I guess my Ron Paul post went over everyone's head.

[edhopper]

True I worded the subject badly, but I clearly was stating that I thought a Ron Paul third Party candidacy would help a Democrat get elected. It seems that only one poster understood that. I was in no way endorsing him. But I guess that nuance required that people would read and comprehend the entire post. Oh well.:-(

[flvegan]

1. I understood it.

I still wouldn't mentally be able to help Paul, nor would I want to support any third party candidate like him. Additionally, Paul would probably take a number of votes from the Dem nom, especially Clinton.

[blondeatlast]

21. What flvegan said. I got it, but, well, FUCK RON PAUL. nt

[zabet]

2. I got it.

I will not support a third party
because it has the potential to
also draw votes away from the Dems.
There are registered Dem voters so
disgusted with the complicity of
Congress, they could be pulled by
a third party. It is just a bad idea.
Not that I missed a nuance, I saw it and
one you did not mention.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

9. There are states where, if you're a registered (I), you HAVE to vote (R) in the,...

,...primaries.

Mine is one of them.

Obviously, since I presently view the neocon-corporate-controlled Republican party as, literally, an enemy to the interests of this nation, I support ANY Democratic President at this time. However, as a registered (I) e.g. the left-of-center citizen and voter that no longer has a space in the (D), I must choose among the (R) candidates in the primaries.

I've all ready decided, some time ago, to vote for Ron Paul. He will NEVER be voted into office. However, he sufficiently appeals to the Republican "centrists" that he would seriously fuck with the corporacratic-loyalists in the Republican party.

Make sense?

[LoZoccolo]

11. What? I don't think I believe that.

What state are we talking about here?

[mmonk]

15. Must be North Carolina because that is the case here.

[Lasher]

39. Lots of confusion about this.

Some states have open primaries, where a registered voter may vote in any party primary regardless of his or her own party affiliation. Others have closed primaries, where voters may vote in a party's primary only if they are registered members of that party.

And then you have states with a mixture of open and closed types. In West Virginia, for example, Republican primaries were open to independents. Democratic primaries were closed but as of April 1, 2007, West Virginia's Democratic Party opened its voting. In that prior arrangement an independent might say, "I have to vote for a Republican in the Primary." While technically correct, such a statement is misleading. That same independent could have changed their registration from independent to Democratic in order to have voted in the Democratic Primary.

Still other states allow all registered voters to participate in their Primaries, but each individual must vote in primary of same party as their last primary vote. And among those states that have runoffs, some prohibit switching between party ballots between Primary and runoff elections of a given year.

Here is a chart that depicts they type of Primary each state has. It shows West Virginia as having a closed Primary and I know that's wrong as I said before, so I'm a little skeptical of its accuracy.

Here is a useful Wikipedia article on the subject.

[zabet]

12. I know this...

I also know some
people that are
registered Dems
who are considering
changing that.
A third party may
just be what they
are looking for.
Again, promoting a
third party is not
a good idea.

[BuyingThyme]

3. Some are struggling between voting for a non-Dem and voting for a non-American.

This is a Dem forum.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

16. "NON-AMERICAN"? What did I miss?

[blondeatlast]

23. Say what? Non-American?

:wtf:

[kestrel91316]

4. Ron Paul is a Republican. STOP promoting him here.

[graywarrior]

5. He's wRONg Paul to you, buddy.

:rofl:

[jpgray]

14. :-P

[Hosnon]

33. Supporting a right-leaning third party candidate is indirectly supporting the Democratic

candidate.

[youthere]

6. IBTL

[SoCalDem]

7. Nope.. just don't care about him one way or the other

He's gonna implode like perot and just walk away with a ton o' money in his pocket.. he;s a kook..and kooks don;t get elected

[ProfessorGAC]

34. What SoCal Said

He's gone around the bend. He may have once been smart enough to get through med school, but his brain has turned to mush. He's not to be trusted.
The Professor

[LoZoccolo]

8. Sure, I understand that.

I didn't see the original post, though, because I've been on intermittently, but I do hope that Ron Paul's right-wing support becomes so overheated that when he loses the primary, his supporters will have felt that they have invested so much in him that they write him in and take away votes from the Republicans. Strategy is often more complex than rah-rahing your side and booing the other.

I'm just not completely sure that he'd take more Republican votes than Democratic votes, though. I haven't seen any type of poll to that effect. The strategy might not work the way we'd like it to, and I'd need more information to know how I'd feel about it.

