Republican New Hampshire Debates

Ron Paul swept the only two informal online polls I could find after the NH debates on June 5, one on CNN, the other on MSNBC. Ron Paul was the only candidate who could answer every question starting from conservative Republican principles.

Pajamas Media Strawpoll

So I added the strawpoll widget from Pajamas Media today. I didn't do it because I really like Pajamas Media, but mostly just as an experiment to see how the polling precinct worked. They include all of and only the candidates who get at least 1% in the latest Gallup poll (scroll down to Election 2008).

If you don't like any of the candidates, don't vote!

Two Worlds

According to a CNN poll, my suspicion that people are not paying attention to the primary elections yet has merit. People are not being exposed to Ron Paul's message through the debates.

I cannot blame them. People have their own careers, families, and lives. It is healthy that most people do not pay attention to politics as much as some of us do. Politicians and pundits in the media really do seem to live in their own little bubble, isolated from the rest of the world.

Democratic New Hampshire Debates

I am commenting on the NH Democratic debates, so I have nothing profound to say.

Hillary Clinton claimed that everyone in the Republican debates supports Bush's war in Iraq. Ron Paul voted against the original authorization to use force and has been critical of it ever since. Is she ignorant, lying, or just forgetful?

Mike Gravel said he would do nothing about rising gas prices. That almost makes him sound like a free-market supporter.

Others candidates suggested that they would reducing subsidies to oil companies to lower gas prices. They need an economics lesson. You get more of something if you subsidize it. Subsidizing oil companies results in more oil products. More oil products results in lower prices. Reducing subsidizies will raise prices.

At first look, John Edwards' saying that Barack Obama being right, himelf being wrong, was impressive. Later it seemed disingenuous.

Ron Paul on Mail Delivery

Ron Paul said on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart tonight that he would open up the United States Postal Service to competition from companies like FedEx. It is currently illegal for anyone other than the USPS to deliver first class mail.

It is clear to me that Ron Paul is a puppet of the powerful parcel delivery lobby in Congress.

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Edited 6/5/07 to turn on readers' humor radar.

Ron Paul on YouTube

At last check Ron Paul has 13,788 subscribers, more than twice as many as Barack Obama with 6271, and far more than any other Republican presidential candidates.

Health of the State

"Government...neither desires nor dares to interfere in such matters. There must be murder; and government cares not how much."

-Mr. Henry Tilney in Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Gandhi on Paul

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."

--Mahatma Gandhi

Ron Paul has the benefit of chance as New Hampshire is the first primary in the elections. Of all the states in the country, New Hampshire is probably the most receptive to Ron Paul's message and has voters that are very independantly minded.

In particular, New Hampshire has been the home of some surprising primary results. Pat Buchanan won the Republicn primary there in 1996. If New Hampshire is receptive to Buchanan, they must be receptive to Paul, as Buchanan has made recent supportive comments about Paul. Buchanan agreed in 2005 that "The 9-11 terrorists were over here because we were over there."

This brings me to the quote. The Republican Party establishment started to fight Buchanan after he won the New Hampshire primary. They ignored Ron Paul after the first debate. They laughed at him after the second debate. Now they are fighting him. By the time we get to the primaries in early 2008, the country might be ready to help him win.