Friday, June 22, 2007

Republicans Censoring Ron Paul

The power brokers of the GOP do not like this Texas Libertarian-Republican who likes to stray from his party on key issues. Iowans for Tax Relief simply do not want to hear what this controversial candidate has to say. Is it because of the war or something to do with taxes? You would think that a Republican tax group would want to hear from a man that hates government control. So what was their excuse?

From Associated Content:

According to Failor, Paul is not a "credible" presidential candidate. For planning purposes, Failor said that his group, along with the Iowa Christian Alliance, "made a determination" of who to invite to the forum. Failor said that the groups could not invite "every person who claims to be a candidate," and that in order to "serve our membership," the forum would only include the "most credible candidates."

When talk show host Jan Mickelson called Failor's excuse "lame," Failor responded that "we don't have to offer the forum to everyone." Failor went on to say that "a bunch of people from out-of-state are calling my home at all hours" to protest the decision to not include Paul in the forum. He also claimed that Paul supporters were trying to "hack" into the Iowans for Tax Relief server in an attempt to shut down his website. Failor said that his group made the right decision to not include Paul in the forum "if that's the kind of people who support him."

Failor also criticized Paul's campaign staff, saying Paul's website contained "lies" about the reasons given to the staff regarding Paul not being invited to the forum. Paul's website said that no reason for not being invited to the forum was given to the Paul campaign staff. Failor said that he told the campaign staff that Paul was not a "credible" candidate and that campaign manager Lew Moore "yelled" at him when told that answer. Failor concluded by saying that the Paul campaign has provided their supporters with "inaccurate" information and "lacks scruples," calling Paul a "fringe" candidate.

With all the buzz around Ron Paul, calling him un-credible is a bit out of line. Of course he barely stands a chance in Republican circles but he has a lot to add to their debate. Paul hails from the old school Republican clan (for the most part) that was more isolationist than the 'world police' role the new guard likes to pursue.

If I were an average Republican voter, (a ghastly thought) Ron Paul probably wouldn't look as good as the front-runners but hearing his ideas would be important in shaping a platform that would be more digestible in the General election. Then again, we are talking about Republicans, and being narrow-minded is far more important.