I don't understand why some people appear to be simultaneously attracted to

[pnwmom]

left-wing socialism and Ron Paul's private-property-free-market Libertarianism.

Doesn't this give them splitting headaches?

[Make7]

1. Perhaps they like smoking other people's weed. ( n/t )

[RKP5637]

6. Probably depends at the time if one's smoking with the left hand or the right hand!!! LOL

[msanthrope]

25. Thread win on the first post. Well done, sir! nt

[dawg]

2. They aren't serious-minded people.

They just want to be 'rebels'.

[FarLeftFist]

3. Yeah, polar opposites, but they're mindless cultists.

So rationale flies out the window.

[silverweb]

4. Maybe it's just his civil libertarian ideas some of us like.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]That's where I find myself agreeing with some of the things he says (and I recognize that some of his positions in this area are not consistent).

Some of us are fiscal social democrats and civil libertarians.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

10. "fiscal social democrats and civil libertarians" well put

Those are the kind of ideals that I believe in. This position seldom gets media coverage, or taught in schools or discussed around the dinner table. Ron Paul will never become president (thankfully), but maybe someday people will begin to think beyond identifying with one binary group or the other.

[pnwmom]

13. Why would a real civil libertarian be against the Civil Rights Act of 1964?

[silverweb]

28. We can dream, at least.

[pnwmom]

12. He's against the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

I don't appreciate his brand of civil libertarianism. Seems like it's all about upholding the rights of the majority to persecute the minority.

[silverweb]

27. I'm aware.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]I did say that I only agree with some of the things that he says and that his positions are not always consistent. His racism is just one of the things I reject and I'm not an apologist for him.

[pnwmom]

29. Most of his positions are consistent with his economic philosophy

that private property rights trump everything else.

I don't see where his position against pro-choice fits into his grand scheme, however.

[silverweb]

35. I don't even try to make sense of him.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]Attempting to make a cohesive picture of everything he says isn't worth the effort. He's a fringe candidate and almost as nutty as the other GOPers.

Every once in a while, though, he voices a populist, civil libertarian position that resonates. It's those things that I think most people respond to, myself included.

That in no way means I'd ever vote for him, but I'm still glad to hear those occasional positions voiced effectively.

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. Have you EVER seen any of Ron Paul's Revolution campaign materials?

If you ever do, it will explain it.

No, it is Ron Paul... but it is bullet points, short, talking points, as in bumper sticker talk.

I got one of them at an OWS, and then spent an hour putting flesh into those skimpy bones.

[pnwmom]

14. He's against abortion. How does that square with civil liberties?

How does his opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 square with his lip service for civil liberties?

[nadinbrzezinski]

17. Right to life, that is the talking point

nothing more on it.

And the second one is NOT in the informational bulletin. Why do you think it is coming back to hunt him?

His material really avoids the culture war stuff.

As I said, it is something to behold and awe inspiring... for how wrong it is. Why I spent an hour putting meat into them skimpy bones.

One thing I like about OWSers is that they get these things, they bring them over... and then share it and ASK QUESTIONS. They do not trust ANY politician, so they want you to tear holes into campaign propaganda. Oh and the single Ron Paul ACTUAL fan, doesn't like that. In fact, now that I think about it, I haven't seen him in a while.

Now if I had a my fi and actually took electronics it would make life that much easier. These days I have to be prepared to send them to sites from memory.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

7. Thank God I don't know anyone like that

They stand for completely opposed ideas - one right wing, and one left wing.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. Here is the problem, I even explained it earlier, so I will link to the post

http://www.democraticunderground.com/100249085

This is why I have spent some time with people who got Campaign Materials... and just campaign materials... them bullet points and JUST bullet points, can sound good if you have no idea.

[pnwmom]

15. So they don't understand

he wants to abolish the FDA, the EPA, the Federal Reserve, Medicare, public schools, etc.

All they hear, apparently, is that he would legalize marijuana.

Ugh.

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. No you are missing it

the leaflet says SMALLER GOVERNMENT.

It also says DECRIMINALIZE drugs.

It sounds good, it is a nice sound byte. It is a bullet point. Never does it say eliminate insert alphabet soup here.

So you sit down and put meat on it and they will walk away from Ron Paul faster than a man with leprosy most of the time.

[pnwmom]

22. I'm not missing it -- we're saying the same thing.

They don't understand the precise meaning of "small government," for example.

Good for you, for working to educate them.

[SheilaT]

9. An awful lot of voters

are very low-information voters. They don't think very hard about what anyone says. They believe what certain authority figures tell them, like clergy, or Fox news talking heads. Or they believe and pass on those idiotic right wing talking points mass emails.

Keep in mind that most people know very little history, and even fewer are able to do any kind of historical analysis. Which is why the current economic situation is so fragile: people making decisions about the economy either understand NOTHING or understand all the wrong things about the Great Depression, what actually caused it, and how we actually got out of it. So they're blissfully making the same mistakes made seventy years ago, and they're going to be shocked, just shocked, if we wind up in another real depression.

[Populist_Prole]

11. I'd say that explains it too.

So many I speak to that are not self-identified conservatives sound conservative due to the fact they are aping the MSM talking points. They just don't think things through. I know they never read deeper in books or even blogs and such other vast resources on the internet. They pretty much just skim the local paper and watch 15-20 minutes of talking heads on the MSM news; Fox, CNN, local outlets...whatever.

[quinnox]

16. As has been said a few times, its Ron Paul's stances on the wars and

being against the Patriot Act and so on that attracts people from both sides of the spectrum. That is why he often talks about these things, he knows it gets him a lot of support. His ideas on the government waste and how it functions are more radical and off putting so he generally will keep quiet or at least reign himself in on these topics and that fools people.

[patrice]

19. There is a hybrid out there that says something TTE: Socialism or Socilistic systems for the necessi

ties and then Capitalism for everything else.

[Orangepeel]

20. Somebody looking for a hero/savior

I don't think they much analyze the details of the message. Somebody with passion tells them that there is a relatively simple solution to the problems of the world and they want very much to believe it.

[JCMach1]

21. Libertarians run the full-spectrum from left to right

[pnwmom]

23. No one with a libertarian economic philosophy could be said to be a leftist. And the economic

philosophy -- the extreme right-wing theory of property rights -- is the foundation of everything else.

[nadinbrzezinski]

26. hmm not quite

those are the loud ones in the Libertarian party.

But there is a large contingent of left libertarians for whom freedom of choice is the foundation of all. Yes, they belong to the same party... don't ask.

[JCMach1]

30. Precisely... there are (no doubt) even some left-Libertarian Dems here on DU...

[nadinbrzezinski]

32. Oh that we do

More than a few in fact.

[nadinbrzezinski]

24. Very correct, most folks do not get this

fun fact, the Libertarian party is the Third largest party in the US. My pet theory as to why it will not replace either of the two... it makes democrats look organized.

[JCMach1]

31. Also it's a philosophy of oneupsmanship...

Eventually you hit a person's 'bridge too far'...

Like, for example, 'true' user fees on all roads and highways.

[99Forever]

33. Can't answer your question, BUT...

... if it's any comfort, Ron Paul won't ever get within breathing distance of the Presidency. He won't be nominated by the Teathuglicans, and if he runs a 3rd party bid, that's VERY good news for Obama.

[MjolnirTime]

34. Maybe they're racists at heart and Paul's legalized discriminatio appeals to them