True North

To: Ron Paul supporters

From: Mitch Berg - former Big-L Libertarian, now Republican

Re: Welcome to Saint Paul

Ronulans,

Welcome to Saint Paul - my city. I hope you have a good time here.

Now, as I’ve written in this space in the past, I’m not among the ones crying “foul” that you are coming to our caucuses and conventions and making “us” - the “insiders” who’ve been working within the party apparatus for years - work to defend the status quo, because I used to be one of the “outsiders”, too. And I’ve been frustrated dealing with what I thought was a hide-bound, old-boys-and-girls club. And being in Saint Paul, south of County Road C, I do feel like an insurgent in my own party sometimes.

So I’ve defended you (even as I’ve argued with, let me be frank, some of you more nutbar friends; the people who came to caucuses with sheaves of resolutions about the North American Highway and GATT and so on), because I thought it was good for the party.

Provided, of course, that you were sincere about being fundamentally interested in being in and working with the GOP, even to change it - as opposed to seeing it as a vehicle to forward a personality cult.

So stories like this perk my ears up:

“I have a busload of Ron Paul supporters on the way to Minneapolis-Saint Paul for the National Convention, along with an expanding army of volunteers from more than 1500 locations coast to coast. We are resolved to make these next few months count. We look forward to the list of speakers. We will converge on Minnesota regardless of whether you invite Dr. Paul, but we would prefer to stay in hotels and attend the convention as members of the Republican Party rather than stay at the YMCA and protest outside as disaffected ex-Republicans. The choice is yours.”

Look; you’ve infiltrated the party. You’ve gotten elected to delegate slots - perhaps not enough to pick the nominee, or to drive the Convention Committee’s decisions on which speakers to invite, but you have arrived.

Your choices are these:

1. Prove it’s not a flash-in-the-pan personality cult: Find more candidates that believe as you (and to some extent “we”) do, especially down-ticket. Stay involved; get more delegates elected for more races. Remain a factor in the party, and extend your influence. The biggest problem “third parties” have is that they are made up of purists; people who are impatient to see their “perfect” solution right now. That’s not how politics works; it took Ronald Reagan (and his supporters) two tries! You have to show everyone - not just the GOP - that you are serious about reforming politics over the long term, which in politics means the long term.
2. Prove it is a flash-in-the-pan personality cult: Find out that Rep. Paul isn’t speaking, walk out in a huff, and stomp around the streets bitching about the party that, after one election cycle, isn’t carrying you (who are, after all, a minority of delegates) to the podium on its shoulders.

So what’s it going to be - influential faction, or petulant personality cult?

That is all.

Cross-posted and comments welcome at Shot In The Dark.