Ron Paul, political loser, now best-selling author

"Every election season America is presented with a series of false choices," Texas Rep. Ron Paul writes in his new book. "And so every four years we are treated to the same tired predictable routine: two candidates with few disagreements on fundamentals pretend that they represent dramatically different philosophies of government."

If you agree with that summary, you may want to consider joining the Ron Paul Revolutionaries, several hundred thousand highly motivated political partisans, many new to politics, who despite their more than $34 million in  donations over the last year have seen their 72-year-old candidate distinctly  not catch fire with the broader electorate.

He took 16% of the vote in Pennsylvania's GOP primary, but Sen. John McCain got 73%, which he doesn't really need because he  already has sufficient delegates to win the party's nomination in St. Paul come September. Second place or worse is a familiar spot for Paul, a former ob-gyn who'll be entering his 11th House term next January.

But no longer. At least in terms of his book, Paul is Numero Uno. Paul's Paulunteers have driven his brand-new book -- 'The Revolution: A Manifesto' -- to No. 1 on the amazon.com bestseller list. They're also packing the reader reviews with five-star evaluations, as they've been packing the comment columns of blogs like this for many months.

Paul's call to conservative, libertarian-like action is even selling better than Oprah's latest book recommendation. According to Lew Rockwell's blog, Paul's book will rocket into seventh spot on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list later this month.

The book is designed to be both a call to arms for his would-be followers and a....

... source of longterm income to help finance the longterm revolution Paul tells his loyalists to expect in turning around the country's over-governed political system.

Many of Paul's fans firmly believe that a vast media conspiracy resulted in his name rarely being published in the last year, which they say cost him a straight-ahead chance to beat out McCain, get the U.S. unilaterally out of Iraq, kill the Federal Reserve, the Department of Education and other large chunks of the federal government in the name of Paul's strict constitutionalism.

Of course, the conspiracy charges do not apply to The Ticket because we've covered him ad nauseum;  his followers were one of the most interesting stories of the campaign so far in terms of dedication and willingness to sacrifice for a larger goal.

Although Paul didn't do well in the state elections so far, he hopes his crowd will persevere and bring about the same kind of fundamental change in today's Republican Party as Barry Goldwater's disciples did in the 16 years between that Arizona senator's defeat and the electoral win of Ronald Reagan.

Meanwhile, as The Ticket noted yesterday, Paul's political partisans have quietly taken over a number of local Republican organizations in a bid to boost his presence at September's Republican National Convention in St. Paul. Paul has declined to endorse McCain and his supporters have phrased it  with considerably more vehemence in comments left on The Ticket in recent weeks.

Again, the comments area is open.

--Andrew Malcolm

Comments

[Eloy Gonzalez II]

Apart from the insulting title, this is an otherwise fair and balanced piece.

Ron Paul is hardly a political loser when you consider all that has been accomplished in his name and the fact that he recently won in a landslide his race for Congress.

The Republican National Convention has yet to be held. As far as the last word on Ron Paul's bid for president, I guess we'll have to wait until then to see exactly what it is. I for one am looking forward to it.

[WillPhelps]

There is a slight difference between not getting any media attention and getting negative media attention. I've asked people if they knew who Ron Paul is and the common answer is yes, but he's a cook, or some other sentence repeated verbatim from Fox News, or some other "fair and balanced" reporter.

Why are the Ron Paul followers scanning the internet for anything we can find on him? Go to the Google News page and you'll see. Most stories about Obama, then Clinton, then McCain. It's been that way for a year. In fact, last fall and early this year there were more stories about candidates that have dropped out than there were about Ron Paul.

His message is simple. We were given a Country fought for with the blood of the founding fathers. They set up Laws to protect the people and the country from tyranny. Ron Paul's message is simply let's obey those laws.

Kooky idea, huh?

[Rey]

political winner. obviously he is breaking the towers of the neocons. best selling author? must have lots of smart people reading really smart things.

[J. O'Brien]

Andrew Malcolm: Wow! You did it!

