Which Republican candidate would you vote for in the Primary?

VOTE HERE:
http://www.iftheworldcouldvote.com/polls/republican-primary/

Newt Gingrich	1.29%	(104 votes)
Jon Huntsman	1.54%	(124 votes)
Ron Paul	92.54%	(7450 votes)
Rick Perry	0.51%	(41 votes)
Mitt Romney	2.41%	(194 votes)
Rick Santorum	1.71%	(138 votes)
Score	0

Total:	8051
Countries voted from:	95

Votes received in the last...

Last hour:	3
Last 24 hours:	45
Past 7 days:	92

• Score
• Newt Gingrich
• Jon Huntsman
• Ron Paul
• Rick Perry
• Mitt Romney
• Rick Santorum

	Country	Newt Gingrich		Jon Huntsman		Ron Paul		Rick Perry		Mitt Romney		Rick Santorum		Score	Votes
		Votes	Percent	Votes	Percent	Votes	Percent	Votes	Percent	Votes	Percent	Votes	Percent
	Afghanistan	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	1	100.0%	0	1
	Angola	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	2	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	2
	Antigua and Barbuda	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	1	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	1
	Argentina	1	2.63%	0	0.0%	37	97.37%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	38
	Australia	0	0.0%	11	7.33%	127	84.67%	2	1.33%	6	4.0%	4	2.67%	0	150
	Austria	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	19	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	19
	Bahamas	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	2	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	2
	Belgium	1	0.86%	3	2.59%	108	93.1%	0	0.0%	2	1.72%	2	1.72%	0	116
	Bermuda	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	1	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	1
	Bolivia	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	4	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	4
	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	5	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	5
	Brazil	3	3.06%	1	1.02%	72	73.47%	3	3.06%	13	13.27%	6	6.12%	0	98
	Bulgaria	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	2	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	2
	Canada	0	0.0%	6	2.56%	215	91.88%	2	0.85%	10	4.27%	1	0.43%	0	234
	Chile	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	7	87.5%	0	0.0%	1	12.5%	0	0.0%	0	8
	China	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	45	93.75%	1	2.08%	0	0.0%	2	4.17%	0	48
	Colombia	0	0.0%	1	25.0%	3	75.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	4
	Costa Rica	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	4	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	4
	Croatia	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	8	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	8
	Czech Republic	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	73	97.33%	1	1.33%	0	0.0%	1	1.33%	0	75
	Denmark	0	0.0%	1	1.89%	48	90.57%	0	0.0%	2	3.77%	2	3.77%	0	53
	Ecuador	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	8	88.89%	1	11.11%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	9
	Egypt	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	4	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	4
	El Salvador	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	1	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	1
	Estonia	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	3	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	3
	Faeroe Islands	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	3	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	3
	Finland	0	0.0%	1	5.0%	18	90.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	1	5.0%	0	20
	France	1	1.05%	4	4.21%	86	90.53%	0	0.0%	2	2.11%	2	2.11%	0	95
	French Polynesia	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	1	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	1
	French Southern Territories	1	2.27%	0	0.0%	41	93.18%	0	0.0%	2	4.55%	0	0.0%	0	44
	Germany	0	0.0%	1	0.6%	155	93.37%	2	1.2%	5	3.01%	3	1.81%	0	166
	Greece	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	8	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	8
	Guam	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	1	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	1
	Guatemala	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	2	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	2
	Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	7	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	7
	Hungary	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	2	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	2
	Iceland	1	1.33%	1	1.33%	67	89.33%	0	0.0%	4	5.33%	2	2.67%	0	75
	India	1	5.0%	1	5.0%	16	80.0%	0	0.0%	1	5.0%	1	5.0%	0	20
	Ireland	0	0.0%	2	5.71%	31	88.57%	0	0.0%	2	5.71%	0	0.0%	0	35
	Isle of Man	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	1	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	1
	Israel	1	11.11%	0	0.0%	8	88.89%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	9
	Italy	1	3.23%	0	0.0%	28	90.32%	0	0.0%	1	3.23%	1	3.23%	0	31
	Jamaica	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	2	66.67%	0	0.0%	1	33.33%	0	0.0%	0	3
	Japan	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	49	92.45%	0	0.0%	3	5.66%	1	1.89%	0	53
	Jordan	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	1	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	1
	Kuwait	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	3	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	3
	Latvia	2	28.57%	0	0.0%	4	57.14%	0	0.0%	1	14.29%	0	0.0%	0	7
	Lebanon	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	2	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	2
	Lithuania	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	1	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	1
	Malaysia	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	1	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	1
	Mexico	0	0.0%	1	4.55%	20	90.91%	0	0.0%	1	4.55%	0	0.0%	0	22
