Ron Paul

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: Ron Paul

So he's got his overinflated base core of wishies who will never become a sufficient amount to mean anything in the elections other than as a freaky side show, many of whom aren't aware of his negatives and will leave with more info, and we're supposed to be impressed? Last night was the beginning of his death rattle. Yet you slight Huntsman? He has the most cred amongst the top tier, but of course showed himself to be the typical righty ass when he addopted the GOP's worn out BS filled rhetoric as he indorsed Romney with the mealy mouthed lying crapola psycho-rightys eat up.

I havn't bothered to in-depth Johnson. He's not going anywhere and with an R next to his name that's a good thing, to allow the high nuttery of the front runners to continue and decimate any chance of competition in Nov.

To have non-stop lying gotta hide my taxes Romney, an angry nasty wounded Newt, and Gollum, as the field to oppose Obama is a dream come true for the better side of America.

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Ron Paul

I'm surprised no one here has posted the GOP primary results from Hawai`i yet.

Results for Hawaii Republican Caucus (U.S. Presidential Primary)
Mar 13, 2012 (100% of precincts reporting) - from AP -

Mitt Romney 4,250 45.4%
Rick Santorum 2,369 25.3%
Ron Paul 1,712 18.3%
Newt Gingrich 1,034 11%

The first crisis of a Ron Paul administration will be to do something about all those flying pigs.

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: Ron Paul

In any previous election year, RP would have been laffed back home. But this time he's almost credible in comparison to the other fools.

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Ron Paul

I'm surprised no one here has posted the GOP primary results from Hawai`i yet.

'Scuse me - caucus results, I meant to say, not primary. Oop.

[anapuni808]

Re: Ron Paul

I heard them saying on the news last nite that it will take a couple of days before outer island results arrive (by mail) and everything gets tabulated. Exit polls and preliminary results say that Romney looks to be the winner.

[matapule]

Re: Ron Paul

Brick Sainttorum said today that if Puerto Rico wants to become a State they should start speaking English. Next he is going to say that Hawai'i should stop speaking pidgen if they want to remain a State. 808, taimi to holo holo on him okole!

Congratulations to Tunnl! His Wrong Paul candidate slides into a third place finish with 18% of the vote in HI. Looks like just about wraps up the nomination for him!

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: Ron Paul

It's hard to decide which, Romney the flippin' Morman liar or Santorum the lunatic Catholic liar, would be a more immediate loser in the coming election. The stupid rightys have already thrown away women voters, blac... people's votes, hispanics mostly will go Dem, gays? = HA!, and many indies are kissing the right goodbye this year. What's left? Nothing but a narrow slice of whites, mostly old whites, the rich, and a few self-hating others that will vote R.

[lensperson]

Re: Ron Paul

It is mere speculation to imagine a chimera of the Michelin man and the
pillsbury doughboy.
A sophisticated gene splice might revive the old mammoths.

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Ron Paul

[Kaonohi]

Re: Ron Paul

Our political mistake was to create a "two-party system" as the norm. It's like voting for the devil or the deep blue sea.

It's obvious to me that we need more choice; whether that is an 'open' 3rd party or a conglomeration of other parties, I don't know, but I don't like having only two viable choices*.

* By viable, I mean that although there are other parties on the ballot, most people either vote for Ratublicans or DemocRats.**

These two parties were originally ONE party (the Democratic Republicans or the Republican Democrats, I forget), so we really only have ONE party, split down the middle.

Time for a cool change. You know that it's time....

Vote Libertarian!

[lensperson]

Re: Ron Paul

Excellent points.
The Canucks have had four competing parties for many years.
All four have elected representatives in the Parliament.
This approach tends to defuse polarisation and the destruction of Community solidarity.

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Ron Paul

The Canucks have had four competing parties for many years.
All four have elected representatives in the Parliament.

Except that only two (Liberal, Conservative) have held power (enough members to hold the Prime Minister's chair) or been second in membership (making them the "loyal opposition") for decades - until their most recent election last fall. At that time, the Liberals took a big hit (now at 35 seats), making the NDP (New Democratic) the party with the second-most seats, at 101. The Conservatives hold the majority at 165.

The other two parties (there are five in the federal Parliament at present, not four) are not likely to ever hold power: the Bloc Quebecois, which advocates Quebec separating from the rest of Canada, has 4 seats, while the Green Party finally gained one seat (that of its leader; they had been trying to get in for years). There are also currently 2 independent members, one who tends to vote with the Conservatives, and one who usually aligns with the NDP.

But the parliamentary system does give more room for smaller parties and specific agendas to gain some voice and representation. At present, besides the five already noted, there are 13 additional registered political parties at the Canadian federal level (though with no representatives in Parliament), another eight active ones that aren't registered, and dozens of others that have held seats in the past.

[lensperson]

Re: Ron Paul

^^
Leo, that is a very concise and nicely worded appraisal of the Canadian scenario!
I read some interesting stuff about Lester Pearson and his talks with Lyndon Johnson.
There was some sort of dispute.

[lensperson]

Re: Ron Paul

In the list should be included the Social Credit party.
They ran candidates in Alberta in a 4 party race .

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Ron Paul

In the list should be included the Social Credit party.
They ran candidates in Alberta in a 4 party race .

I was focusing exclusively on their federal parties, not provincial ones; if we go that path, there are many, many more that can be included. The SoCreds were a bigger force in the past, too, even holding the Premiership in British Columbia for a while (Bill Vander Zalm back in the late '80s). The Wildrose Party in Alberta has risen dramatically in the past couple of years, and the current federal Conservative Party pins much of its success on a blending of right-leaning parties, such as the Canadian Alliance and Reform parties, the latter a group that was originally Alberta-based. (Alberta has been a hotbed for the growth of many successful conservative movements.)