I didn't know you could actually write about a Ron Paul success without ridiculing it, distorting the facts, or playing it down.

Or did I somehow miss the commonly intertwined sarcasm?

Today, you actually earned my contribution to your Comment Count and Blog Page Views.

[Joseph]

I'm going to buy the book just for the good read. Plus I'm a supporter and I'm 19 years old. More young people should catch onto the message Ron Paul is saying. Older folk are welcome to join the Revolution, but I understand that it is harder to convince those of you who have become calloused and apathatic towards our nations problems. Go Ron Paul!!!!

[Anonymous]

Consider this the lull before the storm. June 21st 2008.

[stop lying to me]

"John McCain got 73%, which he doesn't really need because he already has sufficient delegates to win the party's nomination in St. Paul come September."

Ehhh, forget it. You're not worth my time, Mr. Malcolm

[Dave]

This should help you understand the media blackout... if you really want to.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=7iW5kOB1pmg

[eddie]

To call Ron Paul a poliitical loser is beyond pathetic and irresponsible. He has been a Congressman for the 2nd largest state many times over, has been a Presidential candidate in 1988, and is STILL a candidate in 2008. If this is the definition of a loser, then I can only imagine in the world of journalism where the title of "Blogger" fits in the grand scheme.
Please stop calling yourself, and the likes of Fox and CNN "media". You are puppets that report and distort what is in the interest of your owners, not the public. If you cared about the public's best interest, then you would encourage and represent multiple points of view. Both Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich had positions that the public deserved to hear. The "media", as you term it, simply ridiculed both of them. At the "debates", both were ignored.

[Desh]

Nice title....

[Jake]

True Ron Paul supporters will not support McCain in the general election and adding Huckabee to that ticket wouldn't change a darn thing. To support a neo-con or a populist/socialist would be an affront to every sensible thinking anti-statist, free-market, limited government Republican/Libertarian/Constitutionalist.

Here are Dr. Paul's very own comments about backing McCain in a general election:

"Will you encourage your supporters to back McCain in the general election?"

I'm not going to tell them what to do, but I honestly can't imagine ANY of them supporting him. That would be a tough sale. The odds of him all of a sudden coming to one of our rallies and being cheered on are not very high.

To be fair, Dr. Paul did say that if McCain reversed his position on the war and renounced McCain-Feingold that he would consider endorsing him. But this isn't going to happen since McCain thinks we should continue this war and perhaps have permanent military bases in Iraq.

[Mike]

A political loser? Re-elected how many times? He has brought back constitutional government to the minds of the American people. How can a political loser have a best-selling book on the same subject? Where are the best-selling books by Duncan Hunter, Bill Richardson, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee?

The real political losers are the politicians who put the United States in the mess we are in, people who may have won presidential elections/nominations, like Bush, Clinton, or the long llst of "stay the course, spend/print more money to fix the problems".

Andrew, when people truly believe in something, they often become passionate about it and want others to know. Yes, they become defensive when people like who don't understand the message and demean with nicknames and labels, as you so often do.

I am not a Paulunteer, Paulite, Paultard. I am an American Patriot who believes the constitution should still be followed. I don't believe in conspiracies, but I do notice the the MSM rarely discuss Paul's policies or legislation he has put forward, rather you/they cover his supporters.

[Sk00L]

"Many of Paul's fans firmly believe that a vast media conspiracy resulted in his name rarely being published in the last year" ronpaultimeline.com is worth while read for those wishing to corroborate most of these claims. It perhaps might not be 100% but definitely takes a moment to outline some of the better failures of the media to cover him, it also outlines the more successful methods the media has used to marginalize Ron Paul.

[Sk00L]

"Many of Paul's fans firmly believe that a vast media conspiracy resulted in his name rarely being published in the last year" ronpaultimeline.com is worth while read for those wishing to corroborate most of these claims. It perhaps might not be 100% but definitely takes a moment to outline some of the better failures of the media to cover him, it also outlines the more successful methods the media has used to marginalize Ron Paul.