	Mongolia	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	1	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	1
	Montenegro	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	1	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	1
	Netherlands	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	157	93.45%	1	0.6%	6	3.57%	4	2.38%	0	168
	Netherlands Antilles	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	1	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	1
	New Zealand	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	56	98.25%	0	0.0%	1	1.75%	0	0.0%	0	57
	Niue	0	0.0%	1	3.13%	30	93.75%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	1	3.13%	0	32
	Norway	1	0.67%	3	2.0%	143	95.33%	1	0.67%	2	1.33%	0	0.0%	0	150
	Pakistan	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	1	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	1
	Paraguay	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	5	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	5
	Peru	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	2	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	2
	Philippines	1	10.0%	0	0.0%	9	90.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	10
	Poland	1	0.83%	0	0.0%	119	98.35%	0	0.0%	1	0.83%	0	0.0%	0	121
	Portugal	1	4.55%	0	0.0%	20	90.91%	0	0.0%	1	4.55%	0	0.0%	0	22
	Puerto Rico	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	3	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	3
	Qatar	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	1	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	1
	Republic of Korea	1	16.67%	0	0.0%	5	83.33%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	6
	Romania	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	5	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	5
	Russian Federation	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	4	80.0%	1	20.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	5
	Saudi Arabia	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	6	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	6
	Serbia	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	22	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	22
	Singapore	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	8	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	8
	Slovakia	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	10	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	10
	Slovenia	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	8	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	8
	South Africa	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	6	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	6
	Spain	0	0.0%	1	0.68%	144	97.3%	0	0.0%	2	1.35%	1	0.68%	0	148
	Sri Lanka	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	1	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	1
	Sweden	1	0.34%	2	0.69%	274	94.48%	1	0.34%	11	3.79%	1	0.34%	0	290
	Switzerland	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	39	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	39
	Syrian Arab Republic	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	3	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	3
	Taiwan, Province of China	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	4	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	4
	Thailand	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	9	90.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	1	10.0%	0	10
	The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	4	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	4
	Tokelau	1	2.13%	0	0.0%	42	89.36%	1	2.13%	1	2.13%	2	4.26%	0	47
	Trinidad and Tobago	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	4	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	4
	Turkey	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	5	71.43%	0	0.0%	1	14.29%	1	14.29%	0	7
	Uganda	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	1	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	1
	Ukraine	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	1	50.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	1	50.0%	0	2
	United Arab Emirates	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	5	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	5
	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland	2	1.2%	9	5.42%	141	84.94%	1	0.6%	12	7.23%	1	0.6%	0	166
	The United States of America	82	1.59%	74	1.43%	4786	92.77%	23	0.45%	99	1.92%	95	1.84%	0	5159
	Uruguay	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	1	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	1
	Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	3	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	3
	Viet Nam	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	2	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	2
	Åland Islands	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	1	100.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	1

Ron Paul: Turning Heads

Slowly but surely, the establishment is starting to realize the effectiveness of our long-term delegate strategy.

If our previous successes hadn’t convinced them, my victories last weekend at the Maine and Nevada State Conventions – where we took a majority of each state’s national delegates – certainly turned some heads.

They simply can’t believe that you are dedicated, passionate, and determined enough to continue fighting for this country’s future after they’ve already hand-picked a candidate.

As panic begins to take hold, I’m certain they will be more desperate than ever to stop our Revolution.

So I hope you’ll click on the link below and take just a few minutes to listen to the special audio message I recently recorded.

I am relying on your help to keep fighting all the way to the Republican National Convention in August.

