I've watched with interest, recent interviews with Ron Paul and Rick Santorum at the GOP National Convention. It's been both telling and confirming. Neither of these guys would have been the right choice for the current American crisis.
Ron Paul still refuses to endorse the GOP ticket and suggests he may never do so. OK. We get it. Romney isn't likely to throw the ship of state into full reverse on his first day in office. His menu of reforms is probably not radical enough to return us to the days of Jefferson and Madison or even Bill Clinton's balanced budget overnight. But he will bend our course away from the iceberg that's threatening our bulging hull and he'll do it without throwing half the ship's passengers and crew into the deep.
For Ron Paul, however, that's simply not enough. And perhaps it shouldn't be. Though Paul's Republican campaign has unquestionably catapulted him and his ideals to a level of national prominence that neither he nor his Libertarian compatriots could ever have attained independently, Paul won't be satisfied with a candidate who is less than fully immersed in his particular brand of the libertarian ideal.
That's both laudable and unfortunate. Laudable, because it shows his uncompromising commitment to the founding principles upon which the greatness of our nation rests. Unfortunate, because even the Founders had to find compromise in order to move forward in an imperfect world.
Paul's unwillingness to support his own party's choice of candidates for the Presidency is a betrayal of the very voters and party that have given voice to his ideas. Ron Paul has influenced this election. He has influenced the party platform ('audit the Fed' et.al.). He has, with the help of his enthusiastic supporters and the broader base of Tea Party Patriots, reframed and refocused the debate on the aforementioned founding principles and how they might be reasserted in a global egalitarian context and against a domestic tidal wave of entitlement.
Congressman Paul's contribution has been behemoth. Which is why his endorsement would be so significant. But the laser focus that has made him such an effective advocate for "real liberty" amid the rising tide of soft tyranny in Washington is simply not broad enough to encompass "real America" right now. The nation needs a principled, yet patient and pragmatic problem-solver to address present issues; not another radical ideologue. But by not attaching his ideals to the success of the Romney-Ryan ticket, Ron runs the risk of diminishing them yet again. He will almost certainly diminish himself and his influence in the future. Instead, he would be wise to take a page from his son, Rand's playbook.
While Ron Paul's reticence, however misguided, is at least principled, Rick Santorum's is only self-serving. In his tacit, disingenuous endorsement of Romney-Ryan, Santorum displayed his sour grapes and revealed his selfish agenda. Both in his speech and in the interview I saw, it was clear that Ricky still thinks it's about him; about his uncompromising moral courage, about his articulation of the social conservative voice, his near victory (not even close), and his superior fitness to be the man! This plastic patriot who bubbled up at the last minute only by standing on the submerged wreckage of his far more worthy opponents' campaigns, still has the audacity to question the metal of Romney's integrity and resolve. This is why Santorum could never have won, nor is likely ever to emerge as a viable Presidential candidate. He lacks humility and is therefore unable to acknowledge reality or to be trusted with the levers of power.
Don't get me wrong. I thought the Rickster gave an excellent speech. I love his focus on the family as the most essential unit of a successful and prosperous civil society. He's right on when he suggests that the greatest threat to America isn't strictly financial or political--it's spiritual and exposed in the disrespect and dissolution of the American family. But his correctness on that core principle does not, alone, make Sanctimonious Santorum worthy or able to lead.
I'm breathing a super-sized sigh of relief that neither of these patriots, their virtues notwithstanding, are the party's nominee for President. They're simply not up to the task. I believe...I hope...that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are. And that's rational!
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