Love him, hate him, or ignore him, Ron Paul is at least unique. He presents a libertarian agenda that’s clearly at odds with today’s Republican mainstream; he’s an ardent opponent of the party’s neo-conservative foreign policy; and he’s generally seemed more intent on expressing his ideas than winning a presidential election, whether those ideas are ridiculous or not.
That said, slowly but surely, Ron Paul seems willing to drop his quirky libertarian schtick and act like a (gasp!) conventional Republican presidential candidate. Consider, for example, his latest direct mail piece in South Carolina.
Ron Paul is sending a defense and veterans-focused mail piece into South Carolina homes that doesn’t mention the chief calling card of his campaign — his opposition to the Iraq war.
In fact, the piece touts at the top that Paul “Pushed for an official Declaration of War with Iraq.”
Now this is true, but he did so only because he takes a literal interpretation of the Constitution.
This is the only mention of Iraq, though, so it may leave a South Carolina voter who is uninformed about Paul’s anti-war views to think he merely wanted a congressional green light to topple Saddam and was fully on board with shock-and-awe.
Hmm. When Paul talks about foreign policy and military matters, he generally denounces neocons and emphasizes a worldview premised on non-intervention. In this mailing, though, Paul characterizes himself as just another member of the Republican mainstream, bragging about his role in pushing for “an official Declaration of War with Iraq.”
This strikes me as interesting for a couple of reasons. First, I didn’t really expect Paul to sell-out. Second, it suggests Paul is trying to transition from a quixotic candidate hoping to make a point to a candidate who actually expects to compete. If that means compromising a bit on his ideals, so be it.
What other motivation could Paul have for a mailing like this? It suggests he’s not trying to win over voters by taking a firm stand on behalf of his ideas, it suggests the polar opposite — he hopes to win over voters by telling them he’s part of the Republican mainstream on Iraq and the military.
What’s more, it’s not the first direct-mail piece that’s made Paul look conventional. Last week, the libertarian candidate who has rarely expressed concerns about immigration, dropped an anti-immigration mailing on South Carolina Republicans.
Some of Ron Paul’s fans, who are accustomed to seeing him as different from his GOP rivals, might be disappointed by this new mailer Paul has dropped in South Carolina, which was forwarded our way by a GOP operative.
It traffics in nativism every bit as rank as that espoused by the other GOPers.
Paul’s piece denounces “amnesty,” blasts “welfare for illegal aliens,” and vows to “end birthright citizenship” as mandated in the 14th Amendment.
Maybe all this attention is going to Paul’s head? He’s raised some money, topped 5% in a few polls, so now he’s going to start pandering to pick up a few more votes?
What a shame.