Good news: Ron Paul to hold own convention in Minneapolis during Republican convention
posted at 2:38 pm on June 10, 2008 by Allahpundit
I take it this means he’s officially given up trying to “work within the party.”
Maverick GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul has booked an arena in Minneapolis for a “mini-convention” that could steal some of John McCain’s thunder just days before he accepts the Republican nomination.
A Paul campaign aide said the Texas congressman hopes to pack about 11,000 supporters into the Williams Arena at the University of Minnesota on Sept. 2, which coincides with the second day of the Republican National Convention at the Xcel Energy Center in neighboring St. Paul…
The campaign hopes the daylong event will “send a message to the Republican Party,” Paul campaign spokesman Jesse Benton tells the Tribune-Review.
“There is a growing surge of people out there just craving” for a return “to traditional American government, limited government that places personal liberty first and places an emphasis on personal responsibility and essentially gets out of the way after that,” Benton said. “The buzz we get from supporters is that they are very eager to come to St. Paul and very eager to send a strong message.”
The message being, “Let’s compromise by adopting Ron Paul’s agenda wholesale.” Exit question per the Obama/Reagan post and yesterday’s Pat Buchanan salute to burning the village to save it: Is this the next stage of conservatism — the re-Bircherization of the party? Because if the only two options are Great Society II and Ron Paul poring over some (but certainly not all) of Al Qaeda’s pronunciamentos to buttress his isolationism then the time has never been riper for a third party.
Blowback
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Are these folks to be missed?
BL@KBIRD on June 10, 2008 at 2:41 PM
Paul supporters need to be very careful about how they use words like “buzz.”
highhopes on June 10, 2008 at 2:45 PM
Does this mean that Minneapolis has a high concentration of white supremacists?
its vintage duh on June 10, 2008 at 2:46 PM
Sweet. I guess he’s not going to get a prime time speech at the convention now.
Valiant on June 10, 2008 at 2:47 PM
Good, get out. Seeya
Jimmy Liberty on June 10, 2008 at 2:47 PM
Delusional…
eanax on June 10, 2008 at 2:47 PM
So he expects twice as many people as voted for him to show up? Good luck with that.
hindmost on June 10, 2008 at 2:49 PM
Any guesses on the ratio of Gold Standard to 9-11 Truth placards that will be hoisted?
VolMagic on June 10, 2008 at 2:49 PM
Paul is becoming the un-isolationist version of Carter.
upinak on June 10, 2008 at 2:50 PM
THIS is the man that should be our president right now!!
Sincerely,
John Derbyshire
thirteen28 on June 10, 2008 at 2:51 PM
Good, maybe we conservatives in Minnesota can somehow dupe all of the planned protestors into veering off towards Paul’s location.
But then he would probably just join them and lead them back to the RNC Rivercenter location.
Grafted on June 10, 2008 at 2:52 PM
He got over a million votes.
Jimmy Liberty on June 10, 2008 at 2:54 PM
Hey, the MSM has a new “maverick” Republican! Guess the last one fell out of favor…
Enrique on June 10, 2008 at 2:56 PM
Even on this one the Democrats outnumbered the Republicans:
They got the Martian (Kucinich) and the Gravel.
Republicans have Ron Paul, or had.
Republicans, what a bunch of losers!
Until you clean your house from the RINOs and embrace Conservatives, you will remain on the path of self-destruction.
But whom am I talking to?
It’s hard for idiots to comprehend.
Indy Conservative on June 10, 2008 at 3:01 PM
What could go wrong? /sarc
CP on June 10, 2008 at 3:12 PM
Some beer, some pretzels and singing some of the old songs from the old days.
Hening on June 10, 2008 at 3:13 PM
I’ve always kind of hoped that it would be more like Theodore Roosevelt and the Fair Deal.
I’m tired of the diminishing intelligence levels of Moonbats, Billionaires with big ears and of course, The Consumer Crusader. Perhaps Neurons quite firing in their skulls a long time ago or possibly all they know about the world came from reading Fantasy books.
