Why Conservatives Cannot Support Rand Paul for 2016

There has been a lot of speculation about the possibility of Rand Paul running for President in 2016. Given that Ron Paul has been working as a junior United States Senator for Kentucky since 2011, he doesn't have a whole lot of experience in politics, especially when it comes to executive experience. America elected Obama twice. Obama who was a junior senator from Illinois with very little experience to be President. Do we really want to have another inexperienced politician to be our President? 

Another reason we conservatives and the Republican Party should not allow Rand Paul to get the GOP nomination in 2016 is because he flop flops on his political orientation. Sometimes he claims he is a conservative, sometime he says he's a libertarian. Libertarianism and Conservatism are not the same political philosophy. Which political philosophy does Rand Paul really believe? I don't know and I suspect most people don't know either. More importantly, do we really want to elect someone who flip flops on his political views and philosophy? Ron Paul wasn't a conservative. Neither is Rand Paul. Neither one of them are really conservatives. They are both conservatives in name only (CINO) and Republicans in name only (RINO).

The most important reason why Republicans and conservatives cannot support Rand Paul it is the same reason why people didn't support his father Rand Paul. Ron Paul has a well documented history of associating with known racists, anti-semites, conspiracy theorists and Neo-Nazis. 

For example, people couldn't get behind Ron Paul because had published newsletters that spewed bigotry, racism, homophobia and antisemitism. Ron Paul initially denied writing those newsletters but later admitted that he did but claimed that he only wrote the non-offensive parts. Do you really believe that? I don't.

Another reason why people couldn't support Ron Paul is due to the famous photos of Ron Paul with Don Black, who is a well known White Supremacist and also posed with Don Black's son, Derek Black. If you don't know who Don Black  is, you should. He's the founder of the white supremacist website stormfront.org. Not surprisingly, Ron Paul also accepted donations from a white supremacist group and refused to return the money. Two well known White Supremacists endorsed and supported Ron Paul in the 2012 election.

It appears that Rand Paul is no different than his father, Rand Paul, when it comes to associating with questionable people who are known to be racists, bigots and ant-Semites. For example, the famous hacker group called “Anonymous” broke into a website run by the white supremacist American Third Position (A3P), and released a document dump consisting of private forum messages, emails, organizational notes, and other personal information which showed that Ron Paul and Rand Paul are intimately connected with the American Third Position Party and Stormfront. Here's a sampling of what this Annonymous found:

Other excerpts show A3P webmaster Jamie Kelso (whose email account
was one hacked by the collective) coordinating meeting between Paul and
other members of A3P such as corporate lawyer and chairman of the
neo-Nazi group Paul. “I’m going to go to the Conservative Political
Action Conference (CPAC) with Bill Johnson,” reads an email to an A3P
member dated January 2011. “Bill and I will be meeting with Ron and Ran Paul.
I have a teleconference call with Bill (and Ron Paul) tonight. Much
more later. Things are starting to happen (thanks to folks like you).”
In another passage, Kelso, a former Scientologist and account owner
of other German Nazi forums, wrote: “I’ll be at CPAC from Feb. 9 to Feb.
12. I’ll send back reports to you from personal meetings with Ron Paul,
newly-elected Senator Rand Paul and many others. It’ll be here on
WhiteNewsNow, a place that is really starting to get interesting because
of the presence of folks like you. Birds of a feather flock together,
and we are really gathering some quality here.”
Read more at http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=cb5_1372379074#gGo5pQjIqIrAwTw8.99

Other excerpts show A3P webmaster Jamie Kelso (whose email account was one hacked by the collective) coordinating meeting between Paul and other members of A3P such as corporate lawyer and chairman of the neo-Nazi group Paul. “I’m going to go to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) with Bill Johnson,” reads an email to an A3P member dated January 2011. “Bill and I will be meeting with Ron and Ran Paul. I have a teleconference call with Bill (and Ron Paul) tonight. Much more later. Things are starting to happen (thanks to folks like you).”
 

In another passage, Kelso, a former Scientologist and account owner of other German Nazi forums, wrote: “I’ll be at CPAC from Feb. 9 to Feb.12. I’ll send back reports to you from personal meetings with Ron Paul, newly-elected Senator Rand Paul and many others. It’ll be here on WhiteNewsNow, a place that is really starting to get interesting because of the presence of folks like you. Birds of a feather flock together, and we are really gathering some quality here.” (emphasis added by author of this blog)

The Annonymous document dump also revealed that Ron Paul has held meetings with A3P and Nick Griffin, leader of the British National Party — the notorious UK fascist group with neo-Nazi roots:

Griffin from the British National Party was also involved in these meetings. "We'll be meeting up with Nick Griffin on Wednesday night... a few of us," Kelso wrote to a member of AP3. "I let Nick know about the CPAC going on Thurs. and Fri. at the Marriott Hotel north of the White House," he said. "Ron Paul will be there Fri. afternoon. Want to meet up with him?"

If Rand Paul's alleged connections with these racists groups isn't bad enough, there's his former association with Jack Hunter, who was an aide and co-author of Paul's 2011 book The Tea Party Goes to Washington. However, the Washington Free Beacon revealed that Hunter used to be a neo-Confederate shock jock called the Southern Avenger, a columnist who compared Abraham Lincoln to Saddam Hussein, and the former chairman of the Charleston, South Carolina, chapter of the League of the South, a secessionist group. The League of the South has been classified as a hate group by the left leaning Southern Poverty Law Center. Of course, Rand Paul has tried to distance himself from Jack Hunter by parting ways with him. Rand Paul has also distanced himself by stating that Hunter's earlier writings "stupid" and said he was not aware of them when he hired him. (Right....) Despite Rand Paul trying to distance himself from Jack Hunter, both men were spoke at an event that was organized by his father Ron Paul. Not surprising, Hunter was a campaign blogger for Ron Paul's 2012 presidential primary bid.

The Republican party as well as conservatives should steer clear of Ron and Rand Paul. The more people learn about these two men, the more we find them in a tangled alliance with those who promote bigotry, racism, homophobia and antisemitism that has been well documented. These men have a long history of associations, communications and support from the dark side of society. Fortunately, Ron Paul has retired from politics.  But Rand Paul hasn't. 

