If you donated money to Ron Paul.....

Did he drop out now too?

No, he and his 14 delegates are still in as far as I know.

I just think it's hilarious that all of the people telling me a month before the Iowa caucuses that Paul was going to revolutionize politics and he was going to win the nomination are hiding under a rock somewhere now.

ya they have dissapeared

Did he leave?

Thank God they shut up about him.

you fags, it's all your fault!

I think its fantastic. He really spent nothing it seemed on advertising. Used the net and the whole boo-hoo the media ignores me campaign and raised a shitload that he can pocket with creative financing. Just like the perfect late night get rich infomercial.

Ironic you'd hate the ONLY republican that actually has republican values.

I think his plan is to wait for Huckabee to drop out then McCain to have a heart attack and he will be the only one left.

no matter what it's going to be an interesting ride lol

-Loki-

There should be a cap on campaign spending in my opinion.

For fucks sakes. Please stop posting that. I lose about 10 minutes every time I see it laughing my ass off.

Oh, the reason it's so damn funny to me is because the guy looks so much like abulletaway from MediumPimpin.

That just went out to my entire icq list haha

I love these people who laugh at Ron Paul. Because they have no idea why people donated to his campaign and have no understanding of the "Ron Paul Revolution". But it will become obvious next few terms of congress.

They have been awfully quiet since Tuesday.

Thank gawd.

Ron Paul supporter and quiet are two words I never thought I'd see in the same sentence.

By the numbers on super Tuesday it looked to me like he got annihilated.

Does he now have an ice cube's chance in hell?

No Ron Paul supporter ever really believed he would win the nomination. They like what he says, try to bring up his issues and stances and make them part of the knowledge for the public to at least have some choice. There was a very good chance he planned to run as an independant and with his grassroots support and the way they do raise money for him, I wouldn't doubt he still does.

There are a lot of things I like Ron Paul for, and there are some things I think he goes a bit to far, but I do find his opinions refreshing and resolute. He knows what he thinks and he tells you and sticks to it. And I love that for all his political career he has never been a sell out to lobbyists and big business.

Now to get either party to get on board such a drastic choice from the rest of the politicians would be incredibly hard and unrealistic as the driving force behind momentum ultimately is acceptance by the media. And Ron Paul has no shot of that.

He never stood a chance, he built his campaign on an idea - not a solution.

That's not true man.

I went back and forth with many of them on this board and I said guys like Paul are just there to move the debate, to force the front runners to speak to their issues....and I was burned in effigy.
I was an idiot for not believing Paul could win.

The polls didn't really matter because Paul supporters used cell phones and weren't called by pollsters.

And on and on and on.

So now that I've been proven right, I want to rub it in a little.

Funny though, you used to start a Ron Paul thread and a bunch of people's board trackers would go off and your thread would be 5 pages long by the end of the day.
I guess they're off somewhere licking their wounds now.

That is true there were a few that were out of it and went over the top but can't blame them for trying to make as much noise for a guy they believed in who was not getting equal air time by the news channels. If any momentum would have been gotten and the media bit on it and ran who knows what could have happened.

Same goes for your guy Obama. He was good at speeches and if you heard him live he was very persuasive but it took the media to fall head over heels with him and start pumping him religiously to build up all this momentum he has. If they stayed neutral he would would not have anywhere the momentum he has now as his main exposure to the masses was debates and until recently he was very poor in those. Great stump speeches though. The anti feelings towards Clinton has dragged her down and the charm of Obama has helped him in the media. It doesn't take much of a push either way to make things happen. The good thing Obama has done is not misstep with all this attention and being able to keep the momentum gotten.

But I have yet to see the media dig into his background and hold the candle to him on issues and background like Clinton yet and it will be interesting to see what McCain does now that he is a lock for the nominee and will start his campaign now. Will he be the one to hold the candle to Obama and see what really is there to expose? And if so will he hold up strong or come back down as he feels the grinder for the first time.

Should be an interesting time ahead to see how this all plays out.

That doesn't matter. He gets his ideas out there. Edwards was the first to talk about healthcare and the economy when Obama and Hillary were busy talking baout Iraq. They stole his ideas. If it wasn't for him all the dems would be talking about Is Iraq this and Iraq that.

By the way in Montana Paul came in 2nd with 25% of the vote. He got 17% in Alaska and finished ahead of McCain. He also got 16% in Minnesota, 2nd place McCain got 22%, Huckabee got 20%. He got 20% in N Dakota. McCain got 23%. Huckabee got 20%. Paul got 19% in Main, McCain got 21% Huckabee 6%.

Not sure if it's a coincidence that Paul's greatest support came from states that border Canada. Of course all thsoe states also held caucuses. You know the thing where people that vote are actually educated and engaged in the candidates and issues. Unlike primaries where most people just base their decison on whomever the TV people say to vote for or who gets talked about most.