But as serious contenders for President…Pat Paulson would be a better choice.
BDU-33 on June 10, 2008 at 3:14 PM
Paul should be very grateful we are allowing him to be a fringe figure. Put him on stage at the GOP convention and all the ugly details of his newsletters, Alex Jones appearances and the rest of it would come flying out all over the MSM in their attempt to brand Republicans as “racist”. Especially while running against Obama, a minority.
jp on June 10, 2008 at 3:15 PM
I think you linked the wrong Paul post here….
Want to really ruffle their feathers, lets let Robert Kagan speek at the convention and talk about his two books: “Dangerous Nation” which completely debunks the idiotic notion that the founders were like Paul/rockwell on Foreign Policy, its ludicrious. and of course his new book about the “return of history and end of dreams”
jp on June 10, 2008 at 3:19 PM
Didn’t he get the message about the REVOlution?
Beo on June 10, 2008 at 3:24 PM
my bad, post makes sense to me now…..could also add Bin Laden claiming 9/11 was about Palestien and not “our troops stepped foot in Saudi Arabia” which was/is Pauls thesis.
He uses Robert Pape, left wing professor who wrote a book claiming all islamic terrorism is linked to a foreign military occupying an islamic country. Robert Spencer has debunked his findings many times, the stats were cooked, etc…
jp on June 10, 2008 at 3:26 PM
reTARDation!
ronsfi on June 10, 2008 at 3:27 PM
What an idiot!!!
Winebabe on June 10, 2008 at 3:32 PM
Actually, this is good news. It will keep them from acting like fools at the GOP convention…thus allowing the GOP to show that it is the party for sane adults.
funky chicken on June 10, 2008 at 3:37 PM
LOL
Speaking of Gravel, I read a post over at reason.com trying to get Bob Barr to pick Gravel as his VP a while ago. The thought was that Gravel could attract votes from the left. The INSANE left, is what I thought.
I think Paul, Barr, Gravel, and Kucinich should start their own party. They could even invite Cynthia McKinney to join them. They would probably get over 10% of the vote, sadly, but that would at least let the major parties focus more on actual important stuff and less on trying to satisfy the loud lunatic fringe.
funky chicken on June 10, 2008 at 3:42 PM
Why am I giggling over this?
Mommynator on June 10, 2008 at 3:43 PM
+1
wise_man on June 10, 2008 at 3:48 PM
Pat Buchanan ran for president twice, right? Hey, Pat, you LOST. I’m sorry that it apparently hurt your ego so much, but your vision of the GOP isn’t a big seller.
funky chicken on June 10, 2008 at 3:57 PM
He’ll fit right in with the rest of the nutjobs over there.
oakpack on June 10, 2008 at 4:10 PM
I’ve long felt that the Ron Paul supporters are dishonest in their loyalties. I cannot imagine them actually supporting a conservative or republican. I want him to run independently just because I think he’ll steal way more of Obama’s votes than McCain’s. Sure, that’s a little tongue-in-cheek. But considering how they talk – knee-jerk Bush/Republican hatred, knee-jerk America hatred, Trooferism, etc. – they seem to have more in common with the Marxists/Socialists/Dems. Sure they talk a good game about personal responsibility and freedom, but come on – when I hear them or talk to them I can’t imagine them actually being able to take personally responsibility for anything. They seem like they would be among the first to whine for government’s help.
JimRich on June 10, 2008 at 4:12 PM
Since Ron Paul is a conservative Republican, that seems like a strange statement. Speaking of knee-jerk hatred, that’s exactly what this blog has for Paul.
??? Any Marxist that supports Ron Paul may be bipolar.
Jimmy Liberty on June 10, 2008 at 4:23 PM
they have alot in common with the marxist dems because Murray Rothbard, pauls idol, did. He beleived military spending was the worst of all govt. spending, thought the COld war was a hoax to expand big govt. among other things and sided with far-left fringes in the 60′s…
Paul and Rockwell are his heirs, there are too many ignorant paul supporters who actually think paul is reasonable on FP and would attack ‘bin laden’ if he could.