If Rand Paul were to win the Republican nomination, he would be easily slaughtered by a Democratic candidate. Imagine Rand Paul going up against a seasoned and political candidate like Hillary Clinton. The Republican party would suffer a massive defeat at the local, state and national level. The Republican Party would suffer a PR nightmare for having allowed Rand Paul who has strong connections with bigoted people. 

I know 2016 is a long way off. However, time will fly by and before we know it, 2016 will be here. It is crucial that the Republican party and conservatives prevent Ron Paul from successfully competing in the 2016 election. There are so many reasons why the Republican Party and conservatives cannot support Rand Paul. However, I think the best and strongest reason is the Paul's connections to these people.

Based on Rand Paul's history and associations with his father and their mutual connections to bigoted people, he should not be associated with the Republican party. He should not receive any support from conservatives in 2016 because Rand Paul is not a conservative. He is a libertarian and has said so many times. Rand Paul really should be in the Libertarian party which is where he really belongs. He is not one of us. That's why conservatives should not and cannot support Rand Paul in 2016.

the League of the South is a hate group.

the League of the South is a hate group.Jack Hunter is also connected to Ron Paul since Hunter was a campaign blogger for Ron Paul's 2012 presidential primary bid.

Mitt Romney Is Not Running In 2016

Mitt Romney appeared at the University of Utah today to meet with students at the University of Utah David Eccles School of Business and stated that he would not be running again in 2016.

Romney also made it clear to the overflow crowd of students, faculty and business leaders gathered to hear his 45-minute speech that he was done running for the White House after two unsuccessful tries.

"I've had two bites at the apple. Three strikes and you're out," he said.
Romney, who received hearty applause after a questioner thanked him for his 2008 and 2012 presidential races, jokingly suggested his wife, Ann, or son Josh — who lives in Utah — would be better candidates next time around.

Before the speech, Romney said he was "feeling bad I'm not in the White House," calling it a "great thrill to run for president" and an honor to have had the support of Utahns.

"The country faces real challenges, which unfortunately are not being addressed in the way I'd hope they'd be. A lot of people are hurting. A lot of people across the country can't find work," he said, including new college graduates.

I knew that Mitt Romney would not be running again in 2016. Its not that I had any inside information but I knew that he just wasn't going to run. I don't think he wants to become like Ralph Nader or Ron Paul who have ran for President in multiple presidential elections. I also think he wants to move on and do other things whether it be in business or politics. 

There are many people (I am not one of them) who want Mitt Romney to run in 2016. There's even a Facebook group called Mitt Romney for President 2016 that has already been set up to promote that idea. Even though I am deeply saddened that Mitt Romney lost and I believe he would have made a great president, he made the right choice not to run again. 

As far as 2016 goes, I would like to see the following people throw their hats into the ring for that Presidential election: Chris Christie, Bobby Jindal, John Kasich, Robert McDonnell, Scott Walker, Nikki Haley, Susana Martinez, Jan Brewer, Senator Jeff Sessions, Senator Jeff Flake, Senator Kelly Ayotte, former Oklahoma representative J.C. Watts, Former Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice, Dr. Benjamin Carson, Former U.S. Representative Artur Davis, Former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, and Former U.S. Representative Allen West and former Mitt Romney running mate Paul Ryan. 

I also don't want the following people to run in 2016: Senator Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Ron Paul, Herman Cain, Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich, Alan Keyes, John Huntsman Jr., and Rick Santorum, Sarah Palin, Mitch Daniels, and Mike Huckabee.
 

Do you think it was right for Mitt Romney to decide not to run in 2016? Who do you think should run in 2016?

Investigating Sarah Palin's Mysterious Delegate Packages At The GOP Convention

I have received numerous messages from various people asking me if I could verify a claim made by a Ron Paul blogger named "wincap" that supporters of Sarah Palin are going around at the Ron Paul events in Tampa Florida and passing out or mailing packages attempting to woo Paul supporters/delegates into voting for Sarah Palin in the event that a brokered convention occurs:

Sara Palin is in town and playing games, she is trying to steal the nomination, she sent out packets to all of the delegates asking them to vote for her if there is a brokered convention and she is trying to cause a brokered convention. I spoke to delegates at my booth who said they received the packet. None of our delegates will vote for her, putting my dislike for her aside, if she helps with a brokered convention I am fine with it because I think we could win a brokered convention.

I can confirm the source of where these packets might be coming from. There is a news report of a pro-Palin group called The Earthquake Movement who appear to be the source of these delegate packets: 

According to an email from a representative of The Earthquake Movement, the group has sent informational packets to delegates around the country, asking them to be one of the five required majority state delegations needed to nominate Palin in the first round of voting at the Republican National Convention. The packets also ask for delegates to nominate Palin in the second round if presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney does not receive the required number of delegates in the first round.

The Earthquake Movement has also distributed information on Palin's "record, accomplishments and why we think she is the person who can excite the base and defeat President Obama in November."

"We are finding a lot of unhappy Republican voters," the email said. "They feel like the RNC is not listening to them and based on voter turn out in the primaries and what we are hearing from Conservative Americans, they want her to emerge from the convention as the nominee. They are also very angry that she was not given a prime time speaking spot at the convention and are wondering if the RNC is attempting to shut her out because her message resonates with so many of us fly-overs. Are they afraid if she speaks prior to the vote or at all, we will have an averted Reagan experience?" 

One California Ron Paul supporter who is a delegate has claimed that he received the package in the mail:

In fact, if you look at one of the pages of The Earthquake Movement's website, you can see them making a pitch to delegates on the legality of nominating Sarah Palin as the GOP nominee and encouraging them to take a stand to nominate her. They also encourage the delegates to buck the system and they support an "open convention" (brokered convention). They also have a blog called A Servant's Heart which puts up much of the information found on the website on the blog.

On the The Earthquake Movement's facebook page, you can see a post of them discussing the packages and their strategy for making a brokered convention happen:  

Thus, it is highly likely that members of this group may have been at the GOP Convention distributing these packets to potential delegates who are supporters of Ron Paul. Given that the existence of these packages, it may be a matter of time before the contents of these packages show up on the news or on a blog site. I know that contents of the packages are somewhere on line since I have seen people talk about reading the documents and watching a DVD on the the Internet. Perhaps someone can put the entire contents of the package on a blog or send it to me.

