Nine Nguyen/The Daily Cougar
If you didn’t know from the oodles of posters covering campus, Rep. Ron Paul, Republican primary candidate, will take a break from hunting delegates Friday and stop by for a quick visit.
The Liberty For All Super Political Action Committee was on campus Wednesday promoting Ron Paul’s rally by handing out fliers and pamphlets. They gave away airbrushed T-shirts and had candidate comparison sheets.
Thus far, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich have yet to grace us with their presence. None of the other Republican candidates managed to show up prior to dropping out either. Had the Texas primaries not been pushed back to May 29 we might have gotten a few more to come by, maybe.
Paul already rallied at Texas A&M University on April 10. He is supposed to make an appearance at the University of Texas today.
And without a doubt thousands of students will show up at each rally. They’ll wear their “Revolution” T-shirts. They’ll shout “President Paul 2012!” and they’ll no doubt spend hundreds of dollars on Ron Paul campaign items like bumper stickers and buttons.
But it takes more than a grass roots round-up of young people to win a primary, not to mention the presidential race.
Romney won the primaries in Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New York, and Delaware on Tuesday. Ron Paul supporters would be the first to say that Paul didn’t lose; he got second place.
But let’s be honest. Even if Paul wins the Texas primary, he’s still trailing behind Romney. And back when the primary included Herman Cain, Michelle Bachmann, Rick Perry and Rick Santorum, Paul just wasn’t getting much attention. He was at the debates. He went to the town hall meetings and yes, he gave rally speeches. Yet the media either ignored him or the delegates just went for Santorum or Romney.
Now let’s talk brass tacks. There are 2,286 total delegates the Republican nominees can get. The winner of the Republican primary needs 1,144 delegates. Romney currently has 832 delegates. Ron Paul has 76.
Oh, and Gingrich has 139, incidentally.
Paul just doesn’t have the mainstream support necessary to win the Republican nomination, and his youth-filled rallies, although effective at energizing young people to care about politics, won’t get him in.
This is why some of his supporters want him to run against the incumbent Democratic nominee, President Barack Obama, and whoever the Republican nominee will be.
If Paul ran as a third party candidate, he still wouldn’t win the presidency, but he could successfully siphon votes from one of the other candidates, much like Ralph Nader did in the 2000 presidential race when he was the Green Party candidate.
But Paul won’t do this, either because he doesn’t want to siphon votes or he thinks he can sink the Republican nomination. Some media commentators think he’s refusing to become the “libertarian” candidate because he wants to set a blueprint for his son, even if he himself doesn’t make it to the White House come November.
Paul can energize the untapped youth and win their support at the UH rally Friday, but that won’t make him the Republican candidate.
David Haydon is a political science senior and may be reached at [email protected].
Why does the media always say he will not be the Republican candidate? Really though, since day one! There's an old saying, "what you think about, you bring about". If you say something, or hear something enough times…it quickly becomes a reality. Seems like the msm, and local newspapers alike seem to understand quantum physics just enough to effectively brainwash an entire nation into believing that something is impossible, before they even get a chance to try.
I believe if those kids that attend the rallies all got together and walked door to door with super fliers and explained to the elderly that the media was hiding Ron Paul from them by not covering ANYTHING, the older people who do not use computers are most likely the ones at the polls. People need to talk to all the older people..
That's why we keep telling ourselves "HE WILL WIN" This baby aint over til Tampa……Then we'll see how many delegates 'ol Mittens really has. BTW David, I guess you support more wars and more spending…….I see your college education hasn't really educated you has it? RP 2012
[citation needed]
[reading 101 required]
Ron Paul wants to rally Cougars on Friday – The Daily Cougar http://t.co/RyWaaJfM #RonPaul #tlot #tcot
Well said. You answer your own question. Why? Because they don't want to see US people wake up from their long sleep. It's against their interest. But people don't watch too much TV anymore, so spreak the word on the web!
Greetings from overseas
The elderly (who are most likely making it to the polls) DO watch TV and DO NOT use the internet. These kids attending these rallies need to be walking door to door handing out the super fliers
another idiot journalist major that thinks they know everything. you make those delegate numbers up yourself bro? or did you steal them from fox news. if there was an accurate way to count the delegates there wouldn't be a different number on every channel
RT @RonPaul_2012: Ron Paul wants to rally Cougars on Friday – The Daily Cougar http://t.co/RyWaaJfM #RonPaul #tlot #tcot
Deceptive irresponsible reporting here.
