Prediction: WAR just lost the Libertarian Party bid

July 23rd, 2007 by Steve

Like most of the LP presidential candidates, I like Wayne Allyn Root, despite my strong hesitation about his foreign policy views.  However, I think he just blew any chance he had for the LP presidential nomination with the latest e-mail sent from his campaign.

The e-mail started like it could have been written by anyone in the movement aside from Eric Dondero. It was so full of praises for Congressman Ron Paul that I thought he was going to follow Steve Kubby’s lead and endorse Dr. Paul.  Then came this portion which  reads like Dondero did write it: 

Look at it from outside the insulated world of Ron Paul Inc. You see Ron Paul has one big flaw.  He’s just too nice for his own good. Some would even call him naïve.  He sees the world with rose-colored glasses. That prevents him from seeing the evil and disaster aimed squarely at our country.

In the political world, a candidate is only as strong as his weakest link.  Ron Paul’s weak link is national security and the war on terrorists.  Unfortunately for him, that’s the issue at the top of almost every American voter’s list.  In the end, almost every parent in this country will put aside every other issue.  They want a President who will keep their children safe at night.  A President willing to fight and win the war on terror at all costs. They want a President who’s strong enough to stand up to the most evil enemies of freedom since Adolph Hitler.

Ron Paul looks, and is, weak on this issue.  I know he means well.  But he’s naïve about our enemy’s intentions.  And worse yet, weak in how he’d respond to them.

Doctor Paul sounds almost apologetic to our enemies.  He sounds much like the blame America first crowd.  It may not be his position that America is to blame for 9/11.  Maybe his comments about 9/11 were misunderstood by the media and Rudy Guliani.

But Presidential politics is not a game of badminton. It’s full contact tackle football- with no helmet or pads.  Ron Paul seems weak on this issue and has handed his opposition some ammunition to attack him with.  Even though Ron Paul is a “Perfect 10” on virtually every other issue, as long as he appears weak on the national security and the war on terror, he’ll never rise above single digits.

Ron Paul does have some great points about foreign affairs.  It is not our duty to nation build.  It is not our duty to install democracy around the world.  It is not our duty to risk our troops’ lives and waste billions of taxpayer dollars to prop up foreign governments.

It is not our duty to give trillions of dollars in foreign aid to governments that vote against our interests at the United Nations.  It is not our duty to support a United Nations that is a pathetic, corrupt joke and installs leaders of terrorist nations to head commissions on human rights.  And yes the Iraq war is a disaster- and we must make plans to remove our troops as soon as possible.  I agree with Ron Paul on all of those points. 

But the war on terror is real.  The enemy we face is the most brutal and barbaric since Adolph Hitler.  Nothing we do…or Ron Paul does…or any President does…will end this struggle.  No interference in their affairs is necessary to attract the hatred and murderous venom of Islamic extremists. If it’s true that Islamic extremists are attacking our country because we “interfered” in Middle East affairs, then:

Why do Islamic terrorists and suicide bombers attack and murder thousands of their own people in Iraq?
Why have they killed 300+ people in Pakistan in just the past 2 weeks?
Why do they kill Arab women for not wearing veils?
Why did they murder a champion Iraqi tennis player for the sin of wearing shorts?
Why did they murder any entire Iraqi soccer team for being in the wrong place?
Why do they terrorize Arab parents for sending young girls to school?
Why do they murder their daughters and sisters for refusing arranged marriages?

The truth is that Islamic extremists don’t need much of an excuse to kill.  They believe the Koran demands they murder anyone who doesn’t believe in their extreme religious views.

If America had never interfered in the affairs of any Arab country the Islamic extremists would still be trying to destroy us.
They hate us because we’re not Islamic.
They hate us because we’re a Democracy.
They hate us because we allow dissent.
They hate us because we treat our women like human beings and equals.
They hate us because we let young girls go to school.
They hate us because we believe in progress.
They hate us because we celebrate music, art, dance, literature, and sexuality.
They hate us because we believe in equality of races.
They hate us desperately because we actually allow Jews to survive and thrive in our society.
They hate us because we don’t murder gays in the street for the ‘crime’ of being gay.

There is no room for questions or dissent in Islamic extremism.  There is only belief in one religion and one set of rules. Any minor departure from this is enough to incite death, torture and destruction.

Islamic extremists hate us and will continue to try to kill Americans and our children until we defeat them.  To Islamic extremists we aren’t humans or Jews or Christians or Americans. To them, we’re all infidels. The penalty for disagreement is death. The penalty for not converting to Islam is death. The penalty for writing books (ask moderate Muslim Solomon Rushdie) or even cartoons that question Islam or Mohammed is death. Not a lot of choice there. Whether we “interfere” or not in their affairs is meaningless.