What I find interesting is that there are two kinds of politicians. First, there those those who put party above themselves such as Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum who both have released their delegates to Mitt Romney. Then there are politicians who put themselves above the party such as Sarah Palin and Ron Paul who have no delegates yet have said nothing or done nothing to stop their supporters who wish to circumvent the nomination process by attempting to engineer a brokered convention to nominate someone other than candidate who legitimately and successfully obtained the GOP nomination.

Sarah Palin Warns That A Third Party Could Form If The GOP Doesn't Get The Platform Right

Today, in the same interview where Sarah Palin told viewers on Fox News to vote for Mitt Romney, she also warned that a third party could form if the Republican party doesn't articulate conservative principles on the GOP platform:  

When asked if she would consider creating a third party if neither Gov. Romney nor President Obama would budge from their current positions on a variety of issues, Palin left open the door.

"Look what happened in the mid 1800's. The Wig party went away and the Republican Party surfaced. Because the electorate got sick and tired of the party fighting for power and not doing the will of the people."

Palin went on to say history could repeat itself.

"If history is an indication it is a possibility," she said. "If the Republicans don't remember what the planks in the platform represent ... that is opportunity to prosper and thrive in the most exceptional nation in the world. We do that through a free market. If the Republicans become like the liberal left and democrats, I wouldn't be surprised if history didn't repeat itself."

Her statement could be be interpreted in two different ways. On one hand, she could be issuing the same warning that Senator Rick Santorum did a few months ago about not allowing Ron Paul or his supporters to mess with the GOP platform. 

Yet, her statements could be interpreted differently when you take into account the recent news that Sarah Palin maybe trying to engineer a brokered convention so that she can get herself nominated as the GOP nominee. She may be trying to take the same approach as the Ron Paul supporters by attempting to get a brokered convention to happen so that Ron Paul will become the GOP nominee. The supporters of Ron Paul are also trying to change the GOP platform and its possible that Sarah Palin is trying to do the same thing here as well. In fact, in browsing through blogs that support either Ron Paul or Sarah Palin, there have been repeated statements of mutual admiration and support for such tactics. 

I'm not sure which way to interpret her statement. I have no problems with her statement if she means to warn people about the consequences of diluting the GOP platform and I actually agree with her on that. However, if her statement is part of her rumored strategy to get a brokered convention going, I have strong objections to it. For now, I will simply just wait and see which interpretation is correct.

Mitt Romney Trying To Prevent Mutiny At The 2012 GOP Convention

Although the GOP National Convention is starting up on Monday, there is a lot of action going on behind the scenes. Much of the drama is around Ron Paul's supporters who have wormed their way into becoming delegates at the convention and are still dreaming of a brokered convention in which they can crown Ron Paul as the GOP nominee. 

However, Ron Paul did not agree with his supporters that it was a good idea. Moreover, even if he wanted to get a brokered convention, it would not have worked since he hasn't won any delegates in any of the 2012 primaries including Louisiana. To prevent a mutiny at the GOP convention, Mitt Romney is currently in discussions with the the Ron Paul delegates in which Mitt Romney will allow some disputed Ron Paul delegates to be seated at the convention. Yet at the same time, Romney is also working to eliminate some of the delegates as well. and to possibly include some items on the GOP platform. Thus, the old rumors that Mitt Romney might be adding Ron Paul's "Audit the Fed" campaign to the GOP platform might be coming true as Mitt negotiates with these delegates. 

Although Romney might be allowing certain disputed delegates to sit at the convention, Mitt and the Republican party are doing whatever they can to ensure that the proper candidate is nominated as the GOP nominee Paulbots. They have amended the rules to require delegates to vote for the person that won that state's primary or to vote for the candidate they pledged to vote for:

Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, led by top Romney lawyer Ben Ginsberg, forced through a major change the GOP nominating process on Friday in response to Ron Paul supporters’ efforts to win delegates to the Republican National Committee..

The Republican National Convention Committee voted 56-40 to make it impossible for supporters of one presidential candidate to override the will of voters at a state convention, as Ron Paul supporters did in Iowa and Nevada.

The purpose of the change, Ginsberg said, was “to correct what we saw as a damaging flaw in the presidential election process in 2012.”

The rule forces statewide presidential primaries or caucuses to determine the ultimate allocation of delegates, preventing takeovers like Paul executed in Iowa by eliminating unbound delegates in statewide contests. States would be allowed to decide whether to give all their delegates to the winner of the primary or caucus, or distribute them proportionally according to the results.

“Iowa will have to change the way they do it,” said a GOP official.

A second component of the amendment would require delegates to be approved by presidential candidates, lessening the chances of technically pledged delegates voting for a different candidate.

Another step that Mitt Romney and the Republican party are taking to prevent shenanigans from the Ron Paul delegates is to move up the day the formal nomination takes place. Typically, the nomination occurs on the third day of the convention but due to concerns over the weather and a possible mutiny from the Paulbots, they are moving the formal nomination to the first day of the convention. However, the Romney Campaign are denying that they are moving up the date of the nomination.

The Romney campaign are also taking other aggressive steps such as making it clear who is being nominated at this convention: 

Using a mix of charm and procedural hardball, Mitt Romney’s campaign and his allies who control the Republican National Committee have ensured that the Texas congressman will neither speak nor be formally nominated at next week’s convention. It’s a significant victory for Romney, who could have been faced with a raucous rebellion from the Paul crowd if he hadn’t extended an early, and diplomatic, olive branch to what’s become a key constituency.

However, there are reports that there will be a filmed tribute to Ron Paul as a way of making the Paulbots happy. 

I understand that politics is about the art of compromise and negotiations. It irks me that the Romney campaign has to do what it can to please the Paulbots without making people wonder if the convention about Ron Paul or Mitt Romney. 

However, politics is also the art of winning. Mitt Romney went through a grueling nomination process and won. Mitt Romney shouldn't be wasting time trying to battle the Paulbots ahead of the convention,  preventing an uprising and making sure he won the nomination. The real battle is to unseat Obama but  I'm getting the feeling that this isn't the top priority of the Ron Paul supporters. It boggles my mind why the Romney campaign is even engaging in this ridiculous drama with the Paulbots in the first place. 

Another thing that annoys me is that there are no reports of Ron Paul stepping in to help resolve the situation but is letting his supporters go wild. At least Newt Gingich has the good character of giving his delegates to Mitt Romney. Ron Paul should follow Newt's lead and tell the delegates to support Mitt Romney. 