With several state conventions coming up in just the next few weeks – not to mention my campaign needing to help the delegates who have already won fight any challenges the establishment throws their way – I can’t tell you how critical it is we have your continued support.

Thousands are attending our meetings all across the country, and I’m confident we can spread our message even more, further grow our ranks, and keep securing key national delegate spots - if we have the resources.

So please listen to the special message I’ve recorded and contribute whatever you are able today.

Thank you for standing with me in this cause!

For Liberty,

Ron Paul

P.S.  After my campaign’s incredible wins at the Maine and Nevada State Conventions last week – where we took a majority of each state’s national delegates - the establishment is guaranteed to be more desperate than ever to stop our Revolution.

So I hope you’ll take just a few minutes to listen to the special audio message I’ve recorded for you.

I plan to keep fighting all the way to Tampa, but only your support allows us to spread our message even more, further grow our ranks, and continue securing key national delegate spots.

Please, listen to the message right away and contribute whatever you are able today!

Paid for by Ron Paul 2012 Presidential Campaign Committee www.ronpaul2012.com

DHS Whistleblower: Obama Will Commit ‘Reichstag’ Event To Trigger Martial Law

OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO STAGE ‘REICHSTAG’ EVENT AS TRIGGER FOR MARTIAL LAW, DHS SOURCE WARNS

‘Reichstag’ event could involve false assassination attempt blamed on “white supremacists”

Incited racial riots would lead to calls for government “crackdown”

Civil unrest would lead to martial law, DHS travel checkpoints, indefinite delay of elections

Washington, DC – The Obama agents, through the DHS and other assorted colluders, are plotting a major ‘Reichstag’ event to generate racial riots and produce the justification for martial law, delaying the November 2012 elections, possibly indefinitely, a DHS whistleblower informed the Canada Free Press on Tuesday.

The ‘Reichstag Event’ would take the form of a staged assassination attempt against Barack Obama, “carefully choreographed” and manufactured by Obama operatives. It would subsequently be blamed on “white supremacists” and used to enrage the black community to rioting and looting, the DHS source warned.

The Obama administration would then use the violence and chaos they created as justification for the imposition of martial law in major urban cities in America, the creation of DHS checkpoints, restriction of travel, and the indefinite delay of the November 2012 elections.

The Reichstag event refers to a fire started during Hitler’s rise to power. The fire allowed him to grab emergency powers and murder his opposition. Historians have long believed that Hitler started the fire himself, while he blamed it on the Communists.

The anonymous whistleblower elaborated on how the Obama administration is using the Occupy movement, labor unions, and other assorted subversive groups to create massive chaos within the nation.

Why Ron Paul Supporters Haven’t Conceded to Mitt Romney

by Ron Davis

On Tuesday voters in three more states went to the polls to vote in the presidential primary race. The presidential race took a back seat to the Senate election in Indiana and the marriage vote in North Carolina, but despite what news outlets may tell you, the presidential race still isn’t over.
Last night Mitt Romney picked up the win in all three of these states. The Ron Paul campaign, not even fazed by the results, carries on with its quest of picking up delegates in the various GOP state conventions. Some may be starting to see what’s happening; others still remain clueless.
Take, for example, this map showing the winner of the majority of delegates to the national convention. That’s pretty significant, assuming all of those counts are correct. (The actual delegate count is still a bit of a mystery.)

Some people have told me this doesn’t matter since many of the delegates will have to vote for Romney on the first round of voting at the national convention (because they’re bound to vote according to the official distribution from their state party). If, after the first round, nobody has 1,144 votes, additional rounds of voting will take place, and delegates are free to vote for the candidate of their choice.
On the issue of bound delegates, however, there is some interesting information in this Reality Check segment from Ben Swann. There’s some question as to whether or not the delegates can or will be bound in that first round of voting. Honestly, the whole issue of amending convention rules and changing things like that goes way over my head pretty quickly.
While I may not always fully grasp convention proceedings, my support of Ron Paul is unwavering, and I’ll continue trusting that he knows what he’s doing. That’s why Paul supporters like me haven’t conceded this race to Romney.
It’s worth mentioning though, that the real issue in this campaign has been advancing the cause of liberty. Republican parties at the county, district, and state level are being changed by people who have been awakened by the Paul campaign. This movement – the “Revolution,” if you will – has started, and it won’t end with the GOP convention in Tampa later this year.
Even if Romney does take the GOP nomination, the liberty movement isn’t going anywhere. 2014 is coming. And then 2016. And then 2018. And then 2020. Every election year, there will be an increasingly large number of people demanding freedom. And though Ron Paul won’t be running for office in those elections, people who believe in the message of freedom will be all over the ballots.
We’ll be able to look back and see that the Paul campaigns of 2008 and 2012 were the beginning of a literal revolution in America. That’s the real victory we seek.

