Ron Paul Hurt By Chuck Hagel Drop Out
Ron Paul still a loner
Chuck Hagel’s dropout from politics leaves Ron Paul dangling alone.
Announcing that he is not running for any public office in 2008, Sen. Chuck Hagel is closing the viability of an anti-war Republican presidential candidate in ‘08.
Republican Senator Chuck Hagel was until recently thought of as a possible 2008 presidential contender. With a solid conservative background, Hagel has stood out amongst Republicans as vehemently against the war, going so far as to call Bush’s Iraq policy a “dirty trick” and “the biggest foreign policy blunder in the history of our country.”
Recently on Real Time with Bill Maher, Hagel said that “it’s not only a dirty trick, it’s dishonest, hypocritical, it’s dangerous and irresponsible.”
Sen. Chuck Hagel on Real Time with Bill Maher
Sen. Chuck Hagel on Bush: “This is not a monarchy”
Hagel’s dropout is a blow to anti-war movement.
With a Republican presidential field saturated with pro-war Bush policy zealots, Libertarian presidential hopeful Rep. Ron Paul [R-TX] is the lone Republican voice speaking for the majority of American people on ending the war.
One might deduce then that Paul’s poll ranking would be significantly higher than the other GOP candidates.
Paul’s anti-war position on the Republican stage does give him a unique singularity, but compounded with his other libertarian positions (such as disbanding the CIA & Department of Education), his anti-war rhetoric has tipped the balance away from his favor, buoying pro-war candidates in the national polls.
For Paul, the issue is too much difference concentrated in one candidate.
Hagel’s entrance into the Republican presidential primary would have given Paul’s Iraq war position a much needed validity and a second look in the eyes of GOP voters. The edges of Paul’s so-called ‘extreme’ positions would have softened, and a Hagel/Paul 2008 candidacy would have been the talk of cable television pundits.
With Hagel diluting Paul’s anti-war contrast, Paul’s libertarian perspectives could be better highlighted, allowing Republican primary voters to see what really differentiates him from the rest of the pack.
A Hagel candidacy also would have given many anti-war social conservative voters a place to hang their hats. With social conservatives feeling uncomfortable with top tier Republican candidates former mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Gov. Mitt Romney (just look at Fred Thompson’s skyrocketing poll numbers since his entrance), Hagel would have dramatically shaken an already unstable Republican primary.
Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE)
In constant flux and uncertainty, the Republican primary is proving much more interesting than the seeming stability of the Democratic contenders.
With a forceful internet following and victories in all Republican debate polls (to the irritation of Sean Hannity), Rep. Ron Paul is looking to transform that energy into national recognition and early wins in Iowa and New Hampshire.
But so far, support for Paul has yet to translate into national standings:
Ron Paul doesn’t show up in some polls.
Pew Research Center, September 13, 2007
A Hagel run for the presidency would have shifted the Republican playing field, drawing in Independents, some Democrats, and further blur the pro-war candidates together.
Ron Paul is missing out and Chuck Hagel is missing a golden opportunity, though there are whispers of a Secretary of State position under either a Republican or Democratic administration, leaving a run in 2016 as a possibility.
For Rep. Ron Paul, still standing alone but with plenty of time left this primary season, the Republican nomination remains a lonely climb up a steep slope.
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See also
- Ron Paul Driving Sean Hannity Crazy
- The Odd Couple: Bill Maher + Tucker Carlson Back Ron Paul for GOP
- Strippers for Ron Paul, Adult Entertainment for Hillary
- Ron Paul Calls Republican Party Flip-Floppers
- Eschewing the Anti-Ostrich
- Another Ignorant President?
Category: Ron Paul
http://tinyurl.com/3dms7l
http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=354
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/republican_primaries.html
http://aftermathnews.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/ron-paul-iowa.jpg
Stumble it!
Umm, the fact that Ron Paul is the sole anti-war candidate gives him a distinct advantage by having the pro-war slots all split up. If another anti-war candidate got into the mix then Ron Paul’s votes would be cut in half.
I’m agreeing with Bill Moore. I think that although Paul is running poorly in the polls - the polls don’t take into account the fact that many of these early primaries allow open voting. Paul could draw a heavy turnout from independents and even democrats in the early states and surprise the hell out of the MSM.
I think that Chuck Hagel is maneuvering for the VP slot with Bloomberg. “Dropping out” is necessary in order to cast himself as an establishment outsider, which is what people that are open to voting for a independent ticket are looking for.
Chuck Hagel is not a true non interventionist, he voted for the initial war and only became a critic once things did not go as predicted. Better late than never, I suppose,
but I think he is a bit questionable in that regard.
Ron Paul, on the other hand, was firmly against the Iraq invasion and occupation from the very beginning (as in all the way back to 1998 when congress passed the Iraq liberation act signaling our intention for regime change.)