Perhaps what bothers me the most is that there is a reason why Sarah Palin not being invited to the GOP convention or why she hasn't been allowed to have an opportunity to speak at the convention. You can't expect to be invited to an event if you intend to undermine that event and have not been supportive of the GOP nominee. I think the same policy applies to Ron Paul and his supporters. You should not be allowed to participate in the event if you plan to undermine the event and still not supportive of the nominee even though that candidate won the necessary delegates to become the GOP nominee.

There Will Be No Brokered GOP Convention

With the Republican National Convention in Tampa Florida coming up next week, there are still those who yearn for a brokered convention. Many of Ron Paul's supporters were hoping that he would push for it but it appeared that Ron Paul did not agree with his supporters that it was a good idea. Moreover, even if he wanted to get a brokered convention, it would not have worked since he hasn't won any delegates in any of the 2012 primaries including Louisiana. Ron Paul will provide a different kind of excitement at the GOP convention since he will be rocking the GOP convention by hosting a fun rally and after party.

However, that is not to say that Ron Paul won't have an impact on the GOP convention. Despite the fact that people like Rick Santorum strongly warned against any attempt by Ron Paul and his supporters to not mess with the GOP platform, the old rumors that Mitt Romney might be adding Ron Paul's "Audit the Fed" campaign to the GOP platform might be coming true as Mitt ponders including it this year's platform. Ron Paul's idea is the only good idea he's ever had and the idea of auditing the Fed is currently making its way though congress.  I'm open to adding that to the GOP platform but any other request from Ron Paul supporters to add more items on the platform is asking too much.

I don't think Ron Paul was ever serious about making a brokered convention happen. However, there is evidence that Sarah Palin wants it to happen. Ann Coulter explains why having her lead a brokered convention is a bad idea: 

Coulter, who was asked about the prospects of a brokered Republican convention, hinted — as she has done in the past – that former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is promoting the idea because she would like to be considered for the GOP nomination should a brokered convention occur. Coulter warned that selecting a candidate that way would void the vetting process that has weeded out inferior candidates.

“One of the ones promoting that [a brokered convention] is Sarah Palin, who has suggested herself as the choice,” Coulter said. “I think as long as it’s between us girls — I’ve been observing something about her. I don’t think it’s likely to happen. I don’t know what these people are cheering for. As I wrote in a column a few weeks back, who is this dream candidate we’re hoping to get from the convention, because Rick Perry used to be the dream candidate. Can we see them in a debate first?”

As a result, it should be clear why Sarah Palin not being invited to the GOP convention or why she hasn't been allowed to have an opportunity to speak at the convention. You can't expect to be invited to an event if you intend to undermine that event and have not been supportive of the GOP nominee. 

Presidential conventions in both parties are highly scripted and highly managed events. With regards to the 2012 GOP Convention, its possible that anything could happen but the Republican Party will ensure that everything will go as planned.

Is There A Rift Between Ron Paul & His Supporters?

With the GOP convention in Tampa, Florida coming up soon, there has been a lot of discussion about what Ron Paul supporters will do at the convention. Its very possible that things will go off without a hitch or we could see some political skirmishes take place at the convention. 

As a result, I am worried about the convention and I do not trust the Ron Paul supporters who say that there will be no disruption at the GOP convention. I don't trust Ron Paul when he has told CNN’s Newsroom that he doesn't support or like the idea of disrupting the GOP convention. 

However, what does want is to have the ability to he  insert his political agenda and beliefs into the GOP platform. Ron Paul was never in the 2012 Presidential race to win. He has admitted on Fox News that he doesn't want the power of being the President but simply wants to influence the Republican Party's platform. He was only in it for the sole purpose of amassing enough delegates so that he can use his delegates as a way of getting the Republican party to adopt his libertarian views on foreign policy, economics and other issues.

That is why people like Rick Santorum sent a loud and clear message to Ron Paul and his supporters that they should not mess with the GOP platform. There are rumors that Mitt Romney might add Ron Paul's "Audit the Fed" campaign to the GOP platform. I'm open to adding that to the GOP platform but any other request from Ron Paul supporters to add more items on the platform is asking too much. 

There's also speculation that Paul's supporters might try to nominate him to be the Mitt Romney's Vice President and override whoever Romney picks to be his VP. While it is a possibility, it would do major damage to the GOP party as well as Mitt Romney and would hinder their efforts to make Obama a one term president. On the flip side of the coin, pulling a stunt like this would result in a major backlash against Ron Paul and his son Rand Paul and make a major dent in their political future. So as much as Ron Paul people may dream about this possibility, it is not a realistic given the consequences of what would happen if the Ron Paul supporters were successful in nominating Dr. Paul to be the V.P.

Ron Paul knows this. While Ron Paul supporters are itching for a fight at the convention and are making things difficult for the GOP party as evidenced by the lawsuit against the Republican Party by some supporters, he's being more cooperative with the GOP party than his supporters are: 

While the congressman from Texas didn't win any nominating contests this year, he amassed some 200 delegates to send to the convention, his campaign says. His backers have done that by winning extra delegates at state conventions that occur after primary voting, an often-overlooked process.

That strategy caused some in the GOP establishment to fear that Mr. Paul would try to hijack the convention through parliamentary stalling tactics and anti-Romney protests. Yet when his supporters announced a three-day Paul festival, including a 77th-birthday party for the candidate, at the state fairgrounds in Tampa the weekend before the convention, his campaign announced that he wouldn't attend. His focus instead is on the nascent official event organized with the GOP convention—which, meanwhile, hasn't decided yet whether to approve the festival that Paul backers are organizing on their own.

Mr. Paul's decision to play nice with Mr. Romney has already gotten him at least a few kind words. "Gov. Romney has a lot of respect for Dr. Paul and the energy his supporters bring to the process," Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul said. That's a notable contrast from 2008, when Mr. Paul opted to hold his own convention in Minneapolis as counterprogramming to the official convention in neighboring St. Paul. This year, both the GOP establishment and Mr.Mr. Paul seem to have found a way to satisfy their interests and present a more united front.

Given that I am not a fan of Ron Paul, I can't help but be skeptical about the different path Ron Paul is taking with his supporters. I honestly don't know what to make of it. Part of me hopes that this is a real and genuine split and tension between Ron Paul and his supporters about what to do and how to behave at the convention. The skeptic in me thinks otherwise. 

The only thing to do is wait and see how the convention unfolds.

Will Mitt Romney Add "Audit The Fed" To The GOP Platform?