Ron Paul Roundup: Oklahoma Progress

Brian Doherty

The process of actually selecting delegates for the August Republican National Convention continues, and Paul's forces continue to do well. The latest out of Oklahoma, via Paul activist Allan Stevo:

After Ron Paul’s campaign captured an estimated 60% of Oklahoma’s available delegates at the congressional level, Mitt Romney’s campaign started to realize they had a problem on their hands in the Sooner State. It was apparently a problem they didn’t feel they could handle.
Romney’s campaign has convinced a former member of the Santorum campaign team to round up Santorum supporters for Mitt Romney and to make sure they attend this weekend’s state convention, a task Romney’s campaign has so far not been very good at.
David Van Risseghem, Rick Santorum’s Oklahoma state coordinator, sent out an e-mail May 9 to Oklahoma Republicans attempting to get them to turnout in opposition to Ron Paul and therefore presumably for Mitt Romney, the only other candidate in the race. The note was apparently sent from an e-mail address owned by the suspended Santorum campaign.

The vitriolic note from the Santorum campaign stated, ”It’s time for all values voters to work together to keep our communities safe for the next generation. Several Ron Paul activists want to legalize recreational drug use, decimate obscenity laws, and sanction prostitution.”

The pro-Paul author of this piece pulls a bit of faux-outrage, pointing out that such positions are not explicitly part of Paul's stated platform on his campaign page, and that he's running for federal office not state, which is true; still, such positions are indeed part of the larger libertarian perspective from which Paul arises and which many (not all) or his current fans embrace fully. It is hard to say that to most GOP primary voters; but Paul activists should be prepared to explain the philosophical and even constitutional logic behind believing that government should not be involved in policing drug use, obscenity, and prostitution.
More from Stevo:

The note from Santorum’s campaign is again another sign of a struggling Romney campaign in the face of Paul surging. It now looks like Paul may win as many as 12 states and may even have ardent Paul loyalists outnumbering Romney loyalists at the Republican National Convention – the highest legislative body of the Republican Party.
Mitt Romney believed and the media has reported that after Santorum left the race the rest of the nomination process would be easy for Romney. To the contrary, it’s become evident to many watching that he is unfit as a leader in the GOP as he can’t inspire convention goers – the most dedicated of Republicans – and he has so far failed at uniting the party.
A Romney nomination spells defeat for the Republicans, as it will no doubt leave Paul’s supporters feeling alienated, perhaps even searching for a candidate outside of the GOP.
Romney, the presumed front runner, instead of working to bring some 15%-30% of the Republican Party into the fold is spending his April and May alienating these Ron Paul supporters with rumors, dirty tricks, and ugly Chicago-style tactics.

Details from Daily Paul on how the delegate process has gone so far in Oklahoma, via a memo from anti-Paul forces:

This Saturday, in Norman, Oklahoma; Ron Paul's people intend to complete their grand design and add Oklahoma to the growing list of state delegations they already control.
The national media is largely ignoring the recent developments in many state and district conventions.
Rick Santorum won Minnesota, Missouri, Colorado, Louisiana, Iowa, and several other states. But the states I just named are now under the control of Ron Paul, and those delegates intend to vote for Paul regardless of the outcome of their Caucus results.
Oklahoma pledged all their 40 delegates to Santorum, Romney, and Gingrich; on Super Tuesday (March 6th). Ron Paul received less than 10% of the vote and zero pledged delegates.
But when the time came for selecting which individuals will wear those national delegate badges, Ron Paul's activists have already successfully received 9 of the first 15 national delegates from Oklahoma.
Each congressional district was allowed to select 3 national delegates and three of Oklahoma's district conventions (3, 4 & 5) were all controlled by Ron Paul activists. Districts 1 and 2 selected primarily Santorum supporters. Ron Paul's activists attempted a coup at District One and they are now petitioning to vacate the results of District One.

