Ron Paul and the GOP Plan to Take Back the Libertarian Vote

By Richard Mayhew Feb 10, 2008

In 2006, the libertarian vote, and the Libertarian Party in particular was arguably responsible for several Republican losses in Congress. Libertarian candidates, took away enough votes from Republican contenders that it cost them the race, and Congress. Libertarian voters served as a very large group of swing voters that would support liberty-minded candidates regardless of party affiliation.

Ron Paul and the GOP Plan to Take Back the Libertarian Vote

Just before the 2006 elections, David Boaz, head of the libertarian think-tank, CATO, published "The Libertarian Vote" which detailed: "The libertarian vote is in play. At some 13 percent of the electorate, it is sizable enough to swing elections. Pollsters, political strategists, candidates, and the media should take note of it."

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After the 2006 elections, it became clear to GOP strategists that the libertarians must be controlled. Their main question: "How do you heard cats?" Libertarians are fiercely independent and are notoriously suspicious of outside influence. The only way to gain their trust and then their vote, is to have one of their own serve as the pied piper.

Enter Ron Paul.

In 1988, Paul was the Libertarian presidential candidate, garnering a depressing 431,000 votes, a mere half of a percent of the vote. That ended Paul's career within the Libertarian Party and later he rejoined the Republican Party and was re-elected to Congress.

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Even though Paul reassumed his "R" designation, libertarians across the nation still showed great respect for him over the decades. In March of 2007, Ron Paul officially announced his presidential candidacy on C-Span's Washington Journal.

The fervor for the campaign slowly began to build and then reached a tipping point after the infamous "blowback" confrontation with Rudy Giuliani in an early GOP debate.

While the original plan had been to distract libertarians past the "working season" of the 2008 election cycle, Paul's support became nearly uncontrollable.

He became a leading fundraising with over $30,000,000 in donations and a grassroots hero.

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Despite lack-luster debate performances, Paul's libertarian message resonated with the constituency that Boaz had touted in 2006.

Paul became a force within the liberty movement but was merely a nuisance to the GOP and the media. As his primary numbers proved, even the power of his grassroots Revolution could not influence the outcome of the Republican nomination.

Now as Super-Tuesday has passed, Ron Paul and his staff are in an awkward position of admitting that they cannot win the GOP nomination but they also cannot release their hold on supporters as they would likely move to the Libertarian Party or another minor party after being snubbed by the Republicans.

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Last week, Paul accomplished that in a brilliant, Machiavellian move that allowed him to stay in the race for the presidency but redirect his supporters energy to changing the Republican party and, of course, helping him maintain his congressional seat in Texas.

In an e-mail to his supporters, Paul admitted that his "chances of a brokered convention are nearly zero." He also said without ambiguity that he would not seek a third party run. His message also informed his base that he would be cutting down his campaign staff but still "fighting for our ideas within the Republican Party." He closed by soliciting support for his congressional race in addition to his presidential campaign.

It was a brilliant political move.

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He left his supporters scratching their heads on the meaning of the message but still firmly planted under the Paul and GOP banner.

If Ron Paul continues to string along his supporters until the Republican Convention in September, it will effectively dismantle the libertarian vote and the Libertarian Party. After September, the Libertarian Party will have no time to regroup as ballot access and filing deadlines would have long passed.

As a result, the Libertarian candidates that remain will make little impact on the 2008 elections, giving Republicans a fighting chance against their Democrat challengers.

The Ron Paul campaign may be known as own of the most successful political subversions of a large constituency in modern history. Some may call that "evil" but in the political strategy world, it was an amazing accomplishment.

http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_272618806.shtml