If Mitt Romney is the Republican presidential nominee in 2012, it will be because of Ron Paul. Consider:
1) If Ron Paul wasn’t running, those votes would be going for anyone but Mitt Romney. Paul’s success eats into Romney’s opponents.
2) Ron Paul’s substantial but not-substantial-enough following will continue putting him in second or third place, distancing Romney, the front runner, from all the other competitors. He creates a barrier between Romney and everyone else by making them look small.
A democracy is funny when ideological opposites help each other achieve power. A new poll puts Jon Huntsman at 17% in NH. Ron Paul is at 16%. Mitt Romney is 40% and everyone else is small. This echoes Iowa, where Ron Paul got second, Santorum tied Romney for first, and everyone else was small. If Mitt is going to be defeated, that person in second place at least needs to be the same person every time, but if they are not, and Ron Paul keeps the rest of the field at a distance….”hello, President Romney.”
(However, the economy just added 200,000 jobs and we are now at 8.5% unemployment. If the economy continues to improve, Obama will likely win. Maybe that is why Huckabee, Chris Christie, and Marco Rubio sat out this round out.)
I miss posting more! I love it and all the comments from last time. It really is a great way for me to stay engaged with so many friends and family (and strangers, which is cool) all over the world. Thanks for staying in touch.
Jer's Intellectual Adventures 
January 11th, 2012 at 2:42 AM
Hey it’s Whit, and I agree with a sizable slice of that original crap-pie you scribbled. However, in regards to the jobs report, with Europe’s tenacious fidelity to deeply shitting itself the game will likely still be afoot come November. Nobody foresees this economic malaise getting brighter anytime quick and as things stand today Michigan (especially when Romney gets the nod), Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia are all teetering a c-hair to the right. So once again it may come down to the weave-belt jean-short’s wearing masterminds that brought us the Wright Brothers and spacesuits: O-frickin’-hio. And this being the case I think we can all agree a coin flip would be a much more judicious mechanism for arbitrating who should be our next knighted executive instead of that shitshow having the final say.
I can see Obama getting the popular vote and losing the electoral college, and that, finally, might spell the end of it.
But of course a third party Ron Paul in the presidential race would mean Obama could pick up wood-chopping as a replacement pastime to his re-election campaign. But however, ironically, not that it matters, but currently I’m 62% towards maybe voting for Obama this time, but if Ron Paul wasn’t so epically dumb about the Federal Reserve (in combo with his childish feelings towards gold) (Alex, are you sure you’re not historically Ohioan?) I’d be taking my vote away from Obama and giving it to Paul.
Peace dude. Bernanke/McChrystal 2016!
January 11th, 2012 at 1:37 PM
Ohio. Land of the the free, and the birthplace of aviation. We eat buckeyes so back off. Who is more qualified to decide our president than ohioans?
Your warnings about the economy (and Europe) are fair. I agree. I also see Obama getting the popular vote and losing the election. that is because, and I have said this many many times, the political divide in this country is between the urban and rural areas, not red states and blue states, and all the people are in the cities. WARNING: that is an overstatement, there are people in the country, ocassionally.
However, Romney could get smashed with this little narrative: Romney is the 1% and for the 1% – catchy.
January 12th, 2012 at 12:26 AM
What can I say about Ohio that hasn’t already been said about your taste in hats and the Penn State athletic department?
January 14th, 2012 at 10:28 AM
My taste in hats is amazing and I found this quote online about the Penn State athletic department: “the Penn State athletic department is very attractive, just like Jeremy Clifton, and Ohioans…and not eric.”
January 18th, 2012 at 5:09 PM
Alicia, could you be a darling and post a picture of Jeremy’s hat?
January 9th, 2012 at 7:55 AM
Helpful post. Since your last post, I prefer to view all of this as sheer entertainment….its a circus of sorts, and one in which I want to be informed as much as possible. So thanks for your take on this very voluminous event.
January 9th, 2012 at 10:07 PM
You are welcome! But it is a combination of entertainment, history, and meaningful stuff too. Some people don’t like mixing entertainment with meaning. I find that meaning makes my entertainment that much better, and vice versa.
January 8th, 2012 at 9:36 PM
Yes I do think that Paul will run as a third party candidate 🙂
January 8th, 2012 at 5:47 PM
Dude, I mistyped. Sorry, do you really think Paul will run as a 3rd party candidate? I would be surprised if he did. But yeah, if he does you are totally right.
maybe the fact that we have a two-tiered system counteracts the effects of what I was talking about.
January 8th, 2012 at 3:58 PM
Sorry I dont know what was happening when I wrote that unintelligible post. Im saying that Romney will get the Republican nomination and Paul will run as a third party ticket. Paul will then be sucking votes from Romney.
January 8th, 2012 at 3:11 PM
you think romney will run as a 3rd party candidate?
January 8th, 2012 at 2:59 PM
But then will Paul lose (or make lose worse) the presidential election for Romney when Paul run’s as a third party candidate?