Friends of Ron Paul in Japan

From Snubgate to Substance…Free at Last!

After a long hiatus Friends of Ron Paul in Japan is bloging again.

A major reason for the hiatus was that Ron Paul slowly withdrew from the race, sending mixed signals to his supporters as to what he was recommending as the next move for friends of liberty and peace.  Although there were plenty of Ron Paul sponsored or approved events and activities, non of these really made up for the lack of a clear endorsement.  That has all changed now:  Ron Paul has endorsed Chuck Baldwin’s candidacy for president, albeit in his usual understated and gentle way.

The endorsement actually came about as the result of a two step process.  Indeed, in lieu of a specific chain of events the endorsement, such as it is, might never have come about at all.  From the beginning, Dr. Paul was bound by his own high sense of honor and understanding of friendship to be noncommittal, since, on the one hand, he has been a past Libertarian party candidate and still remains friendly with elements of the party which nominated Bob Barr, and on the other hand has a high regard for many of the principles espoused by Chuck Baldwin, the nominee of the Constitution party. 

To solve this moral dilemma (note:the very notion of a moral dilemma is a rare thing among anyone involved in the political process these days!)  Dr. Paul decided he would give a generic endorsement to any and all third party movements.  To this end he gathered all the remotely viable candidates, left and right, for an interview, establishing a kind of concordat of solidarity against the monopoly of the two major parties.   The Constitution, Green, and Naderite candidates were all present…and of course Bob Barr had been invited as well.

What ensued has now been called “snubgate” by critics of Bob Barr.   On the very day of the meeting Barr went back on his previous commitment to attend.  In Bob Barr’s view, all minor candidates might be equal, but some were more equal than others…the “some” in this case being those fielded by the Libertarian party.  True, there is evidence that the LP is the biggest frog in the rather small pool of minor party competition, but there are at least two mitigating factors.  First, the LP itself was, in the eyes of many of its founders, never intended to “sieze the power of government” but only permitted to exist (in the eyes of its anarchist wing at least) to further the political education of the electorate.  Second, Bob Barr himself seems to be a libertarian (small initial) more out of opportunity than conviction.

If so, he lost a golden opportunity when he refused to show up at Ron Paul’s press conference for minor party candidates.  If my reading of Ron Paul’s motivations is correct,  the good doctor was trying to be more than fair to a man who, from the begining, was only his second choice for an endorsement.   But snubgate freed the Republican representative from Lake Jackson to go beyond rejecting Sen. McCain, and beyond even a vague expression of solidarity with minor partys.   He had done his best to conciliate the Libertarian candidate, and the conciliation had been rejected in as rude a fashion as could be imagined.

He was free to say…”I will be voting for Chuck Baldwin.”

I suspect that Ron Paul was intending to vote for the Constitution party candidate in any event, but that had planned to keep his preference moot…knowing that revealing his vote would have the force of an endorsement.  Of course, knowing that telling your vote has the force of an endorsement, and then telling your vote anyway constitutes an endorsement.

Partly, although not entirely, on the strength of Dr. Paul’s endorsement, I have decided for Baldwin/Castle in 2008.  Further blogs in this space during the coming month will be dedicated to explaining why, among the remaining choices left on the ballot, the Baldwin/Castle ticket offers the best option for advocates of peace and freedom.