Two networks yesterday, CNBC and MSNBC, broadcast a little known fact – Ron Paul appears to be winning the Republican nomination for President. When the popular Texas Congressman repeatedly assured supporters that the race was about delegates, not beauty contests, he apparently knew what he was talking about. Now, after three more states locked in delegates to the GOP nominating convention – CO, MN and IA – indicators point to a brokered convention with a possible, even probable, Ron Paul victory..
There are actually a number of compelling reasons why MITT ROMNEY might want to drop his presidential campaign.
First, Ron Paul is a much more popular candidate among all groups except for old party mainstream Republicans. Dr. Paul actually can beat Obama in a general election whereas Romney does not have a chance. This is evidenced in many polls.
Second, Ron Paul is in better shape physically, always getting his daily exercise. It should be noted this commitment to exercise contributes to Dr. Paul’s superior mental clarity as well.
Third, Ron Paul’s dedicated supporters have secured many more delegates than represented by the Associated Press, so there is no way for Romney to secure the nomination without Ron Paul’s delegates.
Fourth, Ron Paul is in this to win. And since he has never compromised his principles in over thirty years of public service, he could never support another platform that did not adhere to constitutional guidelines for governance.
Fifth, Ron Paul supporters and delegates will never compromise their principles in order to protect the Republican Party. They have reached a understanding of the dialectic imposed by voting for the “lesser of two evils”. They will put country before political party, just like many Democrats that are tired of this rigged game.
Sixth, Ron Paul’s message of Liberty is gaining popularity and enthusiastic momentum this country has not seen since the Colonial Revolution. It can no longer be contained and minimized by mainstream media pundits.
Seventh, It is just plain embarrassing for the Romney campaign, when Dr. Paul can draw a crowd of 8500 in Berkley, of all places, and he can only draw a few hundred in a conservative district. People are less enthusiastic about Romney than they were about McCain. People are not willing to allow the GOP establishment and our corporate media to tell us who we are voting for again.
You should know, we’re having a Paul Party in Tampa come November, that will be of great historical significance. You should come and celebrate the message of Liberty. Just think, reporters might have the freedom to report the news without a bias, hidden agenda.
As a political science major, I would have hoped you would have spent some time studying the primary process and gotten to grips with what a caucus is before regurgitating pundit ignorance on how many delegates Paul has and how "impossible" it is for Paul to take the nomination.
I would recommend you take your eye off of the MSM and start to do the more difficult work (for a sophomore I'm guessing as your article is evidently sophomoric) and start by looking at Iowa, and Minnesota, Colorado, Wyoming, Alaska, Nevada. Start out by googling "straw poll."
When you are done write another article and apologize or thank me, either will do.
Clearly you feel like you are in the know because you are not one of those "crazy" Paul bots. Unfortunately you know nothing.
Well said. This kid clearly knows nothing about the Republican nomination process. Why don't you actually look at the delegate selection process before you start blabbering away with the regurgitation of media ignorance? Oh that's right, just like those puppets on tv (many of whom you probably worship), you don't do your homework as well.
Oh and one more thing: if he's so unelectable, why is Dr. Paul the only one who can beat Obama according to the most recent (and occurring several times) Rasmussen national poll??? Plus, there's still over a thousand unpledged delegates…so tell me again how Romney "got" those delegates? Oh that's right…you have no answer, because Sean Hannity or Bret Baer or Chris Matthews haven't come up with one for you to use yet.
Some Political Science major, smh…
Google News #RonPaul Ron Paul wants to rally Cougars on Friday – The Daily Cougar http://t.co/qLym2LbO
The reason the MSM doesn’t want Ron Paul to be the nominee is because Romney is Obama is Bush is Clinton is Bush. Paul is different. He’s OUR guy, the guy who would represent the USA, instead of trying to take over the world like some nightmarish dream of Pinky And The Brain on steroids. If Romney is the nominee, the election will look like NY. 1 Ron Paul voter showing up in a district of 60,000 people to write in their candidate, being outvoted by 2 Romney poll workers, while the other 59,997 voters go to the polls and vote for Obama. NOT GOOD! We don’t need a lame duck socialist president with a mandate! Texas, don’t let the Northeaster Democrats pick our candidate. Vote Ron Paul so we can win the Presidency. Incidentally, all the media people who say he can’t win would be voting for Obama, if Ron Paul is the Republican nominee. Romney would also vote for Obama. He’s really a Democrat after all.
