MUTH’S TRUTHS

Most of us in the real world who supported Ron Paul’s presidential campaign did so with no illusions that he was actually going to get the nomination. The most important thing about Ron’s campaign was to put forward the limited-government philosophy that so many Republicans had forgotten in the dozen years they were in the majority.

But all good things must come to an end. And while I’m please that Rep. Paul is now shifting his attention to retaining his congressional seat in Texas, some of his folks just can’t accept the reality that the fat lady has sung. Indeed, Jeff Greenspan, one of Paul’s western campaign workers, had a veritable hissy fit yesterday over the fact that I wrote a headline saying that Ron Paul was “out” of the presidential race.

“Chuck, Paul is not out and McCain is not the nominee yet,” Greenspan wrote in all seriousness.

Well, TECHNICALLY, Jeff is correct. Paul hasn’t “officially” dropped out of the race yet, and McCain doesn’t “officially” have the nomination…yet. And hey, it’s still possible that McCain, Romney and Huckabee will all drop dead of a heart attack tomorrow morning, leaving Ron Paul as the only candidate left in the race.

Then again, even in that highly unlikely event, it would still be highly unlikely that Paul would get the nomination. The GOP convention would surely nominate someone far more electable to carry the party’s banner in November.

That being said, Paul acknowledged a few days ago that “With Romney gone, the chances of a brokered convention are nearly zero.” Nevertheless, he vowed to press on “in every caucus and primary remaining.”

And delusional folks like Jeff Greenspan take that to mean there’s still hope; that Ron Paul really, really, really is still in the race - despite laying off campaign staff and not having a single event posted on his calendar in any state other than his home state of Texas - and even there, nothing beyond February.

Yeah, he’s still “in.”

While I can appreciate the enthusiasm and loyalty of folks like Mr. Greenspan, they need to wake up and smell the coffee. Paul is out in every way but officially, and McCain is the nominee in every way but officially. Drinking the Kool-Aid won’t change that reality.

So Jeff, go grab a beer instead, take off the blinders and chill out. There are other fights to be fought - and picking ‘em with allies on Planet Earth is just plain dumb.

Posted on February 14th, 2008 by Chuck Muth
Filed under: National