[S Magill]

Ron Paul wants to legalize currency that competes with the Federal Reserve, not "kill it".
Why have so many reporters completely ignored the transition plans he has detailed on numerous occasions?
Oh, I know, it's because they're not "ignoring him" at all. The media doesn't cover Paul's rational plans for government reform. They just appeal to gutter emotions and paint Ron Paul as a fringe lunatic.
Here's some advice. Just shut up. His movement towards sound government appears to be growing despite all of the media's ill-tongued remarks.
There are proud U.S. patriots fighting in Iraq as we speak who aren't going to forget the media manipulation we suffered in the primaries. McCain??? Whatever. You lie.

[scott]

I hope people remember this time in history. When America was given a choice with Ron Paul for peace, while all the others promote war. When America was given the choice of sovereignty by Ron Paul, when all the others spew interventionist globalism. When Americans were shown the way to economic prosperity with Ron Paul, while others paid the IMF with taxes and milked the inflation rates towards global bankruptcy. We were given a choice and the greatest party in America-the apathetic party-might have rung the death knell for America.

I sincerely hope the glory that America could once again become under a Ron Paul presidency will hit home with the uninformed masses who don't read and aren't capable of thinking outside of the TV.

[Tannimi]

Andrew, change the title. Dr. Paul is no loser. He's just playing for much different and bigger stakes than the rest of the GOP.

And for the umpteenth time, McCain doesn't have the delegates anywhere except in the MSM Fantsay League.

BTW, read the book.

[chris]

a mention in a BLOG--- is not mainstream coverage--

your exageration points to your hypocracy--- as these stories are not seen in the actual paper

Keep down playing it Andrew-----

your trifle attempt to appease those on the internet is getting anoying

[AGGOZZUR]

Written like a true hyper-elitist-intellictual NEO-CON news propagator! Good Job Andrew Malcolm! You just keep confirming what a total piece of trash you are with every Anti Ron Paul article! Hand in your Journalism degree or go to work for the CFR. I believe your rightful seat is waiting for you. And, when Ron Paul or one of the people he has awakened is president in yrs to come, people like you will be unfit to deliver true un biased new and your journalism degrees will be re-voked. Trash.

[Aaron S]

I like how you start the article by marganalizing Ron Paul "Biggest Loser" Considering his success everywhere besides his almost complete media blackout I would say Rudy is the biggest loser. Or perhaps one of the other media appointed "Top Tier" canadates

[Corey]

McCain does not have the full number of delegates. Pledged delegates aren't required to vote. If a majority don't vote on the first ballot, Ron Paul shows up on the 2nd ballot thus unlocking more delegates.

[Mitch C]

"Ron Paul, political loser,"?? You/re not biased are you Malcolm? Ron Paul is hardly a loser. For those of us who genuinely appreciate freedom, yearn for the government to get out of our private lives and wallets, and realize that our foreign policy is immoral and financially suicidal, Ron Paul is winner of the century. He got the ball rolling. While you may not appreciate it, maybe your granchildren will.

[Thomas]

In your first sentence, "choice" should be "choices"; it's a slight misquote and makes the sentence sound a little jarring. Thanks.

[Jenny Hart]

First, it is ad nauseam, not nauseum.

Second, Ron Paul articles are the least nauseating feature of this digital cage-liner.

You make senility look fun, Drew.

Love ya,
Jenny

[Allen L. Rees]

Isn't..."The Polictical Loser" the series of Heads of State who are busy ruining your economic livelihood, killing your children, cousins, nephews and nieces in an egregiously illegal "war"?

Is the sane, sober and realistic person, who wants to see a resurgence in liberty and the return of the sort of plain common sense that refutes your type of name-calling, slapstick journalism really the "loser", in this scenario?

It's a good thing I have the intrepid staff of the Los Angeles Times to keep us on the straight and narrow. I can now snuggle up for the intense enjoyment of my two-minutes-hate with my delicious box of GMO soylent green. Carry on my wayward son...