[Mythsaje]

10. Oh, I think so too. n/t

[mmonk]

13. I've learned what to expect over the Ron Paul posts

Mostly, it devolves into Ron Paul bash-a-thons instead of such things such as a perfect storm forming against the Republicans or the merits of legislation pushed by the AFC and AFA he has co-sponsored. Many here fear him I guess. I have no problem with Ron Paul bash-a-thons, I just prefer they be their own threads instead of hijacks of other types threads.

[FredScuttle]

38. Ron Paul wants the federal government to control women's wombs

and criminalize any intrusion into said wombs that doesn't conform with his batshit fundamentalist worldview.


Got a defense for that?

[book_worm]

17. So you had to start a new post to call us stupid?

[edhopper]

20. Yep,

the moderator locked the other one.

[hvn_nbr_2]

18. It went so far over my head that...

I don't have any idea what post you're talking about.

[Lasher]

29. This one.

Locked for supporting third party.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=2485756#2485860

[hvn_nbr_2]

30. Thanks. nt

[elocs]

19. Support of Ron Paul is like the 1930s German people thinking Hitler had some good ideas.

I think of that when I hear otherwise rational Democrats going gaga because Paul is against the war. You'd need much more sugar than that to swallow the other load of crap that Paul supports.

[edhopper]

22. I...will...explain...this ....slowly

I also think Ron Paul is a bit of a loon. But he seems to have a big base among independents and more independent minded republicans. If he were to run as a third party candidate he could ensure a Dem victory. I AM NOT ENDORSING RP FOR PRESIDENT!! He is a crazed libertarian. I was talking about a strategy to help a DEMOCRAT!!! get elected.
Does...everyone ...understand...?

[elocs]

27. You really need to get over yourself. I was not referring to you specifically,

simply the rah-rah attitude that some Democrats seem to have about Paul. Once you start a thread you pretty much no longer have control of the direction it takes. Welcome to the real world of internet forums. The ultimate answer is to not start threads if you feel you might not like the answers or responses.

[edhopper]

31. I really didn't mind the replies

that said I was an idiot for thinking a Paul candidacy would help the Dems. It was that most of the responses didn't read enough of the OP to know what I actually said.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

24. Don't get your hopes up

Ron Paul has a secure seat and I don't expect to see him throw that away for an Independent run.

As for the point you were trying to make, I get it. I've even allowed myself to imagine the Republicans having to deal with their own version of a Nader running in 2008. Such thoughts are always worthy of a good chuckle until I remember what Ron Paul's current political security in his district.

[Mike03]

25. Or, do you think your opinion of yourself went over your own head?

Ron Paul is not any intelligent person's hero. Period.

Look into his background, his convictions and his stand on contemporary issues, and you will probably see instantly how ludicrous you seem to be for promoting him here.

[edhopper]

26. Read my reply #22

very slowly and carefully. Perhaps you will understand that I am not promoting Ron Paul.
So that's two threads you don't get the point of.

[Lasher]

28. Oh well, at least you're keeping his name 'out there', huh?

God I feel so much better now that I've seen another Ron Paul thread today.

[FredScuttle]

32. My impression of the OP...

"I don't support Ron Paul at all, but let me post a glowing missive on how beneficial Ron Paul's independent run would be to a Democrat candidate, as well as to Ron Paul personally. Nope, no supporter of Ron Paul here, but let me tell you at length how beautiful a third-party Ron Paul run would be due to Ron Paul's awesome effect on both Ron Paul and non-Ron Paul partisans. Ron Paul, Ron Paul, Ron Paul..."

PAUL '08: I'M FUCKING CRAZY. WHOOOPDEEDEEEEEEE!!!!!

[Lasher]

36. Kinda familiar scenario, hun?

Typical post: "I'm seeing a groundswell of grassroots support for Ron Paul's visionary plan to return the US to the Dark Ages. Do you think we should visit his website here http://www.totalidiot.com and donate to his campaign? Oh I almost forgot, he's against the war in Iraq. I'm not trying to siphon off any anti-war votes from Democrats or anything. And I'm not a Paulard. I'm just curious and wanted to know what you think."

[FredScuttle]

37. "I'm no Ron Paul supporter, but....

I truly believe that drinking Doctor Paul's urine can have an incredible positive impact on one's health. Anyone else agree?"




PAUL '08: DRINK HIS URINE!

[Lasher]

40. Tee hee, you're killin' me!

Might make a good OP: Share your example of a lameass Ron Paul troll post.

Don't have much time ta play right now though.

[Javaman]

35. Nice post, Hitler!

:rofl:

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

41. Know What Would Help Get A Democrat Elected?

Like, actually talking positively about and putting effort into the campaigns of, ya know, like, Democrats and stuff...