left and right", instead claiming to syncretize radical ideas from both ends of the political spectrum.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]

Third Positionists tend to advocate for the ownership of the means of producing goods and services to be distributed as widely as possible among the "productive members of society", seek alliances with separatists of ethnicity and race other than their own to achieve "separate but equal" ethnic and racial segregation, support national liberation movements in the least developed countries, and have recently embraced environmentalism and reconstructionist paganism.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]

Political scientists, such as Roger Griffin, dismiss Third Positionist claims of being "beyond left and right" as specious. They argue that Third Positionism is in fact an ideological mutation of the neo-fascist right, which rejects both Marxism and liberalism for an ultranationalism that seeks to achieve a national rebirth by establishing a confederation of ethnically and racially homogeneous communities where ownership of productive property is distributed among all members. The main precursors of Third Position politics are National Bolshevism, a synthesis of nationalism and Bolshevik communism, and Strasserism, a radical, mass-action and worker-based form of Nazism.

The BNP in Britain has a strong Third Positionist component, as does the personal history of Nick Griffin, the party leader.  I disagree that National Bolshevism, at least as understood by Liminov, is Third Positionist, but I can also see how someone would come to that conclusion (since it does in fact claim to be against communism and capitalism, and borrows from fascist aesthetics heavily).

In particular, note this part:

Third Position adherents in the U.S. actively seek to recruit from the left by attempting to convince progressive activists to join forces to oppose certain government policies where there is a shared critique, primarily around such issues as the use of U.S. troops in foreign military interventions, support for Israel, the problems of CIA misconduct and covert action, domestic government repression, privacy rights, and civil liberties.

Arguments can of course be made as to whether Ron Paul is a duped "progressive voice" or willing participant, but in reality it changes little.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Seriously, it's probably a better protest to abstain from voting than to vote for a racist with no chance of winning.

I mean, casting your lot for Paul and then saying "But I don't really support him" is a little like dressing in white robes and going to a big party with a burning cross and then saying "but I didn't light any matches myself."

[East Coast Hustle]

Fuck yes. Yoinking and re-posting with attribution.

[Luna]

Guy down in Florida has filed assault charges against Newt, his security detail, and his campaign.

http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/02/07/43692.htm

[DiscoRadio]

Seriously, it's probably a better protest to abstain from voting than to vote for a racist with no chance of winning.

I mean, casting your lot for Paul and then saying "But I don't really support him" is a little like dressing in white robes and going to a big party with a burning cross and then saying "but I didn't light any matches myself."

Vermin Supreme: The ultimate protest vote

If you don't vote, tptb just assume you're not paying attention. I don't want my outrage to be confused for apathy.

[Cain]

Santorum just scored wins in Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri.

My reaction: wat.

However, it changes little.  Michigan, Maine and Arizona are up next: Ron Paul may take Maine, but the rest should be Romney victories.  And then it's Super Tuesday.  Unless Santorum or Gingrinch pulls a major upset in any of those states before then, Romney will be far more credible.  Furthermore, his financial advantage will give him a much greater scope for victory, as he floods advertising, visits and attacks across several states simultaneously.