I am very realistic about Paul's chances, but he still might run independant which would add some fun to the game. I dont agree with all his points but he was the best candidate for the this country. He is the only real Republican that entered the race, he is a doctor, he can speak in complete sentences, he knows what it really means to be a conservative, hes anti war.....I could go on all day why I stood behind him and why his running in this race is very important. My hope is the next generation will be informed enough to make the changes necassary to turn around this country.

It was really amazing how on every forum that I visited, whether it be about cars, adult biz, video games, etc. there was always a crew of rabid Paul supporters on every one posting stuff about him.

He definitely had the internet marketing down to a science.

Yep even getting just 3% or 4% of the vote will fuck it up for McCain. Paul EASILY has that much support.

I would be happy if that happened.

I agree that the media attention Obama has received has definitely helped him, but you have to remember he was polling in double digits from the day he announced.
The media covers the front runners.
Paul didn't get alot of media attention, but he got some....he was on meet the press for crying out loud. If his poll numbers would have gone up they would have covered him more....but they didn't, so the media didn't pay alot of attention to him.....the same way they didn't pay alot of attention to Dennis Kucinich or Mike Gravel.

As for the "holding a candle to him" comments.....nobody is better at the opposition research and mud slinging game than the Clintons, if there was something in Obama's past that could hurt him they would have used it by now.
I'm not worried about anyone finding a skeleton in his closet.

I agree to some extent about Paul, but he was the only candidate that despite the grassroots movement and the ability to raise so much money so quickly online, still got not support. Dodd, Richardson, Gravel etc never had any movement at all of any kind. Cnn, NBC, MSNBC etc all laughed at him and pretty much discredited him without a bat of the lashes, which didn't give the public much of a chance to take him seriously and listen to his thoughts. Not that he would get nominated still as his ideas are pretty outside the box and calls for a total reset in the way we live in a lot of ways. And as much as we talk about wanting change, the reality is we want very little change.

As for Obama, the Clintons really haven't hit home except for Bill saying his iraq war policy was shifty and the media was creating a fairy tale. He couldn't pursue further cause the media jumped to his defense and roasted the hell out of him. And the reality is his argument for not supporting the war is true, but it also is much easier to say that when you don't have to vote, listen to any intelligence from the pentagon and CIA that dictate the security measures were dire and the threats real and then have to cast a vote which indeed does dictate the policy of the nation. Sitting in the state legislature in Illinois and having no detailed intelligence and having no consequences to his opinions is not even close to that of what a senator had to do for those votes.

That I think Hillary should be hitting on over and over again. Also should be hitting on his claim to get everyone out in a year when he has not logistics or data from any insider that can actually tell if that plan is viable or not. If the pentagon says that it would take 18 months to get them out the day he takes office he is kind of in a bind as he said 12 months. Does he break that promise the first week in office? Or does he irresponsibly keep his word and put a lot of things in harms way. And its lack of experience with foreign relations and defense of the nation that causes him to make such a bold timetable which he may or may not be able to keep.

The other factors are the country is moving to the middle in both parties and the reality is Obama is the furthest left Liberal in the whole senate based on his voting record. There is not a single person left of him. That doesn't get brought up much and the republicans will hit on it hard.

The Clinton Campaign also has to be careful of digging and pushing so hard to disfracture both of them and destroy the democrats chances at winning in November, while the republicans don't have to hold back at all. In fact some say they would rather have Clinton to face in the general election, and will go at Obama starting right away to try and have that happen. What they find or rattle his cage with will be intersting. Maybe nothing comes out, but his flaws and weakness will get hammered on very soon and he will have to start to discuss his substance in far more detail than relying on his stump speeches of hope and change while saying almost nothing. Doesn't mean he doesn't have good ideas and things that could work, but he doesn't share them at all on the stumps, he just inspires with vague references.

Time will tell but I sure would like to see both Candidates have everything out in the open and have both equally dissected by the press on the core issues, backgrounds, full voting records, and experience on actually being able to get things done. For example what exactly has Barrack done that has actually resulted in change or having the ability to get change done? I have no idea.

With Hillary she has been ripped open from all sides for the last 16 years so you have a much better sense of who she is, what she stands for, what her faults are and what her strengths are. Obama really still is for the most part a mystery man, who talks a big game with inspirational speeches that are very exciting but every time I hear it, I keep thinking he said a lot about nothing, yet I am still excited. Why?

In the end as long as the Dems get back into the office I am happy, I just want one who is somewhat realistic and can spend the first 6 months making things happen, not learning the ropes and finding out how diplomacy and foreign relations actually work. And with Obama I feel that would be the case base on the things he says during the debates he is fairly clueless and borderline careless with the things he says he would do right away. In my opinion. That's not to say in time he would get the grasp and end up being a terrific leader as I do believe he is talented and smart enough once the charm no longer gets him by.

I just received his latest campaign email. He makes it clear he isn't going to run as an independent. Of course he could change his mind but I doubt it.

Here is the email:

If his supporters DEMAND he run as an independant how can he not run? He ran to make America beter right? Then not running when the people that have poured their blood sweat and tears into his campaign for FREE are asking you to is being a bit of an asshole.

he's still in it to win it!