Did Hitler leave alone any country that played nice with him?  Bullies always see those who don’t fight back as weak.  Islamic extremists hate anyone that doesn’t believe as they do. They want to cut our heads off, mutilate our bodies, and then set our corpses on fire in the streets. They hate us whether we interfere or not.  They hate us for interfering, and they hate and laugh at us for appearing weak because we didn’t interfere. On this topic Ron Paul is just plain wrong.  They hate us and will continue to try to kill Americans and our children until we defeat them. They leave us no choice.

These are not easy times. These are not easy questions.  But one thing is easy to see- Americans side with me on the issue of the war on terror.  Americans understand if Islamic extremists destroy Israel and murder millions of innocents:

They’ll come for America next.

Americans want to see strength and confidence in their President - Not apologies.

We’re a nation of courageous, tough-talking winners that have always stood up to bullies. Now is not the time to back off from defeating the most dangerous group of fanatics in history.  These fanatics want desperately to destroy America, cripple the American economy, and bomb us back to the stone ages.

The war on terror is real and will hit close to home again.  There will be another 9/11.

There will almost certainly be attempts at a nuclear attack on American soil. I’m certain we’ll see car bombs in shopping centers and other public places.   There will be more attempts to bomb planes and trains.  It’s coming.  Our enemies are plotting and planning high-profile attacks at this very moment.  If you don’t believe me, ask the Brits.

This war on terror has only just begun.  Have we made mistakes in the past, as Ron Paul says?  Yes.  Should we analyze them and learn from them? Absolutely.

But it is the future that matters most; how we prepare to fight back, how we prevent future attacks, how we retaliate in self-defense and how we win this war.

Ron Paul is polling at 1% to 3% for only one reason: he is not seen as the leader best
able to defend America by 97% to 99% of the American public.  That’s a fact. That’s why Ron Paul is polling in the single digits.

Ron Paul is my hero on most every fiscal and freedom issue that matters. But he looks naïve and weak on the one issue that matters to most Americans- national security and the war on terror. Americans have no interest in apologizing to suicide bombers and mass murderers. Americans crave a leader that is fiscally conservative, socially tolerant and a strong proponent of the war on terror.

This is the unvarnished truth.  Whether they like it or not, Libertarians need to hear it.
The key to winning national elections is simple - expand beyond your core supporters.

Libertarians must understand this concept if we are to ever to win major national elections.  Our fiscal message is a popular one.  A majority of Americans want smaller government, reduced spending, drastic cuts in entitlements, lower taxes and more individual freedom.  But they’ll never convert to the Libertarian brand as long as it involves being naïve and weak on the war on terror.  We need to remain tough, strong, vigilant and unapologetic about defending our ideals, freedoms, country and friends.

Just so I’m not misquoted or misunderstood, let me repeat what I said earlier.

It is not our duty to nation build.
It is not our duty to install democracy around the world.
It is not our duty to risk our troops’ lives and waste billions of taxpayer dollars to prop up foreign governments.

It is, however, our duty to fight and defeat terrorism and brutal bullies who want to take away our FREEDOM, wherever they may be.  Sometimes we must be willing to fight and die for our freedom.

Ron Paul is the closest thing we have to our Founding Fathers. He’s dead-on with over 90% of the issues.  But he’s weak on the war on terror.  And if he’s not weak, he certainly appears weak. Whether he changes his view, or finds a new way to explain it, he has to make drastic changes on that one issue or face a humbling defeat.

My views on foreign policy are very easy to find the on the public record, so I’ll not go into non-interventionism at the moment.  The fact that the very finicky-on-this-issue folks at AntiWar.com link to this site should suffice to explain my position - which is the roughly the same as broad spectrum generally presented by Justin Raimondo, Eric Garris, Ron Paul and Pat Buchanan. Instead, let’s look at the pure LP politics of the matter.

To begin, I applaud Mr. Root for jumping on board the libertarian bandwagon.  We need everyone moving in the freedom direction possible.  If they are on our side on a particular issue, let’s give them an attaboy. If opposed, I prefer to start with a gentle nudge.

If Root desires to be the nominee of the Libertarian Party, he might wish to start looking at delegate votes.  The Iraq War and foreign policy are a top-three issue for most LP members, especially to those who show in convention as delegates. Based on my cross-tabulation of this very recent survey result, 84.67% of the 1,351 self-identified Libertarian Party members polled believe we should have never gone to Iraq.  The numbers speak for themselves and it’s really politically quite that simple.

Mr. Root, I’d suggest that you cease listening to Mr. Dondero or whomever is advising you and start paying more attention to either public opinion or the advice I wrote many months ago when I was still working for the national office of the Libertarian Party.  Unless you very seriously rethink your position, there is no way you can win the LP nomination.  You’ve got my cell number.  I’ll await your call.