Recently, Rick Santorum has asked conservatives to stand with him in preventing Ron Paul supporters from changing the GOP platform. According to Rand Paul, Mitt Romney has agreed to at least adding one item to the GOP platform: 

You know, I try to look for commonalities, areas where we agree and, you know, Governor Romney, I’ve had a meeting with him. We’ve talked extensively about audit the Fed, which is very important not only to me but my father and to his supporters and I think there’s a very good chance we get it in the platform. There has been an announcement in the House that we’re going to get a vote in the House and I’m working with both Republican and Democrat leadership to try to get a vote here, but some of my dad’s supporters don’t realize that if you call people names and call them evil, they’re less likely to allow you to have a vote on something you really want to pass.

GLENN: Hang on just a second. You’re saying that Romney may put audit the Fed into the platform?

PAUL: Well, the Ron Paul supporters are going to be — about 2 or 300 delegates there are going to help him to do that, but he has already said publicly that he’s for audit the Fed. That he has said many times. As far as the specific bill –

GLENN: That’s fantastic.

PAUL: — I would like him to endorse the specific bill but — that my father has introduced that will be voted on, but publicly he’s already stated that he is in support of auditing the Fed.

Personally, this might be the one issue where I would have no objections to adding this issue to the GOP platform. However, I would have major objections if Ron Paul or his supporters try to add anything else on the GOP platform such as their positions on war, drugs, abortion and marriage.  

Auditing the Federal Reserve is an issue that Ron Paul and his supporters are very passionate about. Mitt Romney's position on this issue is that he has repeatedly said that the Fed does get independently audited by various government agencies. He also doesn't support abolishing the Federal Reserve because he would  rather have an organization that is accountable to someone rather than having our currency managed by the politicians in Congress who are accountable to no one:

BLITZER: Governor Romney, is there anything you disagree with -- with -- with Governor Perry on that point?

ROMNEY: Well, my own view is that, quite simply, that the Federal Reserve has a responsibility to preserve the value of our currency, to have a strong American currency, such that investors and people who are thinking about bringing enterprises to this country have confidence in the future of America and in our currency. People will not invest in this country and create jobs in this country for the American people if they don't have belief in our currency.
Of course we should see what the Fed is doing. There should be some oversight to make sure that it's -- it's acting properly.

But at the same time, we recognize that we need to have a Fed. Why -- why do I say that? Because if we don't have a Fed, who's going to run the currency? Congress? I'm not in favor of that. I'd rather have an agency that is being overseen rather than have the United States Congress try and manage our currency.

In doing my research (that includes watching a bunch of YouTube videos of Ron Paul supporters asking Mitt about his position on this issue), I have found that Mitt Romney has been consistent in his position on not abolishing the Federal Reserve and has given the same explanation every time in that he'd rather have the Federal Reserve be an independent agency rather than have our currency be managed by politicians. 

Many Ron Paul supporters have criticized him for not being aggressively critical of Ben Bernanke's leadership. However, Mitt Romney has said that he wouldn't keep him in office and given that Bernanke's term as chairman expires in January 2014, whoever wins the 2012 election gets to choose who the Chairman will be. And if Mitt does win in 2012, we have some idea who the new chairman might be:  

Asked in October who he would pick, Romney said he had made no decision, but then suggested his top two economic advisers - Glenn Hubbard, dean of Columbia University's business school, and Harvard professor Greg Mankiw - would be good candidates.

2012 is an extremely important election and it is imperative that Mitt Romney wins. Who ever wins in 2012 will get to pick at least three Supreme Court Justices, a new Federal Reserve Chairman, and determine the health of our economy. As a result, we must unite and make sure Mitt Romney is the next President of the United States.

Rick Santorum Wants To Stop Ron Paul Supporters From Changing GOP Platform

Today, Rick Santorum sent a loud and clear message to Ron Paul and his supporters. Don't mess with the GOP platform: 

“I like the platform that we have right now,” Santorum said in an interview on ABC’s “This Week.” “I’m concerned that Ron Paul and some of his supporters out there are looking for a platform fight, and I want to make sure that we have strong, principled conservatives out there . . .to counterbalance the effect of the Paul folks.”

I agree 100% with Rick Santorum. He's got my support. 

Ron Paul was never in the race to win. He has admitted on Fox News that he doesn't want the power of being the President but simply wants to influence the Republican Party's platform. He was only in it for the sole purpose of amassing enough delegates so that he can use his delegates as a way of getting the Republican party to adopt his libertarian views on foreign policy, economics and other issues.

Even though Ron Paul has told CNN’s Newsroom that he doesn't support or like the idea of disrupting the GOP convention, he wants to do what ever he can to insert his political agenda and beliefs into the GOP platform.

The problem is there is already a political party that has a platform that Ron Paul and his supporters support. Its called the libertarian party.  The reason why Ron Paul wants to remake the GOP party in his image is because he knows that the ideas and beliefs espoused by the Libertarian party will never be accepted. If he can dilute the conservative platform to make it more libertarian, then he can make those ideas and beliefs espoused by the Libertarian party to be more acceptable by the public. 

However, making the GOP into another libertarian party will not make their ideas any more acceptable to the public. They will reject the GOP as they do with the Libertarian party. They won't pay attention to the GOP if it becomes more libertarian. The corruption of the GOP platform by Ron Paul and his supporters is not good for the Republican party.

Ron Paul's attempt to change the GOP platform will not work for several reasons. Mitt Romney and the national Republican party will not tolerate any kind of disruption at the convention which is designed to railroad the GOP to adopt Ron Paul's political beliefs. Nor will they  or even sit at the negotiating table with man who is not a conservative and who conservatives won't support. Furthermore, Ron Paul knows that he doesn't have enough delegates to cause any shenanigans at the GOP convention. He's in a inferior bargaining position when it comes to attempting to negotiate with the Republican party letting him change the GOP platform.

We already have the Libertarian Party.  We don't need the GOP to turn into another one.

Ron Paul Concedes The Race To Romney & Rand Paul Endorses Mitt

Back in January of 2012 when the Republican primaries were just about to get started, Ron Paul has admitted that he couldn't see a victorious path to the White House. Despite the slim chance that he would win the Republican nomination, he still stayed in the race. Ron Paul did not win a single state in the 2012 primary election and picked up a small amount of delegates. 