Some video from the Okalahoma GOP proceedings here. More on the complicated procedures for allocating Oklahoma delegates from an Examiner writer out of Oklahoma City.
*Early last week, frontrunner Mitt Romney took a swipe at Paul, his only opponent, for daring to be just a bit too serious about cutting spending and debt, as the Washington Times reported:

Speaking Monday at a town hall style-meeting event in Cleveland, presumptive GOP presidential Mitt Romney plunged a fork into the idea that he could come around to embracing Mr. Paul's call for deep cuts in federal spending.
"My job is to get America back on track to have a balanced budget. Now I'm not going to cut $1 trillion in the first year," he said, distancing himself from Mr. Paul's (http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2011/oct/19/paul-time-cut-spending/) plan to slice more than a quarter of the estimated $3.8 trillion being spent by the the federal government.

His reason, is exactly why Paul often says that what he's fighting isn't just the Democratic Party, or even all political establishments: it's Keynesian economics, which Paul fights with his Austrian perspective. Says Romney:

"The reason," he explained, "is taking a trillion dollars out of a $15 trillion economy would cause our economy to shrink [and] would put a lot of people out of work."

Would that we had some sort of national movement, say representing the principles of the American Revolution, to make sure a candidate such as Ron Paulwho actually believed in reining in government spending and overreach seriously got big support and people like Romney disappeared. Perhaps they could name themselves after some icon of that revolutionary era, like, say, the "Tea Party" or something. If only, if only....
*Grace Wyler at Business Insider continues her great Paul coverage with profiles of various women of the Paul revolution, including GOP National Committeewoman Ashley Ryan, Emily O'Neill, Nena Bartlett of the Ladies for Liberty Alliance, vlogger Julie Borowski, Bonnie Kristian, Corie Whalen, and others.

Ron Paul Delegates DO NOT TELL ANYONE YOUR STATUS! Mitt is trying to dis...

The death of the tea party?

The establishment spent the past year gloating over the supposed death of the Tea Party.

Well, they received a dose of reality on Tuesday when Indiana Republicans – and not just tea partiers – rose up and defeated Senator Dick Lugar.

Senator Lugar served honorably, but the people of Indiana wanted real change.

I wanted to pass along an editorial I authored in The Washington Times on the meaning of this election result - not just for the Republican Party - but for the country.

Please take a few moments to read my piece below.

After you read it, I hope you will chip in a contribution so RANDPAC can continue the fight in states like Texas, Nebraska and New Mexico and build on the Tea Party momentum to elect a conservative Senate majority.

randpacusa.com/donate

Thanks,


Rand

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Mourdock sends Lugar, status quo packing

By Sen. Rand Paul
Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Reports of the Tea Party's death have been exaggerated greatly. Oh sure, Harry Reid may say it's dead, and he clearly wishes it were so. The upset victory of Richard Mourdock in Indiana indicates the Tea Party is alive and well.

Something remarkable happened Tuesday night in Indiana. Voters from nearly every part of the Republican Party came together to vote for change. Not just any change - change from a well-liked 36-year incumbent. Let me note here that I mean no disrespect to my departing colleague, Richard G. Lugar, who is a gentleman and has served honorably.

But this kind of change does not happen very often in politics. Ninety-six percent of incumbents win. Defeating an incumbent is extraordinary and is evidence of an electorate that thinks government debt should be controlled. The chattering class complains about the death of the center and bipartisanship. We are told a safe seat has been endangered.

The reality is no such thing. We win as Republicans when we paint in bold colors. We win when we stand up for issues such as smaller government, constitutional principles, true liberty and the protection of life. We win when we take strong stands for the Second Amendment and the right to work. We succeed when our vision is clear and our principles are sound.

