(ThyBlackMan.com) While few things in politics are certain, one thing that has held true over the past several decades is that African Americans will vote Democratic.
And while African Americans’ relationship with Democrats has become highly publicized marriage, a rising chorus of African American liberals and independents are quick to highlight Democrats’ exploitation of the Black voter, campaigning to the concerns of the community only to forsake the things that matter to African Americans once they are in office.
This is one of the major gripes African Americans have with current president Barack Obama, who despite having attracted 96 percent of the Black vote in the last election, seems to be losing support from many in the community unsatisfied with his first term.
This backlash of sorts has led many to demand a Republican alternative. This backlash is exactly why Herman Cain, despite not being a Democrat, became popular. But Herman Cain was still largely a status quo candidate.
For African American looking for an alternative to the current administration, while also avoiding handing their vote over to the same as usual Republican field, the question remains: Why not Ron Paul?
African Americans have been conditioned to accept the two-party rule that has become of America’s political system; Paul represents a splintering of the old guard.
Since assuming office in 1997, Ron Paul, the Congressman from Texas’s 14th congressional district, has become popular for his Libertarian ideals, often differing from both Republican and Democratic Party stances.
The New York Times described Ron Paul as “the kind of conservative that Tea Partiers want to believe themselves to be: Deeply principled, impressively consistent, a foe of big government in nearly all its forms (the Department of Defense very much included), a man of ideas rather than of party.”
And yet the latest Iowa polls show Newt Gingrich leading by a mere point at 22 to 21 percent respectively.
Undoubtedly, the Republican label attached to Ron Paul and his campaign scares many African Americans, who have for generations voted Democratic, but by no means is he a traditional conservative.
Instead, many of his most liberal stances have been buried by Republicans who label him to radical and by Democrats who in most instances have acted virtually identical to their Republican counterparts.
Why not Paul, when, in many instances, Ron Paul’s voting record and political leanings have been more progressive and in-line with Black America’s than Barack Obama’s. For instance, when Paul a free-market evangelist and staunch opponent of corporate welfare railed against the hundreds of billions in bailout money big business received in the wake of financial crisis.
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If anything lets show the Democrats and Republicans that are vote isn’t to be forsaken and taken for granted. Let’s show them that we support and go against those that choose to just see us as count on vote. Finally let’s show that just because you are black you cannot ignore black people and then beg for us to reelect you.
I’m voting for Ron Paul. Let’s END THE FED!
Paul scares a lot of people unfamiliar with him, whites, browns, and blacks. But the same are pretty much tired of the way things have turned out to date, and want something better. And that want for something better is overcoming their initial fear or skepticism of Paul.
As far as democrat-republican goes, I first tuned in to Paul from Dennis Kucinich’s presidential campaign website in 2007 or 2008. It had a 20 questions feature. After answering a bunch of socio-political questions the feature listed the presidential candidate at the time whose positions best matched up with your answers. In my case it was Ron Paul. So I guess I tuned into republican Paul because of a blind date arranged by democrat matchmaker Kucinich.
It’s 2011 already. Nobody has an excuse not to be fully informed on Paul or any candidate when such info is only a few mouse clicks away.
The main reason I chose Paul for the next president is because I’m fed up with the 18 years of war and waste from both Bush and Obama. Seems like only 10 because Iraq and Afghanistan ran concurrently for 8 years.
And I don’t want another 10 or 15 more years of war and waste, which would be the case with any president outside of Paul.
To call Ron Paul a racist would be like calling the Pope a Muslim. For the MSM and the Republicans to call RP a racist insults the intelligence of the Black race. This will certainly backfire on them.
Yes, Black America should give a damn. Because of the “America” in “Black America”. Because our country is in serious trouble and ALL Americans need to care if we’re going to turn this country around. Because our country is at a crossroads and a turning point with no way to go back once we choose a path. We can elect Ron Paul, who is serious about balancing the budget, cutting spending, bringing our troops home, auditing the Federal Reserve, cutting federal bureaucracy and waste, and returning power (and control) on many issues back to the states, where the founding fathers intended it to be. When decisions are made on a state or local level, everyone has a better chance to be heard. On important issues, it is far easier to get to your town/city hall, county offices or state capitol than it is to get to Washington DC for most Americans. Or we can elect ANY other candidate to continue on the disastrous road we are on … until we reach the end of the road. Please choose to care. Ron Paul – Restore America Now
to sum it up, something I read the other day:
Liberals believe people are mostly bad, and need to be controlled.
