How about Ron Paul?

November 6, 2007 By 16 Comments

There are many permutations of where a person can stand politically. Texas congressman Ron Paul, who has just raised a boatload of money, is running for the GOP presidential nomination as a socially-conservative, pro-life libertarian. He is anti-Iraq war and anti-illegal immigration. He is a champion of civil liberties and of limited government. He believes that the government should do nothing that is not specified in the constitution. And he is an active, conservative Christian, raised as an ELCA Lutheran though presently a Baptist. Check out this useful site specifying where the candidate stands on the whole array of issues. I know some people who support him strongly. How do you think he measures up?

Filed Under: Politics 16 Comments
About Gene Veith

Professor of Literature at Patrick Henry College, the Director of the Cranach Institute at Concordia Theological Seminary, a columnist for World Magazine and TableTalk, and the author of 18 books on different facets of Christianity & Culture.

  • Bror Erickson

    Checking out his positions on the web. I think I could live with him. However, his stance on foreign policy does not sit well with me. I don’t think we Americans can afford a non-interventionist policy anymore. As a young country it was a wise policy, but the twentieth century has changed the course for America for better or worse. We can’t and the world can’t afford to go back to the days when we were a sleeping giant.

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  • http://necessaryroughness.org Dan at Necessary Roughness

    Part of what makes him so attractive is that he is more than just the anti-war Republican candidate. He is also unique from the others with respect to the original intent of the Constitution and fiscal discipline. If the other candidates did more than just pay lip service to those type of things, Paul’s candidacy wouldn’t receive nearly the funds it has.

  • Manxman

    I strongly support him. He’s about the only one running in the GOP that I can vote for and not feel like I’m doing it merely to vote for the lesser of two evils. He also seems to be the only one who understands what Constitutional government is all about, and has had the courage to stand on his convictions for years.

  • phdsvp

    You made a big mistake asking for comments. Most Birch errr Paul supporter are either liberals masking as “free thinkers” or lunatics and will quickly spam your board . Paul is a certifiable lunatic who has virtually no identifiable support and should have been removed from the debates a long time ago. I’d vote for Hillary before this nutjob.

  • http://lutherama.blogspot.com Dr. Luther in the 21st Century

    Don’t you just love it when a person proves their own post, ala phdsvp? At the same time, I feel I must disprove phdsvp. I am neither a liberal nor a lunatic and I have the hand stamp to prove it. However, I have given serious thought to voting for him in the primaries despite his anti-war stance. I would love to see a return to small government.

  • http://www.cockahoop.com/ tODD

    Well, as someone who frequently leans left on issues, I’ll say that Ron Paul is about the only Republican I’d consider voting for. I disagree with him on many points, but on the big ones, he’s good enough for me.

    Perhaps more importantly, he’s one of the few candidates (among Republicans and Democrats) I feel is trustworthy, guided by an ideology rather than politics. I’d feel much better voting for a principled man I disagree with than for an unctuous salesman who says what I want to hear — at least with Paul you know what you’re getting.

    I know I’m not alone among non-Republicans in considering changing my registration to be able to vote for him in the primaries, should the Oregon primary actually have any meaning at that point. (For the record, I’m only registered Democratic so I could vote in the primaries at all.)

  • Patrick Kyle

    According to various sources, so much money was pouring into his fund that his merchant account exceeded its throughput limit, so that thay are still processing donations manually today and maybe tomorrow. Rumor has it that the total number could be in the $8 million range. They will probably come out with the revised final tally in a day or so.

    Even if I don’t agree with him on some things, he is the only candidate offering anything other than the politics-as-usual stuff being served up by the other candidates of both parties. He also has a decades long track record of personal and political integrity.

    I love it when Ron Paul’s opponents are reduced to name calling and personal attacks. Hmmm.. ” Birchers ..are Liberals masking as ‘free thinkers’ or lunatics” Now there is a convincing argument.

  • http://www.bikebubba.blogspot.com Robert Perry

    I’d vote for Paul if he came to the realization that Islamic radicals are today’s Barbary Pirates, and that millions of people are being attacked by them despite never having contributed a cent to support Israel. Otherwise, he’s got it right on abortion, gun rights, taxes, and more.

  • Patrick Kyle

    Robert,

    Ron Paul has introduced two bills for Congress to issue Letters of Marque and Reprisal against bin Laden and other specific terrorists. These are basically Constitutionally sanctioned “Wanted Dead or Alive ” posters authorizing anyone to take action against the named persons and their property and assets, without fear of legal entanglements in the US and granting those who take action rights to whatever property and money they seize belonging to those named in the letter. Of course the present Congress and administration had a better plan, just drag everyone involved into an undeclared war, so his bills were defeated.

  • Greg

    I am not sure I know what to think about the non-interventionism. I am open to this because I think our aging population spells the end to the American Empire. We will have neither the manpower nor the available funds for Empire. Otherwise I like Ron Paul a whole lot. I am leaning toward Duncan Hunter but would consider switching to Dr. Paul seeing that Paul’s fundraising abilities might make him a more viable candidate then Hunter. Otherwise I will be basically happy with anyone other than Guiliani. Guiliani as GOP candidate is my worst (political) nightmare.

  • http://www.bikebubba.blogspot.com Robert Perry

    Patrick, well said, but the impression I get is that he’s really not serious about fighting Al Qaida, and is a little slow to realize that AQ is eagerly fighting us in Iraq. Or at least was until we got good at helping their fighters to assume room temperature.

  • Patrick Kyle

    Robert,
    He voted to go after bin Laden and the Taliban in Afghanistan in the 9/11 aftermath.

  • http://castingoutnines.wordpress.com Robert Talbert

    At first I was very put off by Paul’s anti-war stance. But in recent weeks I have come to consider myself a Paul supporter, mainly because he is the ONLY candidate out there in the two major parties who seems to take the idea of small government seriously and acts in accordance with his ideals. I’m not with him on being pro-life, but I believe his pro-life stance is more a result of his being pro-small government — he believes abortion is wrong but that federal intervention is not the solution.

    I don’t think he stance a chance of winning in the primaries, but I will probably vote for him nonetheless. And sadly he is the only candidate out there that I can say that about.

  • http://castingoutnines.wordpress.com Robert Talbert

    By the way, I think very many Christians need to start realizing that big government is perhaps one of the most imminent threats to the practice of Christianity in this country that we have. I think it’s very worthwhile for Christians to work actively to decouple government from faith, not to glue them ever more closely together.

  • http://castingoutnines.wordpress.com Robert Talbert

    Finally, I was really impressed by Paul’s statement of faith:
    http://www.covenantnews.com/ronpaul070721.htm

    Very sincere and, I think, he gets exactly the right balance of faith and government. Also check out the nuances of his abortion position.