Even when Ron Paul semi-suspended his campaign, he still encouraged his supporters to become delegates at local meetings so that he can pick up more delegates. His supporters insisted that Ron Paul had more delegates than what was being reported in the media. They were sure that they could secure his nomination through other means despite the fact that Romney was amassing delegates and eventually won the nomination at the Texas primary. 

Today, Ron Paul has admitted that he doesn't have enough delegates to win: 

In an email to supporters yesterday, Paul acknowledged that he was far short of the number of delegates needed to capture the GOP nomination. But he said he had far exceeded expectations and would arrive at the national convention in Tampa with far more delegates than the pundits are now predicting — up to 20 percent of the total.

“When it is all said and done, we will likely have as many as 500 supporters as delegates on the convention floor,” the libertarian lawmaker from Lake Jackson said in his email. “That is just over 20 percent! And while this total is not enough to win the nomination, it puts us in a tremendous position to grow our movement and shape the future of the GOP!”

Paul noted that his campaign “will send several hundred additional supporters to Tampa who, while bound to Romney, believe in our ideas of liberty, constitutional government, and a common-sense foreign policy.”

The Texan also tried to tamp down the enthusiasm that has led to confrontations at several recent state conventions, most recently in Louisiana over the past weekend.

“Our delegates’ presence must be felt both in Tampa and in years to come,” Paul declared. “Stand up for what we believe in. Be respectful. And let the establishment know that we are the future of the Party and of the country.”

Ron Paul was never in the race to win. He was in the race to remake the GOP party in his image. He was only in it for the sole purpose of amassing enough delegates so that he can use his delegates as a way of getting the Republican party to adopt his libertarian views on foreign policy, economics and other issues.Furthermore, he admitted on Fox News that he doesn't want the power of being the President but simply wants to influence the Republican Party on matters he considers important. 

I understand this to mean that Ron Paul's campaign is officially and completely over. Moreover, Ron Paul knows that he doesn't have enough delegates to cause any shenanigans at the GOP convention or have enough delgates to remake the GOP party into his image. Sure, he's started something but I suspect that it will fizzle out.

Ron Paul is retiring from politics after the 2012 election is over, he has long term political aspirations for his son and is setting the stage for Rand Paul's future presidential run. However, Rand Paul has endorsed Mitt Romney tonight. Watch Rand Paul's endorsement below: 

This endorsement doesn't sit well with alot of Ron Paul supporters. Despite the fact that they are unhappy about it, I doubt that his endorsement will hurt him if he decides to run for President in the future because they will support him anyways. Rand Paul's endorsement will be something they will either choose to ignore or willingly forget.

Why I'm Not Excited About Rand Paul's Endorsement Of Mitt Romney

Many people are excited about Rand Paul's announcement that he's endorsing Mitt Romney in this election. Lets look at Rand Paul talking about Mitt Romney on Fox Business Channel:

Not everyone is excited about this endorsement. A lot of people who support Ron Paul and his son Rand Paul are not thrilled about it. Personally, I'm not thrilled with this announcement either. I am strongly opposed to Ron Paul because of his questionable and controversial background, his racist news letters which he initially denied writing but ultimately admitted to writing it, his endorsements from known racists Don Black and Lew Rockwell, and his foreign policy positions such as refusing to kill Osama Bin Laden or confronting Iran. Ron Paul is someone that conservatives and independents cannot support. 

I'm not a fan of Ron Paul's son either Rand Paul since the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. For example, Ron Paul is well known for his opposition to Israel despite his attempts to deceive people into believing he supports Israel. Rand Paul uses the same strategies as his father does by attempting to deceive people that he isn't against Israel.

Given how Ron Paul feels about Israel, its not surprising that Rand Paul advocates cutting foreign aid to Israel as a way of reducing our national debt. The problem with this argument is that from an economic stand point, our problem isn’t how much we spend on foreign aid or on military campaigns. That is not why we are massively in debt. Cutting off foreign aid or bringing all the troops home from wherever they are stationed around the world won't make a dent in reducing the national debt. 

The truth is that we can sustain as many military campaigns as America needs if we weren’t for entitlement spending. Entitlement spending is the single largest driver of our current debt right now. In fact, our government is more efficient in the money it spends on defense related matters than it does with entitlement spending. It is true that our government spends more money than it takes in, but the way Ron Paul wants to reduce the deficit by reducing the amount we spend on national security is neither logical, practical or prudent. 

Its not just Rand Paul's views on Israel that bothers me. If you look at Rand Paul's views on foreign policy, he's just like his father. He's an isolationist. He opposed Senator Rubio's attempt to have the country of Georgia be admitted into NATO.  He wants us to get out of Afghanistan, opposed implementing sanctions on Iran

However, the old saying that politics makes strange bedfellows is true. There were rumors that Mitt Romney and Ron Paul formed an alliance with each other during the 2012 primary elections. There may be such an alliance with Rand Paul as well given his endorsement of Mitt Romney. Lets not forget that Rand Paul  never attacked Romney during the 2012 primary but attacked other candidates like Rick Santorum.

Whether the alliance existed then or that Ron and Rand Paul can see the writing on the wall that Mitt Romney will be the GOP nominee, its an alliance its an alliance that should not be forged by Mitt Romney and his campaign because Ron Paul has admitted that he isn't in the race to become President but that he's in the race for the sole purpose of amassing enough delegates so that he can use his delegates as a way of getting the Republican party to adopt his libertarian views on foreign policy, economics and other issues.Furthermore, he admitted on Fox News that he doesn't want the power of being the President but simply wants to influence the Republican Party on matters he considers important.

Mitt Romney should not negotiate with Ron Paul or his son Rand Paul under any circumstances since it would be detrimental to the Republican party and for conservatism. Libertarians already have a political party in which it supports libertarian policies and Romney should not allow Ron and Rand Paul to hijack the Republican party just so it can adopt their domestic and foreign policy views.

Furthermore, given that Ron Paul has semi-suspended his campaign and is retiring from politics after the 2012 election is over, he has long term political aspirations for his son and is setting the stage for Rand Paul's eventual run for President. As a result, any negotiation that takes place with Mitt Romney and either or both Ron and Rand Paul in this 2012 election is only helping the Pauls remake the Republican party into the Libertarian party. Besides, if Rand Paul is thinking about running in the Republican party in 2016, he's gonna have to do it on his own without trying to remake the Republican party into a different political party.

