ron paul is gaining some traction: showing up around 17% and in third place in both iowa and new hampshire. now i think this libertarian thing is characteristic of american politics; i'm not sure you will find something quite like that in finland or kazakhstan. indeed, paul's positions really are jeffersonian (including: isolationism, anti-taxation, skepticism of centralized power). the only tradition that would have as firm roots in american political history would be a kind of classical and patrician republicanism of the sort we might associate with the federalist party, in different flavors in hamiton and adams. it would be remarkable to see a revival; what if paul suddenly caught fire or got the republican nomination? this is less inconceivable than people think
even a month ago, the common wisdom was that paul would always top out around 10%. well, he's clawed up from there. there just is not a plausible and attractive candidate; evidently i'm not the only person who finds romney...repulsive. and like many pundits i would not be surprised moment by moment to see gingrich self-destruct.
both occupy and the tea party might find paul more congenial than they do obama or romney, and to the extent that these movements represent larger constitutencies which leak into the mainstream right and left, there could conceivably be a profound and seemingly bizarre realignment of the american political spectrum. really almost anybody might on a given day look with an extremely jaundiced eye at the actual effects of consolidated state and economic power and contemplate a severe decentralization. and almost anyone might look at the differences between the mainstream right and the mainstream left and see the division as incoherent or trivial, while the partisanship across the little bitty division freezes both in absurd inaction.
and then, i think the 100% americanism of the paul standpoint will always have a compelling rhetorical quality. all these candidates might say they think that america is the greatest nation in the history of the world and that our political tradition is unique, etc. only paul actually does anything about that or enacts it, or even has any genuine commitment to the constitution. the idea that we move forward by reviving the tradition of our founders - the theme of obama's inaugural address, for example - is one that paul is in a position to express with some sincerity. and that's what i'd suggest were i advising his campaign: transform the thing from a sheer refusal into an optimistic vision of a truly american future, a vast horizon, etc. quote jefferson; quote madison; then quote jefferson again. then: liberty is our unique legacy - our ancestral home - but also our unruly, limitless destiny.