Libertarians believe people are mostly good, and need to be free.
Do you assume more would do bad with freedom than good?
Oh, I forgot the civil rights act. He would definitely have overturned Jim Crow laws, he just didn’t think the federal government has the right to directly regulate private businesses that are not in interstate commerce. I see an argument for it having been done then as policy because there was no ‘non racist market’ after the state by LAW had required racist laws. Now that doesn’t exist. Again, you may disagree with him, but it isn’t racism that makes him feel that way. Chris Matthews asks him about it on Hardball at the beginning of this election cycle in case you want to see him discuss it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBbV7mURP0I
Ron Paul never wrote the newsletters. Look at the language of the newsletters. Listen to Ron Paul. He doesn’t use red meat to inflame against people, ever, it disgusts him when others do. Go to youtube. There is a HUGE library of his speeches. Some go back to 1970, 20 years before the newsletters. Ron Paul hasn’t changed.
There was an independent editor of the newsletters, which were written before the internet, while Ron Paul was back practicing medicine. It seems to me that a racist would not, as Ron Paul did, refuse to take medicare and medicaid but also refuse to turn any patient away for inability to pay. He gave free and discounted service to women of all races and religions, serving some of the poorest people in Brazoria county, during the time while these newsletters were written. Nelson Linder, the District Chief from the NAACP when Ron Paul had previously been in congress went on the radio and said Ron Paul was not racist, that this was the result of his fighting for the Constitution which was a threat to power broker status quo. That interview is on youtube as well.
The newsletters were a failure of oversight of how his name was being used, at a time when he was not in office, and had no staff monitoring that sort of thing. He says he condemns the statements and in no way agrees with them. If that oversight leads you to not want to vote for him, that is your decision. But he is who he seems to be, and the more you look into him, the more you will see that is so.
By the way, his budget plan cuts elsewhere to fund social security and does not cut medicare. In fact, he sees social security as a contract right. This may be more obvious to him than to other Congressmen because he found the Congressional pension to be immorally rich compensation with taxpayer money, and has refused it. AS a result, he has been required to pay into social security along with all of us, and I can’t imagine who would be more likely to defend it.
He has never been a racist. Never. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk9HSMB-YaU
Ron Paul is the candidate for anyone who wants to be seen as an individual rather than a voting block. He never tailors his message to any certain audience. As for his alleged involvement in these newsletters, all I can say is it doesn’t fit his personality – one that has been in the public for 30 years. Ron Paul does not speak in the manner of the above comments in these newsletters and I would need to see evidence and context of his sole authorship of such things to attribute them to him.
Well, I have a few points.
First, I don’t think the Civil Rights Act really helped race relations, nor improved the poverty level in black communities. In fact, I think Hip Hop and MTV probably did more to aide race relations. If anything the minimum wage laws have done more harm to to black community. Just read Walter WIlliams articles on that, even though it may sound controversial at first, it makes sense and is backed by statistics.
Second, sure some of those newsletters sound bad, but is every stereotype true, and is every stereotype racist? I say no. I do think there is an artificial outrage over a lot of things that really just amount to a dumb stereotype. To me, Racism really only has power when one person is negatively affected by an action.
Making stupid comments about people as a stereotype just does not have the same effect as you being denied a job because you are black. Black people picking up welfare checks may be a stereotype, but does that statement really affect blacks, even if it’s true? Sure, it puts a negative light on a group of people, but does it really change the perspective of whites against all blacks? There are stereotypes made of people from the south all the time, and it is not given much credence. Hell, a lot of black comedians make stereotypes about whites all the time.
Sure some of the stuff in those newsletters is bad, but let’s not get out of hand and ascribe it to the type of racism that REALLY affects people, like what happened during the time after the 13th Amendment and the 70s. Saying that Jews like bagels and arguing is not discrimination. It’s just silly stereotypes. Maybe I am underplaying this, but I really do think there is way too much political corrections today, which inadvertently stifles free speech and discussion.