Like many Ron Paul supporters, I'm not happy with Rand Paul's endorsement of Mitt Romney. But Mitt Romney and Ron Paul supporters can agree on one thing: Barack Obama must be defeated in 2012.

The Best Campaign Ads Of The 2012 GOP Primary

Now that Mitt Romney has recently released the first campaign ad for the general 2012 election, lets look back at the best campaign ads of the primary 2012 election.

Mitt Romney made waves with Republicans with these two ads and really helped define his campaign both in the primary and general election:  

Although Tim Pawlenty's campaign was short lived, he made a really great ad both in terms of style and substance by making a point about Obama's empty podium: 

Herman Cain had a very interesting ads that was unusual which attempted to help him stand out of the crowd of Republican contenders vying for the Republican nomination: 

Another unusual ad from Herman Cain was odd and amusing to everyone which spawned a lot of YouTube spoof videos. A lot of people speculated that Cain was going for the X-File voters.

Ron Paul also had a great ad attacking Newt Gingrich and for unexplained reason, Newt Gingrich got angry at Mitt Romney's attack ad. I think Ron Paul did a better job taking down Newt than Mitt did. 

Mitt Romney produced some other great ads during the 2012 primary race. Here are my top three favorites below: 

Ron Paul Suspends His Campaign

Today, Ron Paul has done something that I can actually support and get behind. He's suspended his campaign. I literally jumped up and down for joy at this news. However, I am not completely thrilled with this news because even though Ron Paul isn't running any more, he's encouraged his supporters to still go to the local conventions and become delegates. 

Obviously, the Paul campaign will continue with its strategy of urging supporters to swamp state conventions and get themselves elected delegates to the national confab. As we’ve written before, this is a clever, cheap way of using complicated delegate-allocation rules to Paul’s advantage.

What the Texas libertarian may be doing is amassing “stealth delegates” – delegates bound by primary or caucus vote to Mitt Romney, or one of the withdrawn GOP candidates, who are personally in favor of Paul. It’s hard to count how many such delegates there are – or whether they’ll abstain in the first round, or otherwise cause some sort of disturbance, in Tampa.

Ron Paul was never in the 2012 race to become President. There were two reasons why Ron Paul jumped into the 2012 race.

The first reason is that Ron Paul wants influence the Republican party platform. Earlier this year, he admitted that he isn't in the race to become President but that he's in the race for the sole purpose of amassing enough delegates so that he can use his delegates as a way of getting the Republican party to adopt his libertarian views on foreign policy, economics and other issues.Furthermore, he admitted on Fox News that he doesn't want the power of being the President but simply wants to influence the Republican Party on matters he considers important. 

However, if that is his goal, Ron Paul has only has 104 delegates as of today. In contrast, Mitt Romney will soon win the GOP nomination since he has 973 of the 1,144 delegates and only needs to secure more 171 delegates to formally become the GOP's nominee. Mitt Romney will get those delegates at the next primaries next Tuesday in Nebraska and Oregon. If not, he'll get them the following Tuesday in Arkansas and Kentucky. By May 29th, he should have the nomination wrapped up in Ron Paul's home state of Texas. After that, we will have the the final primaries will set in California, New Jersey, Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota and Utah.

Even with all the dishonest and deceptive tactics used by his supporters to become delegates, it won't disrupt or hurt Mitt Romney at the national convention in Florida: 

Massachusetts aside, the Paul campaign has mainly flexed its muscles in states where Romney didn’t do well — and where Rick Santorum succeeded, such as Minnesota, Iowa, Louisiana, and probably Missouri when they hold their fourth or fifth event that will actually select delegates.  The net effect of the Paul conversion will be to weaken Santorum’s influence, not Romney’s.  Romney will win enough bound delegates from primary states to secure the nomination on the first ballot.

Even though Ron Paul has told CNN’s Newsroom that he doesn't support or like the idea of disrupting the GOP convention, he wants to do what ever he can to insert his political agenda and beliefs into the GOP platform. However, by the time the GOP convention rolls around, he won't have enough delegates to accomplish his short term goal of influencing the GOP platform. Ron Paul will be in a inferior bargaining position in attempting to negotiate with the Republican party into adopting  his views on the national platform. 

Moreover, Mitt Romney and the national Republican party will not tolerate any kind of disruption at the convention which is designed to railroad the GOP to adopt Ron Paul's political beliefs. Nor will they  or even sit at the negotiating table with man who is not a conservative and who conservatives won't support.

Ron Paul knows he won't become President or be picked by Mitt to be his VP. I hope they won't even let Ron Paul speak at the convention.

Ron Paul is delusional if he thinks he can influence the GOP. He can try but it won't work. 

The second reason why Ron Paul jumped into the 2012 race is because even though Ron Paul announced earlier this year that when the 2012 race is over, he will be retiring from politics, his son's political career is just starting. Which means Ron Paul has long term political aspirations for his son and is setting the stage for Rand Paul's eventual run for President: 

The elder Paul’s continued presence in the 2012 presidential race is in large part an effort to secure funds and infrastructure for his son’s own possible White House bid in 2016.

“If [Ron] hadn’t stayed in through the last few weeks, he would not have made those trips to the donors on the West Coast, in California,” said the adviser. “That’s 30 percent of his campaign’s income that will help build his movement for years to come. Yes, Ron is 76 years old, but he has a son.”

However, all of Ron Paul's short and long term plans might crumble if there is a brokered convention or if there is disruption of any kind. If that happens, Ron Paul might make it possible for Obama to win a second term and everyone will blame the Pauls for that.

Despite the good news that Ron Paul has suspended his campaign, conservatives still need to be on the alert at their upcoming state conventions in which Ron Paul supporters will still try to be delegates. If you are a Romney supporter in a state that has an upcoming convention PLEASE try to be there. We must NOT let our guard down. We want to end the deceptive shenanigans of the Raul Paul supporters in order to make  sure nothing happens before the GOP convention in Tampa.

The Real Agenda of Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich And Rick Santorum

Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum are determined to stay in the race even if the chances of them winning the Republican nomination grows slim with each passing election contest. All of the candidates know this but they're not in the race to become President. Each one of them have an agenda. 