Lew Rockwell allows far-left bloggers at his sight to push bush hatred, foreign policy and terror related of course.
jp on June 10, 2008 at 4:25 PM
Ron Paul is a nutjob Big-L Libertarian masquerading as a Republican. The Libertatian party has gone completely off the rails since I voted for Harry Browne in 2000. Even he distanced himself from them before he died.
And as you showed above, Paul supporters have NO sense of humor… which is kind of amazing given their joke of a candidate.
hindmost on June 10, 2008 at 5:15 PM
I could think of over 100 far better uses for whatever the amount of money Ron Paul is wasting on an arena in Minneapolis, but I am also glad he is doing this, so we can all see exactly how easy he it is for him to be wasting his own money as he would have been wasting ours if he had been elected President.
So thanks Ron for showing us the Real You!
Now GO THE HELL AWAY!!!!!
pilamaye on June 10, 2008 at 5:28 PM
Shows how clueless most Paul-haters are.
Jimmy Liberty on June 10, 2008 at 5:34 PM
I’ve been saying, if good conservatives don’t fill the extreme void in representation, then the cook-fringes [PaulPods] will fill it. There is a tremendous block of voters in the U.S. right now who feel they have “zero” representation.
The democrat party is gone and the GOP has wandered so far off into the bogs that it seems unlikely that they can be salvaged. A serious, legit 3rd party is needed. If, for no other reason, to motivate the GOP to come back to its senses.
But not the closet anti-semite Ron Paul and his minions!! That won’t do. DD
Darvin Dowdy on June 10, 2008 at 5:46 PM
Troofer ALERT!!
Troofer ALERT!!
Et tu Brute on June 10, 2008 at 5:46 PM
You wish.
Jimmy Liberty on June 10, 2008 at 5:49 PM
Hey! Just because his supporters ride on the short blimp, doesn’t mean you get to call it that!
James on June 10, 2008 at 6:58 PM
True and I will be makeing nice killin’ off of his convention. I will be the one running the Helmet Care Products booth…
ronsfi on June 10, 2008 at 7:18 PM
Send him to Denver as a super-delegate for Kucinich.
Steve Z on June 10, 2008 at 7:36 PM
I think Indy Conservative just likes to stir things up (very un conservative of him). Hey Indy, it is whom only when preceded by to. And, yesterday we had a lot of talk about stopping calling people idiots. When I show illiteracy it is my computer, not me (sar)
Now for a few observations:
1. I think you are all a bunch of conservative pharisees. Each one of you think you pray best to the conservative god and anyone who isn’t as fervent or as meticulous as yourself is a damned conservative heretic.
2. Conservatives can argue ad adsurbumabout what conservatism is and split hairs ad naseum. By spending time doing that, you are letting the barbarians in the gate.
3. The United States is in the greatest danger since 1860. The danger is not from pork, spending, islamists, or the “other side.” The danger to the US is us. We no longer have a middle. All we have is an uncompromising left and an uncompromising right. We have been balkanized by the press and the DNC, with help from the RNC. We are rapidly going for each others’ throats. In your pharisitic huberus, do not go so far down the path of destruction that you can’t return.
4. I think the web has contributed to this because we have people making statements under cover of distance or anon that they would never make to one’s face. Remember, the last political loss of control cost 500,000 American lives. The next one could be much worse.
Old Country Boy on June 10, 2008 at 7:55 PM
I coulden’t have put it better myself.
RMC1618 on June 10, 2008 at 8:24 PM
This is a preview of the crowds expected at any Ron Paul convention.
Gwillie on June 10, 2008 at 8:57 PM
It’s not a knee-jerk response to Paul, it’s a considered response.
But since some people refuse to remember Paul’s history, it looks like a knee-jerk response to them.
I know it’s a shock, and I know you can’t internalize the ideas, but some people actually DISAGREE with Paul, pretty strongly. It’s not ignorance, it’s not knee-jerk, it’s a decision based on the facts.