What happened on Tuesday was not one angry group of voters rebelling. It was not one or two conservative groups pushing an agenda. It was all of them, acting as one, urging the Indiana GOP to nominate someone who would stand with them.

I was in a similar situation in 2010. Throughout my primary, it was said ad nauseam that I could not win a general election. It was said that a candidate who stood with the Tea Party and fought so strongly against the Washington establishment would become roadkill in November. I won comfortably as voters saw and responded to a genuine message of change. The message was that of the Tea Party and constitutional conservatism. This is the message Mr. Mourdock will bring forward this fall, and I look forward to him fighting alongside me next year in the U.S. Senate.

The Tea Party sprang up out of two main events in 2008-09: the TARP bailouts and Obamacare. These were huge new reaches for big government. They were massive intrusions into running the private sector. They were against everything we as a party were supposed to stand for.

Senators and candidates who either were on the wrong side of these issues or simply did not stand up and fight have been deservedly running for cover ever since.

The Tea Party is not a single-issue group. Rather, it is a group that is fed up with an attitude in Washington. Tea Partyers are fed up with politicians who spend money we don't have, racking up trillion-dollar deficits year after year.

They are tired of politicians who do not see limits in the powers of Congress and the federal government to intrude into our lives.

They are sick of being told they have to accept a mealy-mouthed version of what they believe and what they know we must do to save our country.

We must balance our budget sooner rather than later, or we will face ruin. This will require entitlement reform. Tuesday, Hoosiers voted for a candidate who publicly pledged to support the Tea Party budget in the Senate, which balances in five years.

We must repeal Obamacare and ensure that nothing like it passes ever again. Hoosier voters nominated the candidate who stood the strongest for the Constitution and for freedom.

We must fight to continue the small battles we already have won. Hoosier voters rewarded the candidate who pledged to keep the earmark ban and rejected the senator who just weeks ago voted to restore earmarks.

There is much hand-wringing also about outside groups in races such as these. Outside groups like the Tea Party groups, National Right to Work, Club for Growth and others certainly played a large role in this race, and this is as it should be. These groups are not special-interest groups lobbying for favors. They are principled organizations fighting for the government to leave them alone. The candidate who stood for such issues was rewarded and will be asked to stand for them again this fall.

Already the establishment cries that Richard Mourdock will not compromise - but compromise has been the name of the game for decades. Compromise leads to ever-escalating military and domestic spending. Washington needs statesmen, not horse traders. Our country needs principled leaders who will stand up and say no to trillion-dollar deficits.

I look forward to a class of Republican freshman senators next January who fit the bill of statesmen - and we will see this strong breed come forth out of primaries in the next few weeks and become victorious in November.

Sen. Rand Paul is a Kentucky Republican.

Paid for by RAND PAC. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. www.randpac.com

Child Murdering Perverted Politicians: Gay marriage, abortion back in campaign spotlight

By DAVID CRARY 

 

NEW YORK (AP) — Abortion and gay marriage. For years, they've been lumped together as the paramount wedge issues of U.S. politics — hot-button topics in the vortex of sexuality, personal freedom and public policy.

Yet these two divisive issues, prominent as ever this election season and still firing up the liberal and conservative bases of the two major parties, are evolving in intriguingly different ways. Partisans are taking care not to overstate how much the issues have in common.

Same-sex marriage vaulted into the spotlight when President Barack Obama declared his support this past week, and conservatives restated their opposition. Republicans deny Democrats' claims that they are waging a "war on women" that encompasses infringement of abortion rights.

Polls on same-sex marriage show a huge shift in public opinion in just a decade, from overwhelming opposition to a slight edge in favor. By contrast, attitudes toward abortion have scarcely budged over several decades, with a modest majority of Americans favoring some degree of abortion rights and opposition remaining both stable and vehement.

