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Ron Paul vs. Republican Identity Politics
I’ve made the point occasionally in my columns over the years that what often drives politics is not necessarily having the correct philosophy but political identity. This frustrates those of us who care about the size of government, reducing the national debt and restoring the Constitution. Ron Paul has a limited government record second to none.
A recent study showed that out of Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Paul, only Paul would actually reduce the debt as president. Here’s the breakdown:
Newt Gingrich’s plan
Debt over next decade: Adds $7 trillion, increasing debt to GDP to 114%…
Rick Santorum’s plan
Debt over next decade: Adds $4.5 trillion, increasing debt to GDP to 104%.
Mitt Romney’s plan
Debt over next decade: Adds $250 billion, increasing debt to GDP to 86%…
Ron Paul’s plan
Debt over next decade: Reduces it by $2.2 trillion, lowering debt to GDP to 76%.
Yelling at CNN’s John King during a debate delivered my home state of South Carolina to Newt Gingrich by a commanding 41%, because Newt seemed on “our” side to Republicans and “against” the media.
Gingrich’s actual conservative record is abysmal but in that primary it didn’t matter much. For Republicans at that time, Newt was “one of us.”
Rick Santorum’s record is just as abysmal. Here’s a guy who admits to being George W. Bush’s wingman, helping to implement some of the most big government programs in American history.
“Politics is a team sport” says Santorum. He’s more right than he knows, as voters have largely “identified” with Santorum recently precisely because they think he’s more part of the Republican “team” than Romney. Writes The American Spectator’s Quin Hillyer (a Santorum supporter):
Cultural identification matter. That’s what allows Santorum to survive mistakes, or distorted attacks on his record, when others can’t: People identify with him.
The “distorted attacks” on Santorum’s record means people are simply discussing Santorum’s record. It’s horrible. If Santorum is actually better than Romney or Gingrich it is a marginal difference, and that margin is so slim that there is essentially no difference at all.
These guys are three peas in a big government pod and no amount of mental gymnastics from their supporters can erase their career-long statist records.
The Tea Party was supposed to be a movement that eschewed the politics of old, demanding strict fiscal conservatism and rejecting conventional big government Republicans. The only candidate in this race that fits what the Tea Party originally desired is Ron Paul. This is not arguable. If cutting government and reducing the debt is the Tea Party’s primary goal, only Ron Paul fits the bill, whether judging by his past record or his current budget plan.
Every other candidate–Romney, Santorum, Gingrich–fails the Tea Party’s fiscal conservative litmus test, whether judging by their past records or even their proposed budget plans, all of which cut nothing and add to our debt significantly.
But people “identify” with these candidates, some say? Republicans once “identified” with George W. Bush. A majority of Americans “identified” with Barack Obama in 2008.
To the degree that Republicans reject conservative philosophy to comfort themselves with identity politics is also to the degree that all of us will have to continue to endure big government.
Ron Paul vs. Republican Identity Politics*|*Ron Paul 2012 Presidential Campaign Committee