Posted in National Politics, Libertarian Party




13 Responses to “Prediction: WAR just lost the Libertarian Party bid”

  1. Derrick wrote on 07/23/07 at 12:34 am :

    I find Root to be super-sleazy. Even if I could get past that, he’s wrong.

  2. University Update - Ron Paul - Permanent Link to Prediction: WAR just lost the Libertarian Party bid wrote on 07/23/07 at 12:49 am :

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  3. Anonymous wrote on 07/23/07 at 1:16 am :

    “They hate us because we’re not Islamic.”

    Yea, that must be why there are so many islomic terrorist attacks on brazil, canada, sweeden, china, mexico …

    oh wait . .

  4. disinter wrote on 07/23/07 at 1:51 am :

    Nothing like reducing yourself to an even lesser degree of relevance. Way to go Root!

    Ron Paul’s campaign will be the biggest boost to the Libertarian Party and libertarianism in general whether he wins or not. It is time for the LP to recognize this and get behind this lifetime member and former LP prez candidate.

    Instead the LP will carry on with it’s head up its ass, more worried about what the tiny number of nutjob members it has will think.

  5. Rich Paul wrote on 07/23/07 at 9:36 am :

    Aren’t bullies supposed to be bigger and/or stronger than their victims?

    I mean, tiny little bullies that you could smash with one hand tied behind your back are going to have a problem getting much bullying done. They try to shake you down for your lunch money, or give you a snuggie or something, and then they’re just dead … this seems ineffective.

    Of course, WAR is right that there are Muslims that will hate us regardless of whether or not we intervene in their affairs. The question is, will there be enough of them, sufficiently committed, to be noticed. On that issue, I think not. The nice thing about Muslims is that most of them are Sunnis or Shiites, which means they have infidels to kill much closer to home. These infidels are, of course, Shiites and Sunnis, respectively. Eventually, they may get over this, and have some sort of Enlightenment. I hope so. But at that point, they probable still won’t be much of a threat to us. Why? Because they had an enlightenment.

    But that’s just my opinion, I could be wrong.

  6. disinter wrote on 07/23/07 at 9:56 am :

    Rich - the real question is, why aren’t we trying to figure out WHY they hate us and then changing whatever it is we are doing to piss them off?

    It isn’t because we are free.

  7. Brian wrote on 07/23/07 at 2:31 pm :

    Did you expect something different from a guy named WAR? :)

  8. titaniumgirl wrote on 07/23/07 at 6:13 pm :

    Kubby = Very Wise
    WAR = Not so wise

    I can’t wait to see how Michelle’s lunch with WAR went!

  9. Dan wrote on 07/24/07 at 1:05 am :

    Wayne Allen Dondero. He needs a solid mustache.

  10. Wes Benedict wrote on 07/24/07 at 11:59 pm :

    Mr. Root makes some valid points, but misses the mark in quite a few crucial areas with respect to foreign relations and Libertarian Party delegate relations.

    Mr. Root wouldn’t need to change his position that many Islamic extremists are indeed dangerous and many would like to destroy America. But he would need to better understand and communicate some of the root causes, and some of the strategic positions that America should pursue if he’s serious about winning the LP nomination.

    I’d offer additional free advice to Mr. Root privately be email or phone if he’s interested: wesliberty@aol.com 512-442-4910, as I have to other LP presidential candidates. I’d like to see several strong candidates that we have difficulty choosing between at the convention.

  11. Tom Blanton wrote on 07/25/07 at 11:43 pm :

    W.A.R. displays his ignorance on many levels with this tedious rant. It sounds like he may be getting his information from radio entertainer Neal Boortz.

    My advice to Root would be to go work for the Giuliani campaign. Or would it be better for him to lie about how he really feels in order to win over libertarians?

    If Root gets the LP nomination, it might well be the final nail in the LP coffin.

    I need to go take a shower now after reading this garbage.

  12. Eric Dondero wrote on 07/27/07 at 3:27 pm :

    Right you are. Root is too smart for the Libertarian Party, and the Libertarian Party is too dumb to nominate him.

    Now that it appears that libertarian-leaning Giuliani will win the GOP nomination, it’s much better for the entire libertarian movement, if the Libertarian Party runs a mediocre Badnarik/Bergland/Marrou style candidate for 2008 rather than an Ed Clark like Root.

    If Root were the LP Nominee, the Party would be likely to garner 1 to 2 million votes, maybe even 3 to 5 million.

    Better to run Kubby of Phillies, who will be gauranteed the standard 300,000 vote margin. If the LP steals too many votes from libertarian leaning Republican Rudy Giuliani, we could end up with Hillary as President.

    Here’s hoping Kubby or Phillies now prevail.

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