The article started well, but it seems to have lost its steam towards the middle. It felt more like reading a college term paper, which all too often ends with the student saying to himself, "Eh, I don't feel like writing this anymore".
For example, "Some media commentators think he’s refusing to become the “libertarian” candidate because he wants to set a blueprint for his son, even if he himself doesn’t make it to the White House come November." What's the source? Who are you citing? Should we believe the same media that has simply blacked out Ron Paul for their own agenda because his message of liberty is so harmful to their bottom line? I invite everyone to search youtube videos of the Daily Show pointing out that the media is ignoring Ron Paul. (This would be a decent, specific citation that others could refer back to)
"Paul can energize the untapped youth and win their support at the UH rally Friday, but that won’t make him the Republican candidate." How do you know? While I seek to provide constructive feedback, the only word I can use to describe this is lazy. Lazy journalism is all over the main stream media and even the internet.
Now let's go into some facts that sheeple often forget. About 25% of the delegates in the nomination are UNBOUND. This means that they may vote for whoever they wish. Ron Paul is getting most of these delegates. Even Fox news had to admit that Ron Paul has won Minnesota is has basically won Iowa. Also, at the convention in Tampa, we're going to find out that all of those Romney "delegates" will all of a sudden feel the need to "abstain" during the first ballot.
In addition, Santorum and Gingrich delegates are extremely anti-Romney and will be coming over to the good doctor's side. Many of them have reported so on sites such as the Daily Paul, or youtube channels such as matlarson10. Why wasn't this reported in the article?
We as a people can no longer simply abide by the status quo, to simply concede that things will happen in a certain way. We need to start taking charge of our own destiny. We need to research before we write, with passion and conviction. And we need to create the future, or others will do it for us.
I remember seeing that on The Daily Show, months ago, and have been a little chagrined that neither that nor the Colbert Report have given any report on the huge crowds coming to Dr. Paul's rallies.
Then last night, Daily Show had a political segment, which ended with Jon Stewart showing a picture of Ron Paul, and Jon voicing: "Save us, Ron Paul" (audience laughter), "you're our only hope."
I've saved this as my new ringtone. 🙂
This article is shit and the author is a joke. Sounds like it written by a bored 13 year old. It's always the great writers of our day who make it to the campus newspaper.
well, it just happens that we are hiring right now. would you like to make a difference?
I can most definitely tell lol…can't believe the editor let this nonsense be published
Great headline RT @RonPaul_2012 Ron Paul wants to rally Cougars on Friday – The Daily Cougar http://t.co/YCBLsMFc
Ron Paul is the only choice America has to clear up the mess it has created in this past century.
People are finally understanding that "inflation" is not just a rise in consumer prices but an increase in the money supply which tends to devalue the currency and makes things more expensive.
Latinos-4- Ron Paul 2012
so there are only four Paul supporters among Latinos? or they are too cool to spell *for*?
I see the fact that these articles are coming out as proof that Ron Paul is surging.
Your delegate numbers are a joke! You might want to do some actual journalism and go seek out the true numbers, or else you're going to look real dumb when Paul ends up having more delegates than Mittens!
Opinion piece…. You are assuming that the popular vote will in fact guarantee the GOP nomination… it does not. If the popular vote was the intrinsic determining factor, there would be no need for a convention. The delegates can vote as they wish, even if bound. Yes, the bound delegates have pledged their vote, but there is no enforceable law that would prevent them from changing their mind and breaking that promise. The delegates may possibly be fined, but even then this is not enforceable because the GOP is not a government agency, it is a private club… Can your country club have you arrested because you broke one of their rules? Not too many people are aware of how many times the electoral system has reshaped the outcome of elections ..
The "Romney is the inevitable Republican nominee" mantra by mainstream media has become a self-fullfilling prophecy but some of the erroneous supporting arguments for that assumption still need to be debunked.
