Ron Paul supporters have generated a backlash and the result may be disastrous for the GOP in November.
As the media continues to wax orgasmic over the ongoing struggle between Clinton and Obama to win the Democratic nomination, they are largely overlooking another potentially more interesting struggle taking place within the Republican party. Although John McCain is the presumptive nominee, as the various state conventions roll forward - largely in obscurity - conflict and chaos continue to be spread by Ron Paul's enthusiastic followers who continue to try to storm the ramparts of the GOP establishment.…
Article comments
76 - Brandon Magoon
"Caucuses are a lot more responsive to candidates with enthusiastic supporters and a lot less good for candidates with broad bases of less fanatical support. This has helped Obama enormously among the Democrats where he's done much better in caucuses than he has in primaries.
This is a good thing in some ways, but it also leaves a lot of voters who don't have time to be party activists left out in the cold. Plus it tends to push the parties towards more extreme and ideological candidates."
Dave, parties SHOULD be run by ideological candidates. Party activists are exactly the people who have the knowledge to make rational choices. If you were sick who would you listen to, a doctor or a short order cook? Primaries were set up to break the power of the corrupt political machines but in the process they created a system where people choose candidates based on how "cute" they are.
The whole point of a party is to get ideological candidates. You write a platform and then you choose candidates to implement that platform. It only works if the people who vote on the platform are also the ones who chose the candidates. The less activist people don't have time to read the platform so they have no idea what the candidates stand for. That's how we got into this mess to begin with.