Merovign on June 10, 2008 at 9:22 PM
What kind of Republican agrees to appear at shadow conventions during his party’s National Convention? The RNC should revoke his Republican status.
Buddahpundit on June 10, 2008 at 9:36 PM
It’s not about disagreement.
Every time a topic comes up with Paul, AP and the rest of this crowd always looks for the worst way to take it and refuses to consider it any other way. Then mock him.
This has nothing to do with “disagreements.”
Constantly linking Paul and Truthers together because a lot of Truthers like him… ignoring that Paul is not a truther or even close…
…Proven by the fact that the reason “conservatives” started bad-mouthing him was because he said “They attack us because we’ve been over there.” Think the “they” he mentioned was the Bush administration? I don’t.
But you’ll forever link him with truthers because of your knee-jerk hatred. And any weak-excuse to badmouth him seems like a good idea to those here.
Jimmy Liberty on June 10, 2008 at 9:36 PM
And PS, because a lot of truthers like Ron Paul does not mean a lot of Ron Paul’s supporters are truthers. They’re a small segment.
People who support small government (which means both foreign and domestic) support Ron Paul. Like, say, George Will.
Jimmy Liberty on June 10, 2008 at 9:39 PM
And holocaust-deniers like Willis Carto, American Free Press also support Ron Paul: http://michaelmedved.townhall.com/blog/g/77711671-de32-47da-a721-8f606d586ad0
And here’s a few more darling little Neo-Nazi groups that support Ron Paul:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/11/the_ron_paul_campaign_and_its.html
Did anyone wonder where all his campaigns money came from?
Of course these days anti-semitism is back in vogue. Fashionable.
Despite Genesis 12:3
DD
Darvin Dowdy on June 10, 2008 at 10:31 PM
You’re pretending we didn’t see him in the debates.
TexasDan on June 10, 2008 at 11:06 PM
It means nothing to Paul supporters that he actually courted those they decry as a “small segment.” Anything for a vote, huh? He’s just like any other typical politician. Nothing special, but plenty cuckoo.
Paul/Kucinich 2012!!
JimRich on June 10, 2008 at 11:20 PM
allahpundit said;
Shows you how much you know about 3rd parties. What you really have done is create a 3rd party by turning the Old Republican Party into the “New Islamofacist Warmongering” Party that lost both the House and the Senate in 2006 with its current party platform.
At least Ron Paul would do what it takes by cutting out the fat and getting rid of the various departments that will lead this nation to financial ruin via inflation and a worthless dollar.
And it cracks me up how you keep harping on Paul’s supporters rather than debate the issues. But hey…God blesses your wars and He’ll take care of you right? “Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran” is your next battle cry. Dust off your pom poms!
Fed Up on June 10, 2008 at 11:49 PM
HE’S ALIVE, HE’S ALIVE…NO HE ISN’T!
byteshredder on June 11, 2008 at 12:09 AM
It came from me. And others like me. I gave him about $700, which is about $700 more than I’ve given to any other candidate. I’m not anti-anyone, except for maybe anti-Democrat.
Absolute bulls$!t. I’ve watched every debate with him, read every article, and happen to share the same views as him. I’ve never seen any racism or “anti-” anything other than anti-big-government. “Courting” is your own creation.
Amen.
Jimmy Liberty on June 11, 2008 at 12:12 AM
“Small segment”
I was quoting you. I wasn’t talking about racism or anti-anything. Only Trooferism.
JimRich on June 11, 2008 at 1:14 AM
OK, than apply my statement to trooferism also.
Jimmy Liberty on June 11, 2008 at 2:11 AM
I don’t hate Ron Paul. I’d have to take him seriously in order to hate him. How could you hate such a strange, sad train wreck of a man.
trigon on June 11, 2008 at 2:37 AM
Yeah. John McCain called him the most honest man in congress. He’s been elected 11 times, despite voting against his district’s self interest. His long-shot campaign raised more money than the nominee.
What a failure…
Jimmy Liberty on June 11, 2008 at 2:52 AM