Ron Paul

Ron Paul's chances of winning the Republican nomination is extremely low. He hasn't a won a single primary or caucus and his unfavorability rating is quite high.  However, Ron Paul has admitted that he isn't in the race to become President but that he's in the race for the sole purpose of amassing enough delegates so that he can use his delegates as a way of getting the Republican party to adopt his libertarian views on foreign policy, economics and other issues. Recently, Ron Paul admitted on Fox News that he doesn't want the power of being the President but to have the power to influence our nation on matters he considers important. However, if that is his goal, Ron Paul has only has 50 delegates as of today. By the time the GOP convention rolls around, he won't have enough delegates and as a result will be in a inferior bargaining position in attempting to negotiate with the Republican party into adopting  his views on the national platform.

Newt Gingrich

Newt Gingrich's chances of winning the Republican nomination is also extremely low. He's only won two Republican nominations and he only has 135 delegates as of today. He also has amazingly high unfavorability ratings of 60%. Regardless, Newt Gingrich is determined to press forward by bypassing the primary process and winning at the convention by getting the delegates to switch their votes to Newt.  Joe DeSantis, the campaign’s communications director, explains Gingrich's new election strategy:

The idea, Mr. DeSantis said, is to persuade unpledged delegates and those who have backed another candidate to see Mr. Gingrich as the best challenger to face President Obama. 

Joe DeSaintis elaborates more on their new election strategy: 

 “We believe that if Governor Romney is unable to secure 1,144 by the last primaries, he will be unable to do so at the convention where the vast majority of the delegates are conservative,” DeSantis said. “That creates [an] environment at the convention where Gingrich can emerge as the one candidate who can unite social, economic and national security conservatives (a fact which is borne out by polling).”

Newt Gingrich's agenda is pretty obvious. He is remaining in the race out of pure revenge and will do anything he can to prevent Mitt Romney from winning the nomination:

Joe DeSantis said Gingrich's decision to lay off staff and replace his campaign manager was a reorganization that would enable him to fight on to the Republican National Convention in the summer and win the nomination there.

The overhaul comes as a CNN/ORC International poll released Tuesday indicated that most Republicans would like to see Gingrich and Texas Rep. Ron Paul end their White House bids.

But they want conservative challenger Rick Santorum to stay in the race.

The poll, conducted over the weekend, showed that about six in 10 Republicans wanted Gingrich and Paul to halt their campaigns, while a similar number supported Santorum continuing his bid.

DeSantis said the poll "showed that Gingrich dropping out of the race would help Mitt Romney dramatically more than it helps Rick Santorum."

This would "virtually guarantee Mitt Romney the nomination," he said, as he urged conservatives to rally behind Gingrich to keep the former Massachusetts governor from victory.

Rick Santorum

Rick Santorum has done much better in this election than Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich have. He's won 11 primary contests so far and currently has 273 delegates. However, the chances of him getting the 1,1140 delegates needed to win the Republican nomination grows slim with each primary election. The evidence is overwhelmingly clear that the electoral math doesn't work for Rick Santorum. He cannot get the necessary 1,140 delegates needed to win. As Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post points out, there's just no way for Rick Santorum to win the Republican nomination: 

Romney still leads by about 300 delegates . With 568 delegates to Santorum’s 273 Romney, Romney needs only 576 more delegates, about 46 percent of the remaining delegates. Santorum would need to win about 70 percent, and that just isn’t going to happen.

Rick Santorum disputes the current calculation of delegates by arguing that what you hear in the news doesn't accurately reflect the delegate count:

As he struggles to keep up with frontrunner Mitt Romney and parries calls for him to drop out of the Republican presidential race, Rick Santorum has said in recent weeks that he has actually won more delegates than some media counts show.  Those counts, Santorum says, are not taking into account Republican party rules, as well as the state-level meetings that actually determine how many delegates go to each candidate.

"Here's one of the things that I can tell you I didn't know," Santorum told a small group of reporters at a breakfast in Washington Monday.  "Every single state is different.  Every state. Every single state is different.  It's different on how you get on the ballot.  It's different on their structure, how they allocate delegates, whether they are bound, whether they are unbound, when they're committed, how long they committed, how they're selected. Our math is actually based on the reality of what's going on in the states."

Now, the Santorum campaign is providing some numbers to flesh out the candidate's claims.  In a long conversation Wednesday evening, John Yob, the campaign's national and state convention director, pointed out that many high-profile primaries have been little more than beauty contests, and that delegates in many key states are actually being awarded in county, district, and state conventions, which are often dominated by conservative activists. "In that process, we are doing very well," said Yob. "The moderate candidate almost never performs better than a conservative candidate in a county, district, or state convention process."

Of course, the Romney campaign rejects Rick Santorum's claim and argue that no matter how Rick Santorum calculates the delegate math, he's still going to come up short: 

The Romney campaign strongly disputes Santorum's numbers.  In a March 22 memo -- sent out after Romney's win in Illinois but before Santorum's victory in Louisiana -- Romney political director Rich Beeson wrote that Romney led Santorum by more than 300 delegates and that Romney already had more than half of the needed 1,144 delegates. "Each day Senator Santorum continues to march up this steep hill of improbability is a day we lose to unite in our effort as Republicans to defeat President Obama," Beeson wrote.

Beeson pointed out that it is impossible for Santorum to reach the 1,144 delegate number himself.  Team Santorum doesn't really claim otherwise.  But their math is now about keeping Romney short of 1,144 -- and hoping things go their way in state conventions and, ultimately, in Tampa in August.

Despite the small chances of winning the Republican nomination through out the primary election,  Rick Santorum is going to try the same strategy as Newt Gingrich by  wooing delegates at the Republican convention: 

Arguing that neither he nor Mitt Romney will be able to sew things up by the last GOP primary in June, Santorum envisions spending July and August trying to persuade individual delegates to support him and “put together the coalition that’s necessary for you to get the 1,144.” He and his delegates would then move on to the Republican convention, scheduled to begin Aug. 27 in Tampa, Fla.

Its clear that Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum are in the race because they want to become President. Each of these men are not interested in becoming leaders. They all have their own person agendas which they are placing above the American people's wishes of getting Barack Obama out of the White House. Ron Paul is running is in the race purely to change the Republican party platform from a conservative platform to a more libertarian one. Both Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum are aiming for the mythological brokered convention as a last ditch attempt to prevent Mitt Romney from winning the Republican nomination. 

There's only one candidate who is in the race to defeat Barak Obama and make him a one term President. Moreover, he's in the race because he wants to be the President who will be a true leader and revive America's economy. That man is Mitt Romney.