More profound is a moral difference. Americans who are ambivalent about same-sex marriage can decide to accept it with a live-and-let-live philosophy, while the abortion debate inherently involves hard questions about when life begins and whether a fetus has rights.
"Everybody knows gay people now — their community left the ghetto a long time ago and is part of everyday life," said abortion-rights supporter Jon O'Brien of Catholics for Choice. "Abortion is very private, often a sad and difficult decision. It's entirely different."
Another difference: Acceptance of gays is now a given in popular culture, notably in the spate of hit TV shows such as "Glee" and "Modern Family" with gay and lesbian protagonists. There's no equivalent embrace of abortion rights in Hollywood's products; films depicting unintended pregnancies generally opt for a birth.
"It's harder to get out and advocate for abortion," said Tony Perkins, president of the conservative Family Research Council. "Hollywood and others have been more helpful to the gay and lesbian community in promoting them in their story lines."
Polls reflect divergent trends in how young adults — Hollywood's favorite demographic — view these two issues.
According to the Pew Research Center, Americans under 30 tilted slightly against same-sex marriage in 2004, and now favor it by 65 percent to 30 percent — a higher approval rate than for older Americans.
"Assuming these trends continue, someone who supports same-sex marriage is probably heartened, because those most opposed are fading from the scene," said David Masci, a senior researcher with the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.
There's no equivalent shift or age gap on abortion. Pew's latest survey on the topic, in April, found that the views of young adults had been more or less stable in recent years and differed little from their elders. While 53 percent of those under 30 supported abortion rights, the approval rate was 55 percent among those aged 50 to 64.
One possible consequence: While same-sex marriage might be an issue that Democrats can use to energize youthful voters this year, that may be less likely with abortion rights.
"Abortion is an ongoing, protracted war," said O'Brien of Catholics for Choice. "Gay rights is the new kid on the block, the new thing, and it's doing particularly well."
Indeed, there's been concern among abortion-rights activists for a number of years that their cause doesn't galvanize large numbers of college students and other young adults.
Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, cited the need for younger leadership in the movement as she announced Thursday that she'd be stepping down at the end of this year.
At the University of Wisconsin, political science professor Donald Downs says he's detected an upsurge of strength for local anti-abortion groups. "Even in Madison, I know social liberals who are uncomfortable with abortion," he said.
He also noted that the right to abortion has been established for four decades.
"It's not a huge issue unless it's taken away," Downs said. "With gay marriage, they're trying to establish it. It's a different psychology."
For the Republicans, both wedge issues present some strategic challenges.
In seeking conservative support during the primaries, presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney firmly pledged his opposition to gay marriage and abortion rights. Heading toward the general election, he must decide how hard to stress those stances as he woos the independent voters who will pick the winner.

A new AP-GfK poll of adult Americans showed Obama with a 21 percentage point lead over Romney on the question of who's most trusted to handle social issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage.

However, Dave Welch, a former Republican National Committee research director and campaign adviser to John McCain, predicted the marriage debate would play out in Romney's favor even if Obama gets a short-term benefit.

"Ohio, Florida, Indiana, North Carolina — these are states Obama won by slim margins in 2008, and now the evangelicals there, who didn't come out for McCain, are galvanized," Welch said. "This could cost him the election."

As in recent election years, voters nationwide rate social issues — including abortion and gay marriage — as far less important than the economy or jobs. While 86 percent in a recent Pew poll said the economy would be very important to their vote for president, only 39 percent felt that about abortion and 28 percent in regard to gay marriage.

In the crucial swing state of Ohio, political scientist John Green of the University of Akron said it was difficult to forecast how the wedge issues might influence the outcome.

"They will not be the issues that will drive the election, but if it gets really close, they can make a difference," he said. "They bring a special set of voters to the polls who care very deeply."

___(equals)

David Crary can be followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/CraryAP

WND News Alerts

Sore-loser guv demands civil-unions vote

Colorado's Democrat governor can't take no for an answer. So, the state's taxpayers will have to shell out thousands of dollars per day to pay for a "special session," that Republicans are already saying won't change anything, to vote on a bill to create civil unions. Isn't that "special"?

Read the latest now on WND.com.

Plus!

Barack Obama's about to get punched in the belt ... the Bible belt! An ad campaign to be launched in the South will hit the Obama administration hard for its "threat to religious liberty" -- and the one of the target audiences will be those who've fought or lost loved ones fighting for religious liberty. Check out this first shot across Obama's bow in the "war" over America's religious heritage. ...

Click here for details.

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