The delegate projections cited in the article are based, in part, on the caucus site straw polls which were highly publicized but, in some states, totally meaningless.
Ron Paul will almost certainly have a plurality of delegates to the Republican national convention from Iowa, Minnesota and Washington and possibly from one or more other states that have held caucuses such as Maine, Alaska, Colorado and Missouri.
The mainstream media has chosen not to explore voting irregularities at caucus sites in Iowa, Nevada and Maine nor explore abuses of power by state party chairman in Alaska and Maine. The mainstream media is not reporting much about the large crowds of supporters Paul is getting wherever he speaks and have shamefully given almost no coverage (minimal print coverage and no mainstream broadcast coverage) of hundreds of Veterans for Ron Paul marching in protest on the White House on Presidents Day.
The most shameful news blackout of an event regarding Ron Paul was when a St. Charles County Missouri GOP caucus was shut down illegally to prevent Ron Paul supporters from dominating that process. A Ron Paul supporter who would have been elected chairman was arrested and taken away in handcuffs for peacefully exercising his political rights.
Many Paul supporters will end up voting for the Libertarian Party nominee in November, especially if that nominee is Gary Johnson, a former two-term governor of New Mexico. Although the media will attempt to ignore Johnson, he will be more difficult to black out than previous Libertarian candidates. Johnson will not win but will receive several percentage points and force discussion of Libertarian ideas.
People are sleepwalking! Proof? The Media didn't hide the facts that Romney is a LIAR and a FLIp FLOPPER, actually that's what they advertised him at, but yet people still vote for him! Why? Because the Media said so!
Instead of reporting your opinions, why don't you report the news? No one cares what a sophmore at the University of Houston thinks… just sayin..
It's called the OPINION section for a reason. Try checking out NEWS. It's the big four-letter word on the front page.
It would be so lovely if all the college folks would use their increased knowledge to read, wouldn’t it?
Thank you, Amanda, for using your brain.
You obviously can't read, so why are you even opening your trap? David's a senior, and the opinion editor.
David Haydon, you are either extremely ignorant, a party mouth-piece, or a tool of the establishment. I don’t care which it is…even my 13 year old niece knows the requirements of getting a ticket to Tampa….to win the plurality of delegates in FIVE or more states.
Got that chief? FIVE states. 1-2-3-4-5
Ron Paul has won Maine, Minnesota, Iowa, Colorado, and Missouri….and out of the states whose delegate tally’s are 100% turned, Ron Paul has won the plurality of states.
Go lie somewhere else.
Oh, and how much did you get for your integrity?
thumbs up the man who wrote this is ignorant …stuck in stupid and not to be taken serious
Was it something I said? http://t.co/TQH0dE3L Ron Paul isn’t verboten is he?
This is your opinion and with all due respect I do not agree with you ….As a voter for many years , with Republican on my voter card I will tell you sir Ron Paul is what this country needs and I will not vote for the sake of voting the Gop has lost all credibility with me . I have to tell you I believe in my gut Ron Paul will be our next president and if for some reason he is not he will go down in history to be the very one who took on the evil in Washington , was ignored by the media and stuff shirts and had the courage to prevail …This is my kind of man ….
Where are my post they are not here
OPINION: Ron Paul wants to rally Cougars on Friday @RonPaul @RepRonPaul @RonPaul_2012 @RP_Newsletter @RonPaulNews http://t.co/TPCuZxRe
I don’t blame you for not knowing the truth about how many delegates Ron Paul is actually taking to the convention. You simply read the “Estimated delegate count” from NYT or some other msm source and called it a day. The truth is that he has multiples of what’s being reported, and even a progressive like Rachel Maddow has been trying to cover the issue to point this out.
Regardless, Dr. Paul has a larger end-game in mind. Whereas the other candidates are driven by unbridled ambition, Ron Paul is promoting the principles that he believes in: liberty, constitutionalism, free markets, and sound money. If he can clinch the nomination, then so much the better. But Paul supporters know that the right man being elected to serve a term of 4 years on Pennsylvania Avenue is not going to solve the totality of this nation’s problems.
Remarking on this nation’s founding, John Adams stated that “The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people… This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people was the real American Revolution.” As Dr. Paul has remarked repeatedly in debates and in the campaign trail, in order to correct our course we must change the way we think about the role of the federal government in our society. This is what the “Ron Paul Revolution” is all about.
