Anyone who watched the debate last night can agree it was a classic case of the tortoise and the hare. The main stream media and even Romney's own camp downplayed the likelihood of Romney doing well in this debate as he is not the great orator that Obama is. The arrogant Obama clearly did not see Romney as a worthy opponent and because of this came off as unprepared. He seemingly sought to play it safe as he currently has a slight edge in generally every poll. He played it so safe in fact, that he spent the entire night playing defense to Romney's relentless attacks on the last three and a half years and Obama's vision for the next four.
The anchors and analysts of MSNBC were in a state of panic as they attempted to spin a dismal performance into a positive for the party, but even Obama's greatest cheerleaders found themselves incapable of doing so. It has been widely stated that on all accounts, Romney owned Obama last night. He had the facts and figures, oratory skills, debate competency and vigor that Obama lacked. Romney alluded to his desire to do away with PBS, the home channel of the moderator right to his face. He gave himself a degree of likability in his proclaiming his love of Big Bird.
What does this mean? Currently, polling on who won the debate shows Americans predominantly thought Romney won. How the debate effected voters opinions on candidates is still unknown as there has yet to be a substantial amount of definitive post debate polling on the issue.
Next up, the VP debate. Let the bloodbath begin... Mwahahahahaha
Sorry for you little baby ears, but I'm not going to mince words. If you vote for Ron Paul under the guise of "wanting what's best for America", you're an idiot.
America currently has a two party system, democrats and republicans. Hate to break it to you, but this will not be the election that brings in a third party or ousts one of the two main parties. There is no end in sight for the two party system.
While as a libertarian I like Ron Paul, he does not have a shot in hell at winning. His refusal to formally step down and ask his followers to endorse Mitt Romney for the sake of getting Obama out of the White House in all honesty makes me question his character. Ron Paul forsook his customary party, the Libertarian Party, for the Republican party believing that by going with one of the two main parties he would have a better shot at a legitimate nomination. However, in the Republican primaries, Romney obtained the votes of 1,462 of the delegates, Santorum 234 votes, Gingrich 137 and Paul only 122. While the number of votes he received is not a lot less than the number Gingrich received, Romney received nearly 12 times as many votes as Paul. (These were all hard counts) Since his loss, Paul has been the only primary candidate, including those who did not make it to the official GOP primary, (Perry, Bachmann, Cain, Roemer, Huntsman) to not fully endorse Romney.
Anyone with a legitimate desire to get Obama out of the White House would have asked their followers to endorse the Republican party's official candidate once they were no longer in the running. But not Ron Paul! Ron Paul does not care about getting Obama out of the White House or the GOP reclaiming lost ground. No, Ron Paul cares about Ron Paul and about getting himself elected. Despite his aligning himself with the Republican party, he has made it clear that he does not care for party unity and has this created a small faction of americans rallying behind their fallen angel.
Lat me be clear, a vote for Ron Paul (or Gary Johnson or really any third party candidate) is a vote for Barack Obama. As of today, polling still shows Obama with a slight lead (this is due in large part to what is thus far a lack of post debate polling) and Romney cannot afford to have what would otherwise most likely be a Republican voter writing in another name.
Most of my Facebook friends touting the Ron Paul 2012 agenda reside in Texas, a state which can afford a small number of voters and their dumbass-ery as there is no way Texas will go blue. However, swing states cannot afford this. For anyone who does not fully understand, this is how the electoral college works:
It is what is called an indirect election. What happens is that based on congressional voting membership (435 representatives- House, 100 senators- Senate and 3 from the District of Columbia), there are 538 'electors' who will, based on the popular vote of the state from which they are elected, will vote. (Article II Section 1 Clause 2 of the constitution details how many electors each state gets. Each elector is technically expected to look at how his or her state voted and vote the same. Forty eight states operate under the 'winner take all' system in which the winner in the state receives all electoral votes form the state. However, Maine and Nebraska have what is called the 'district system'. What the district system says is that the candidates that win the state receive two votes and all other votes cast go by district. For instance, in Obama won Maine at large, he would automatically receive two votes, however, the remaining votes could be divided if Romney won districts that Obama did not. Confused yet? Me too. As far as the 'winner take all sates', it is entirely legal for electors to not vote in accordance with the popular vote of their state which causes a great deal of frustration in the American voter. Texas for this election has gained 4 more electoral votes form the last election (34 in 2008, 38 in 2012) which is great as Texas is a definitively Red State so that there is a guaranteed 38 votes.
Now, on to why a vote for Paul or any third party candidate, is idiotic. According to the Rasmussen report, as of polling done predominantly pre-debate last night, Obama has 49% of voters, Romney 47%, 3% are undecided and 1% are for a third party candidate. As Paul's positions are generally considered conservative (excluding in terms of the war, legalization) it is safe to assume those voting for Paul would vote Republican if they had to choose between Obama or Romney. Because of this, you are losing a chink of voters form Romney, Obama is largely not losing anything by your Ron Paul vote. In fact, he is gaining an edge. Take for instance the swing ste of Florida. This is a complete fabrication and not based on any numbers, but say Obama gets 50% of the vote, Romney 49% and Paul/ 3rd party candidate receives 1%. Technically the expectation would be that the electors form Florida would vote Obama because that is how the popular vote went, even with such a minuscule margin. Because of those going with the third party, Romney would lose that state. (The chance of a margin this small happening are like slim to none.)
It is imperative that we oust Barack Obama from the White House and to do this, party unity is a must. It is reckless and irresponsible for Ron Paul to not advocate for party unity in the face of such a close election.
Not to be a fatalist, but a vote for Ron Paul is a vote for Obama.