You may besmirch us with your supposedly insightful claims about the futility of our efforts in the face of Ron Paul’s “official” status in the presidential nomination race. Regardless, the man and his ideas have grown exponentially in popularity over the past decade. Ron Paul’s movement will not end with the conclusion of the 2012 presidential campaign, just as it did not end following his 2008 bid – because it was never about personal aspiration and conceit. It’s about ideas.
Blocking Romney is the key to getting a real candidate, and only Ron Paul can block Romney from getting the nomination on the first ballot. Whether Paul himself can get it on the first ballot isn't as important since after the first ballot most delegates who vote on candidates are unbound and possibilities open up.
What about Ron Paul’s alleged connections to the white supremacist network American Third Party (A3P) or the incredibly offensive and racist “Ron Paul Papers?” Even if Ron Paul did not write them himself, by allowing his name to be put on that garbage, he is tacitly endorsing its views. I really like Paul’s stance on a number of issues, such as drug law reform and foreign policy, but I cannot stand that fact that he is so strongly anti-immigrant, anti-abortion and against gay marriage. It really surprises me that Paul is able to draw support from the left at all.
Libertarianism is the anti-racism so that would not be possible, Libertarianism promotes rights to come as individuals not as groups thus it makes no sense. I don’t think a racist person would fight so hard for individual rights and power to the states and poeple.
Cooper J
What the hell is “the anti-racism?” Is that some kind of hipster lingo?
Great article, just a shame you used the major media outlets estimated delegate counts and not explain the process of a state caucus and the process of a brokered convention. Yes Ron Paul draws the largest crowds recorded this year for a GOP nominee and yes he’s still got a great chance to WIN the nomination!
http://www.dailypaul.com/229062/ron-paul-wins-5-delegates-in-pennsylvania-romney-officially-has-zero
Cooper Jackson
Liberty for All Super PAC
Paul just doesn’t have the mainstream support necessary to win the Republican nomination, but he sure as hell got enough angry hipsters to spam his ads all over UH. I have little faith they will clean it after elections.
while the author is not Ph.D in writing, he clearly says that rallying students will not guarantee Paul victory. He also presents some numbers to support his opinion. (without direct links, but no ronbots have done that ether. Are we old enough to open your iDevice and find it yourself?)
People complain that Paul has next to none media attention. But when an article comes up, they pour all their anger into it. Way to support general opinion!
For those who took any math classes it should be evident that with only tenth of delegates Romney has Paul has little chance of winning primaries. Remember kids, it is number of delegates that will decide the outcome of this race, not grass-rooting. Maybe some magic of friendship will suddenly give him 900 votes, but I see no friendship here. I agree with most statements Paul makes, but I do not pick winner for primaries.
Presidential election is different. He might get a higher score, but I doubt it will be higher that Romney or Obama.
And now for the sources. Ever heard of CNN? Or maybe NYTimes? At leas you should know wikipedia. Take a look. http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2012/calculator/ http://elections.nytimes.com/2012/primaries/deleg… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_pre…
ps: Paul wants to abolish college aid and Dept. of education in general. that should draw away at least half of students, much like with Perry.
You are waaay wrong in saying he cannot become the republican nominee. Someone needs to actually do more research than just what you see on CNN and Real Clear Politics. What a poorly written article. I'm ashamed that this came out of my school.
I would love attend this rally and take the pulse of liberty. It's going to be very exciting. Last night, Ron Paul drew 6000+ supporters to his UT Austin rally.
Baseless…I don't understand why this "political science major" included all the nonsense (regurgitation of mainstream media, nothing more than that and certainly not his own opinion) at the end. I don't know if you're aware but this is the ONLY presidential candidate to even consider stopping by and visiting our campus. How would you be against the democratic process in focus here at the University. You should be welcoming any candidate's presence, not destroying their presence basing your article on destroying Dr. Paul's credibility that's taken directly from the script that the nonacademic mainstream media uses. Some political science major…
Mitt thinks corporations are people (killing his general election chances). Ron Paul is the only candidate with a plan to end the TSA and end the endless wars for Israel, it all started a decade ago after a false flag attack.
9/11, US and Israel: http://www.amazon.com/America-Deceived-II-Possess…